Thirty-five education sessions that took place during the ASLA 2018 Annual Meeting and EXPO in Philadelphia are now available on the ASLA Online Learning website, learn.asla.org. The recorded sessions’ topics range from climate adaptation and design solutions for dealing with fires and landslides to starting your own landscape architectural firm and storytelling for designers.
ASLA Online Learning offers both live online presentations throughout the year and more than 200 recordings for Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System™ (LA CES™)-approved professional development hours (PDH). ASLA member prices are discounted at least 75% below non-member prices—log in using your ASLA username and password to get the member discount.
The 2018 education sessions that have been added to the ASLA Online Learning library are:
AI: Augmented Intelligence – Landscape Architects’ Design Sense Capitalizes on Big Data – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Augmented intelligence (AI) is disrupting the complexity where designers thrive. A new era of collaboration enables shift from data overload toward data sensibility. How will capitalizing on augmented intelligence affect your practice? Your productivity? Geodesign, a unique AI, provides distinctive opportunities—learn from practitioners successfully navigating this shift.
Speakers: Kelleann Foster, ASLA, The Pennsylvania State University; James Sipes, ASLA, Sand County Studios; Jesse D. Suders, McCormick Taylor, Inc.
BIM for the Small Landscape Architecture Office – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Landscape architects face pressure on projects to use building information modeling, or BIM, software for their designs. Risks are numerous, but advantages can be significant. Learn how one landscape architect made BIM work for her as a sole proprietor and hear answers to common questions about firing up BIM.
Speakers: Meghen Quinn, ASLA, Hargreaves Associates; Bradford McKee, Landscape Architecture Magazine
Challenges and Opportunities for Landscape Architects in Affordable and Supportive Housing Projects – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
This panel brings nonprofit developers and designers together to present the unique opportunities and challenges of designing landscapes for affordable and supportive housing projects. Through examples of built work in two different American cities, the panel explores how to successfully support and foster communities today.
Speakers: Steven Tupu, ASLA, terrain-nyc; Zoee Astrachan, ASLA, LEED AP, INTERSTICE Architects; Elissa Winzelberg, FAIA, LEED AP, Breaking Ground
Climate Smart Solutions for Everyday Community – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
ASLA has identified climate change as a key issue for its members, and for the society at large. Representatives from ASLA’s multi-disciplinary blue ribbon panel on climate change and resilience will discuss panel findings and public-policy recommendations for mitigating and adapting to climate change through resilient design.
Speakers: Vaughn Rinner, FASLA, American Society of Landscape Architects; Tim Duggan, ASLA, Phronesis; Diane Jones Allen, ASLA, The University of Texas at Arlington; Adam Ortiz, Hon. ASLA, Prince George’s County Government
Collaborative Restoration: Integrating Landscape Architecture and Ecology for Resilient Landscape Design – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Integrating ecological restoration science with the design of cultural landscapes requires a multidisciplinary approach, a project team able to combine spacemaking and science, project programming and ecosystem function, aesthetics and biodiversity. This session examines how the tools and practice techniques from design and restoration ecology influence project goals and outcomes.
Speakers: Steven N. Handel, Hon. ASLA, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Nancy Owens, ASLA, LEED AP, Nancy Owens Studio; Ann Kearsley, ASLA, Ann Kearsley Design; Joe Berg, Biohabitats, Inc.
Congratulations on Starting Your New Landscape Architectural Firm! Now What??? – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Consisting of a panel of professionals who have already been through this process, this session gives real-life examples of what one can expect to encounter when first starting out, including licenses, laws, and codes that may pertain to starting a new business, as well as avoiding potential pitfalls.
Speakers: Andrew C. N. Bowden, ASLA, Land Concern; Wendy Miller, FASLA, Wendy Miller Landscape Architecture, PLLC; Duane Border, ASLA, Duane Border Design; Baxter E. Miller, ASLA, BMLA, Inc.
