Conway School of Landscape Design-Link to home map of Conway, MA Graduate Program in Sustainable Landscape Planning and Design

Speakers in 2008–2009

Since its inception in 1972, Conway has invited professionals to speak with students about topics spanning many related fields, including bioengineering, trail construction, planning and zoning laws, landscape architecture history, natural resource assessment, and professional practice to name just a few. Through these guest speakers, students learn of possible career paths and of different approaches to land planning and design. The guests also supplement core instruction in natural sciences, technical skills, legal regulations, graphic and verbal expression, and professional ethics.

Students meet with professionals in their offices, in the field, and in the studio—beginning with the orientation trip in September, and continuing throughout the year with regular lectures, field trips, and formal presentations of student work. Guest speakers are an essential component of the school’s curriculum, and we thank them for their time and efforts.


RECENT SPEAKERS (Over 50 guest speakers every year)

  • Julian Agyeman, Associate Professor and Chair, Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University, Towards a Just Sustainability
  • Danielle Allen ’06, Arethusa Farm, Intervale Center, Urban agriculture
  •  Al Averill, Soil Survey Project Leader, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soils
  • Adrian Benedetti, Director, Summit Nature Park, Panama, Panama's Summit Park: Its History and Future
  • Thomas S. Benjamin, Senior Landscape Architect, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., Fundamentals of Ecological Planting Design
  • Reid Bertone-Johnson, Associate, Dodson Associates, Ltd. and Lecturer, Landscape Studies, Smith College, Winter Term Formal Presentations Critic
  • Robert Black, Principal, Sunstructures Architecture, Sustainable Design
  • Terence Boyle, Landscape Architect and Planning Consultant, T.J. Boyle and Associates, Spring Term Formal Presentations Critic
  • Madeleine Charney ’03, Research Librarian and Liaison to Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Library Research
  • Tina Clarke, Community Organizer, Transition Towns
  • Walt Cudnohufsky, Principal, Walter Cudnohufsky Associates, Inc., Landscape Design Theory
  • Kate Dana ’07, Associate Landscape Designer, PLACEstudio, From Plan Sets to Project Reports: Graphic Design and InDesign®
  • Harry L. Dodson, Principal, Dodson Associates, Ltd., Buffalo Bayou
  • Jonathon Ellison ’93, Landscape and Architectural Designer, Ellison Design, Spring Term Formal Presentations Critic
  • Ben Falk ’05, Owner/Designer, Whole Systems Design, LLC, Professional Practice and Site Design
  • Elizabeth Farnsworth, Biologist and Scientific Illustrator, Master Teacher, Conway School of Landscape Design, Botanical Illustration; Understanding Plant Preferences: How Plants Adapt in the Wild and in Our Gardens; Fall Term Formal Presentations Critic
  • Richard T. T. Forman, Professor of Landscape Ecology, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Urban Regions: Ecology and Planning Beyond the City
  • Eileen Grant, Landscape Designer, Beatrix Farrand and Harkness Memorial State Park
  • John Hudak, Environmental Planning Manager, Whitney Water Facility, Watershed Management Practices
  • Dave Jacke ’84, Designer, Instructor, Author, Proprietor, Dynamics Ecological Design Associates, Permaculture Design; Fall Term Formal Presentations Critic
  • Peter Jensen, Founder, Peter S. Jensen and Associates, LLC, Trail Design and Construction
  • Hisa Kominami, M.Sc. Student, Agroecology/Ecological Landscape Design, University of Vermont, Agricultural Water Quality Issues
  • Scott LaFleur, Director of Horticulture, New England Wild Flower Society and Garden in the Woods, Rain Gardens: Helping Nature and Having Fun
  • Selina Lamb ’97, Landscape Designer, Selina Lamb, Ltd., Fall Term Formal Presentations Critic
  • Richard Little, Professor of Geology, Greenfield Community College, Landforms and Geology
  • Greg Lowenberg, Plant Ecologist, Fall Term Formal Presentations Critic
  • Charles Mann, Author, The Pristine Myth
  • Catherine Miller, Principal Planner, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, Public Planning
  • Bill Mitchell, Development Director, The Intervale Center, The Intervale Center History and Programs
  • Peter Monro ’86, Principal, Monro Associates Landscape Planning and Design, Paths
  • Andrea Morgante ’76, Owner, Andrea Morgante Landscape Services, Community Planning
  • Darrel Morrison, Master Teacher, Conway School of Landscape Design; Adjunct Professor, Columbia University, Landscape Design: Where Art and Nature Meet
  • Glenn Motzkin, Ecology Advisor, The Trustees of Reservations, and Plant Ecologist, Winter Term Formal Presentations Critic
  • John O’Keefe, Coordinator, Fisher Museum, Harvard Forest (retired), Harvard Forest Dioramas and Forest Ecology
  • Judy Prescott, Executive Director, Tidewater Institute, Conservation at the Mouth of the Connecticut River; Spring Term Formal Presentations Critic
  • Will Raap, Founder, Gardener’s Supply and The Intervale, Ecological Intelligence, the New Guiding Principle for Sustainable Land Use and Economic Development
  • David Raphael, Principal/Landscape Architect and Planner, LandWorks, Intervale Center Land Use and Circulation Master Plan
  • Alan Rice, Landscape Architect, Landscape Construction
  • Mary V. Rickel Pelletier, Project Director, Park River Watershed Revitalization Initiative, Urban Streams and Stormwater Management, Fall Term Formal Presentations Critic
  • Joan S. Rockwell,  Landscape Architect, Joan S. Rockwell and Associates, Fall Term Formal Presentations Critic
  • Joel Russell, Land Use Attorney and Planning Consultant, The Legal and Planning Frameworks for Site Design; Zoning and Land Use Law
  • Steven Strong, President, Solar Design Associates, Inc., Renewable Energy
  • Pilar Garcia Sussman, Actress, mime, and movement coach, Speaking in Public
  • Dana Tomlin, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania, Geographic Information Systems
  • Liz Vizza ’82, Landscape Designer/Planner, Elizabeth Vizza Consulting, Winter Term Formal Presentations Critic
  • David Vreeland, Principal, Spectrum Design Collaborative, Infrastructure, Septic, and Water Systems
  • Marshall Webb, Woodlands Manager, Shelburne Farms, Shelburne Farms and Woodland Management
  • Tom Wessels, Core Faculty and Associate Chair for External Relations, Antioch College New England, Reading the Forested Landscape