News from Alums
out from under too much volunteering, I hope to get into shibori [Japanese term for several methods of dyeing cloth] in a big way. Next year. We are permanent residents of Canada now, though not citizens. With two kids still in Alaska and two in Connecticut, we still spend significant time in the good ol’ USA. We have a north-facing, mostly uninsulated summerhouse with big windows overlooking the ocean, and a small, tight, well-insulated, south-facing winter bungalow. The bungalow has a green roof, which is doing okay—it’s planted mostly in native plants, which are slow to spread. Just after installing all the plants last summer, we experienced three weeks without a drop of rain. This year we’ve had nothing but rain and drizzle, but at least the roof is watered!” n Melissa Mourkas is “back in the public sector. I’m an environmental planner at the California Energy Commission where I write technical analyses of the environmental impacts of new electric power plants. My specialties are visual resources and cultural resources. Certainly, a career in the energy sector has a bright future and that is heartening in these rough times. I joined the Board of the California Historic Governor’s Mansion Foundation. We are part of the effort to close the funding gap and keep the Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park open. I continue as vice-chair of the Sacramento Preservation Commission.” Melissa also creates a small number of landscape designs per year through her company, Landscape Legacy. 1995
Class Agent: Art Collings (otter@mac.com) n In September, Jim Cowen guided the class of 2012 through the wetlands complex he designed in Torrington, CT. n Christopher Rice is principal designer for Designs for Native Landscapes.
Inspired by the complexity and random beauty found in environmentally sound landscapes native to a region, Christopher has worked developing landscapes for non-profits and residential clients while living in midcoast ME with his partner, Tomlin Coggeshall, since 1995. Christopher is also a founding member of the Frances Perkins Center, which honors Tomlin’s grandmother, U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. 1996
Class Agent: Julia Plumb (jcplumb@verizon.net) 1997
Class Agent: Susan Crimmins (sbcrimm@crocker.com) n Candace Currie is currently the director of planning and sustainability at Mount Auburn Cemetery, where, she reports, “I had the privilege of working with Kate Gehron and Rachel Bechhoefer ’09. Their spring Conway project was on urban, natural burial grounds and we find it to be a valuable resource as we continue to educate the Mount Auburn community.” 1998
Class Agent: Matthew Arnsberger (arnsberger@mindspring.com) n Susan Leopold finished her PhD in environmental studies at Antioch University New England this past spring, where, she writes, “my research was on the loss of ethnobotanical knowledge in the Bull Run Mountains of VA. I have additionally taken on a new job as the executive director of United Plant Savers (UpS), a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of at-risk native medicinal plants. UpS has the most special sanctuary in Rutland, OH, an oasis of native plants, the only dedicated plant preserve of its kind…come and visit.” n James McGrath continues his work in the Pittsfield, MA, Office of Community Development, overseeing short- and long-range park planning and lake management. He is managing the city’s new community energy efficiency project—Powering Pittsfield—which has him venturing into the world of therms, kilowatt hours, and R-values.
Courtesy photo
1999
Jim Cowen with the class of 2012
32 con text
Class Agent: Cindy Tavernise (tavernise99@csld.edu) n Cindy Tavernise writes, “Hours in the painting studio seem to be eclipsing my work as a landscape designer. I tend to be very detail-oriented as
perhaps best indicated on my website (www.lucindatavernise.com). In the past year, however, I did produce two minor design concepts: one for a lakefront property in Tolland, MA (which has been built this summer), and the other on a sloped row-house property in Peekskill, NY (which remains conceptual at this point due to lack of funds). The lake-front challenge was to create a better entry into the cottage, and to make the gently-sloped walk from the back of the cottage (which was entirely mown grass) to the water more acceptable by the local Conservation Commission. The commission members were very pleased with the concept. The Peekskill challenge, on the other hand, required making the mown grass back yard, which slopes at a 12% grade down to the house from the back property line, useable by the owners who wanted a play area, patio, and space to grow vegetables. That property is only 50-feet wide. Getting excavation equipment into the space is another challenge. Peter Monro, where are you?!” See also class of ’86 for more on Peter Monro. 2000
No Class Agent—your name here! n Joan Casey attended the 2011 ASLA conference in San Diego, CA. She works as landscape architect at Deborah Schwab Landscape Architecture in Maryland, and also is an independent contractor. n Leslie Dutton Jakobs writes that she “became a MI Certified Natural Shoreline Professional (shoreline restoration), and shortly thereafter moved to a state with lots of riverbanks and few shorelines—TN. I now work with the City of Chattanooga’s Office of Sustainability to implement urban landscape improvement initiatives as outlined in its climate action plan. Currently working on mostly green infrastructure projects, and Andropogon is one of the consulting firms leading the way for us. It is a thrill to work with such a high-caliber team.” n Treesa Rogerson reports, “I am pursuing stand-up comedy with a passion. At the moment I am living and working in the homelands of Asheville, NC, where now that I am finally home, I don’t want my dad to come out and hear what I am saying. I talk about the way exotic plants are total punks and creep over the tracks to the good side and mess up the neighborhood. I talk about how we choose mates like we choose plants.”