Design with Nurture – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
The experience of women in the workplace and the importance of female leadership have recently catapulted to the forefront of American consciousness. In this context, three women in landscape architecture discuss the role of gender in their practices and design philosophies and make the case for valuing Design with Nurture.
Speakers: Michelle Arab, ASLA, Olson Kundig; Michelle H. Crowley, ASLA, Crowley Cottrell, LLC; Akiko Ono, ASLA, Shades of Green Landscape Architecture; Adam Greenspan, ASLA, PWP Landscape Architecture
Designing the Public Realm: Equity and Beauty – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Beauty, equity, and resilience are elements of good design and yet they are often isolated. Experienced designers will consider projects in which they designed as a means to foster equity by creating beautiful places or as a way to create more enduring and resilient designs in the public realm.
Speakers: Gina Ford, FASLA, Agency Landscape + Planning; Thaïsa Way, ASLA, University of Washington; Diana Fernandez, ASLA, Sasaki; Shannon Nichol, FASLA, GGN
Driverless Landscapes: Designing for People in Autonomous Futures – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Expanding driverless vehicle use will force crucial recalibrations to streets, public spaces, and urban form. How can designers maintain human interests in increasingly autonomous cities? This panel of landscape architects and planning authorities will discuss initiatives to promote physical, ecological, and social sustainability through driverless technologies.
Speakers: Ron Henderson, FASLA, Illinois Institute of Technology, Master of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism Program; Raymond W. Gastil, AICP, LEED AP, City of Pittsburgh; Nilay Mistry, ASLA, Illinois Institute of Technology, Master of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism Program; Chris Landau, Affil. ASLA, LANDAU Design+Technology
Drones 2.0: Exploring Nascent Design Applications for Unmanned Aerial Systems – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
This session will examine how landscape architects, professors, and planners are using nascent unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) techniques to map, study, and forecast complex ecologies, vegetational systems, and landscape surface strata to constructively alter the methodologies the profession can utilize with the use of emergent mapping technologies present in the UAV.
Speakers: Christopher S. Sherwin, Surface Design Inc.; Emily Schlickman, ASLA, SWA Group; Luke Hegeman, ASLA, LEED AP, MODUS Collective; Brett Milligan, University of California, Davis
Ecosystem Services and Green Infrastructure: Understanding Valuation, Benefits, and SITES v2 Applications – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Trends in sustainable design and resiliency require landscape architects to be versed in ecosystem services and measurable benefits. Green infrastructure provides opportunities for valuing natural and built systems. The expert speakers will provide their insights and case studies for design and maintenance strategies, including the SITES v2 framework.
Speakers: Lisa Cowan, ASLA, SITES AP, Principal, Studioverde; Martha P. Sheils, New England Environmental Finance Center; Rachel Bouvier, Rbouvier Consulting; Marla Stelk, Association of Wetland Managers
Fire/Flood/Slide: The Other Impacts of Climate Change – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Fires and landslides cost more lives and money each year than all other disasters combined. However, there are few resources dedicated to studying their impact on urban environments. This session delves into current thinking regarding these issues, discusses political/economic realities, and posits possible design solutions/ways forward.
Speakers: Greg Kochanowski, Affil. ASLA, AIA, Rios Clementi Hale Studios; Helen Kongsgaard, ASLA, Rhode Island School of Design; Jeremy Lancaster, California Geological Survey — California Department of Conservation; Sean Kennedy, California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA
Healing Time and Space in Between: An Interdisciplinary Look at Nature in Hospitals – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
The health care industry is the latest to understand how investment in connecting people with nature is a powerful way to reinvent itself. This session looks at how interior/exterior landscapes and other strategies for engaging nature achieve qualitative goals in better patient, family, and staff experiences and quantitatively improve patient outcomes.
Speakers: Mark Klopfer, ASLA, AIA, Klopfer Martin Design Group; Rosalyn Cama, CAMA Inc.; Virginia Gehshan, FSEGD, Cloud Gehshan Associates; Ellen Taylor, AIA, The Center for Health Design
Inside the LA Studio with DAVID RUBIN Land Collective – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
DAVID RUBIN Land Collective began with a simple mission and big ambitions: to positively inform the world and improve the human condition through landscape. Established by David A. Rubin in 2012, the Philadelphia studio practices “empathy-driven” design and crafts socially-purposeful landscapes that create positive change through cross-disciplinary collaborations and the synthesis of art, technology and the social sciences.
Speakers: David A. Rubin, ASLA, DAVID RUBIN Land Collective; Ken Smith, FASLA, Ken Smith workshop
Inside the LA Studio with Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW) is a 45-person firm with permanent offices in Charlottesville, Virginia, and New York City, and a field office in Melbourne, Australia. NBW’s innovative, research-based methodology draws inspiration from deep ecological and cultural research, assuring meaningful, inclusive, beautiful, and ecologically resilient designs for public parks, cultural institutions, memorials, campuses, and rural and urban agricultural landscapes.
Speakers: Thomas Woltz, FASLA, Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects; Breck Gastinger, ASLA, NBW; Chloe Hawkins, ASLA, NBW; Serena R. Nelson, ASLA, NBW; Susan Van Atta, FASLA, VAI Van Atta Associates, Inc.
Inside the LA Studio with SCAPE – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
SCAPE reconceives urban landscape design as an activist practice and has driven dynamic processes integrating science, design, engineering, and social life to address the epoch of climate change at multiple scales. The office couples ideas-driven research with pilot projects, experimentation, built works, and publications to influence the conception and agency of landscape architecture.
Speakers: Kate Orff, ASLA, SCAPE; Alexis Landes, ASLA, SCAPE; Gena Wirth, ASLA, SCAPE; Gerdo Aquino, FASLA, SWA Group
Inside the LA Studio with Swift Company LLC – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Each circumstance reveals the ecological insistence, the power of the land, the illusive and solid. These bind individuals and culture inextricably to place. As a practice we are committed to the long haul—to wildlands and urban grit—to service and leaning into the future with the minimal and generous.
Speakers: Barbara Swift, FASLA, Hon. AIA, Swift Company LLC; Gareth Loveridge, ASLA, Swift Company LLC; Shannon Nichol, FASLA, GGN
Landscapes of Conflict and Memory – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Landscapes and memory are inextricably connected, often with great emotional resonance. Conflict, from ancient times to the present, is written on the land. Although a palimpsest, sometimes what remains on the land is, in today’s parlance, an “alternative fact.” This presentation examines the phenomena of conflict, landscape, and memory.
Speakers: David A. Rubin, ASLA, DAVID RUBIN Land Collective; Thaïsa Way, ASLA, University of Washington; Brian C. Rose, AIA, University of Pennsylvania
Placemaking Through Traffic Engineering: Creative Solutions in Streetscape Design – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Landscape architects who understand traffic engineering principles and innovations can apply these tools to make streets into better places. The presenters will discuss technical roadway-design concepts and cutting-edge approaches, and present case-studies in which innovative solutions emerged from a deep knowledge of the relationship between traffic engineering and placemaking.
Speakers: Jacob S. Tobias, ASLA, LEED AP, WRT; Alyson Fletcher, Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates; Matthew Ridgway, AICP, Fehr & Peers DC
Playing in Nature! Professional Risks Associated with Design of Nature Play Areas – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
The burgeoning children and nature movement has resulted in requests for professional services in implementing nature play areas. However, designers may hesitate because of professional liability concerns. The panel will present evidence supporting nature play and share insights into designing, implementing, and managing a range of nature play models.
Speakers: Brad McCauley, ASLA, Site Design Group, Ltd.; Robin C. Moore, Hon. ASLA, North Carolina State University Natural Learning Initiatives; Hana Ishikawa, Site Design Group, Ltd.; Eric Singer, Ice Miller LLP
Preserving Diversity: The Politics and Processes of Immigration in Landscape Architecture – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
International landscape architects make up an important part of the candidate pool. This panel will outline the immigration processes that are necessary to hire from abroad from both the candidate’s and employer’s perspective, as well as review best legal practices that allow for successful use of the employment-based immigration program.
Speakers: Hana Ishikawa, Site Design Group, Ltd.; William Sullivan, ASLA, University of Illinois; William A. Stock, Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP
SITES® Materials Credits for Project Life Cycle: Deconstruction, Reuse, Specification, and Maintenance – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Sustainable design starts with resources on the ground. Dig deeper into the SITES v2 materials life cycle credits from specification to use, maintenance, deconstruction, and reuse. Discover synergies between SITES v2 and LEED v4 materials and resource credits.
Speakers: Meg Calkins, FASLA, North Carolina State University; Hunter Beckham, FASLA, Beckham Consulting; April Philips, FASLA, April Philips Design Works, Inc.
Storytelling for Designers – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Words have an unparalleled power to move us, and yet few designers hone their language like they hone their craft. This session brings together a writer, landscape architect, and photographer to discuss the power of narrative in their work and how less jargon can lead us to more meaningful ideas.
Speakers: Cali Pfaff, ASLA, Design Workshop; Claude Cormier, ASLA, Claude Cormier + Associés; Emily Waugh, Survey Studio/Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Sahar Coston-Hardy, Affil. ASLA, Sahar Coston-Hardy Photography
The Case for Great Spaces: Staying Design Savvy with Limiting Project Parameters – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
In the age of dwindling maintenance departments and budget cuts, outdoor spaces can become environments of bland material palettes, fixed site furnishings, and excessive hardscape. This session will explore altered material choices to fit requirements/maintenance regimens while continuing to support the overall design intent.
Speakers: Joan Floura, ASLA, LEED AP, Floura Teeter Landscape Architects; Timothy P. Devlin, ASLA, Gruen Associates; Francine Katz, ASLA, APE Studio Inc.
The Lungs of the City: Landscape Design for Air Quality – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
We have addressed stormwater quality, but what about air quality? Through this session, panelists will present research and built projects to show how to begin to approach this problem that negatively impacts the public health of the most disadvantaged populations in this country and worldwide through landscape design tactics.
Speakers: James K. Stickley, ASLA, LEED AP, WRT; Brent Bucknum, Hyphae Design Laboratory; Kurt Culbertson, FASLA, Design Workshop; Scott Shinton, Assoc. ASLA, Kounkuey Design Initiative
The Next Wave: Collaborative Solutions for Climate Adaptation – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Preparing for adaptation to climate change depends greatly on the location and the specific landscape adjacencies, both local and regional, to cities at risk. This session will look at three distinct environs—Philadelphia, Boston, and Fargo, North Dakota—and explore strategic approaches to mitigating the impacts of climate change.
Speakers: Scott Bishop, ASLA, Bishop Land Design, Northeastern University School of Architecture; Scott Page, Interface Studio; Meera Deean, AICP, LEED AP, Boston Harbor Now
Thinking Inclusive: Strategies and Perspectives on Accessibility from Central Park’s Experience – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Equal access to the public realm regardless of disability is the law, but neither the ADA nor accessibility standards and guidelines resolve the challenges of making the complex public environment universally accessible. Panelists will share their insights based on involvement in accessibility projects in Central Park and other relevant experience.
Speakers: Lane Addonizio, Affil. ASLA, AICP, Central Park Conservancy; Christopher J. Nolan, FASLA, Central Park Conservancy; Victor Calise, New York City’s Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities; Tim Fendley, Applied Wayfinding
This Is Your Brain on Green: Neuroscience and the Landscape – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Interaction with nature has quantifiable positive effects on stress, fatigue, and even academic performance. This session discusses the latest research at the intersection of neuroscience and landscape architecture and how these studies make a case for the integration of landscape in environments for schoolchildren, the elderly, and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.
Speakers: Sara Carr , Assoc. ASLA, Northeastern University; Jennifer Roe, School of Architecture, University of Virginia; William Sullivan, ASLA, University of Illinois; Edie Zusman, NorthBay Healthcare
This Land Is Our Land: Stewardship of Our Public Landscapes – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Iconic landscapes defining our nation’s identity can alter our lives in deeply profound ways. They can also be intimidating and leave out significant portions of our collective histories. Three federal landscape architects and a nonprofit leader discuss our changing federal realm where design and community engagement matters.
Speakers: Jennifer Daniels, ASLA, Jen Daniels Consulting; Mike Hill, ASLA, USDA Forest Service; Chris Beagan, ASLA, U.S. National Park Service, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation; Phyllis Boyd, ASLA, Groundwork Indy
Toward an Ecology of the City – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
With the recent disasters of Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey, as well as the California Thomas fire, there has never been a greater imperative to plan with nature. What is the role of nature in the city? Speakers will offer diverse perspectives to explore this important topic.
Speakers: Faezeh Ashtiani, Assoc. ASLA, Design Workshop; Frederick R. Steiner, FASLA, University of Pennsylvania; Forster Ndubisi, FASLA, Texas A&M University
Uniting in Place: Designing Public Places that Bridge Divides and Promote Diversity – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
In five U.S. cities, landscape architects are collaborating with civic leaders and local communities to create places that encourage shared experience among people of all backgrounds. Learn about strategies for designing public places that promote unity and diversity from practitioners working on the ground in Akron, Detroit, Memphis, and Philadelphia.
Speakers: Alexa Bush, ASLA, City of Detroit; Shawn McCaney, ASLA, William Penn Foundation; Carol Coletta, The Kresge Foundation; Meg Johnson, ASLA, Groundswell Design Group
Watershed Futures Intersections of Design and Policy – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Landscape architects and civic leaders are undertaking visionary projects that redefine cities’ relationships with their watersheds, but policy often fails to keep pace with the progress made through urban design. This session explores how landscape architects and their allies can influence water-related policy and effect change at a larger scale.
Speakers: Nina-Marie Lister, Hon. ASLA, Ecological Design Lab, Ryerson University; Jessica Henson, ASLA, OLIN; Billy Fleming, ASLA, Ian L. McHarg Center, University of Pennsylvania; Mary Pat McGuire, ASLA, University of Illinois
Where Land Meets Water: Rethinking the Shoreline in Urban Waterfronts – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
In many cities, the threshold between land and sea is abrupt and impenetrable. Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is no exception. A new paradigm is emerging motivated by aquatic conservation and social justice. This session looks at design interventions that are transforming human and ecological interactions across the divide.
Speakers: Jonathan Ceci, ASLA, Jonathan Ceci Landscape Architect; Jacqueline Bershad, LEED AP, National Aquarium; Chris Streb, LEED AP, PE, Biohabitats, Inc.
Why Are Soils a Problem in Landscape Design and Construction? – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
There is a soil–plant continuum—an ecological symbiosis—that is essential for the growth and sustainability of all vegetation. Healthy plants and soil are inseparable and exist as one living system. This session will demonstrate how soil principles are essential components of the landscape system.
Speakers: Tim Kirby, ASLA, Surfacedesign, Inc.; James Sottilo, Ecological Landscape Management; Theodore Hartsig, Olsson Associates
You Want What!? Managing Client Expectations and Nature in Residential Landscape Architecture – 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Landscape architects often face the heady challenge of educating and negotiating with residential clients who are often far removed from what is appropriate and or ecologically sensitive to a site. How to stay true to your design philosophy and moral duty to the environment is the goal of this session.
Speakers: Christopher LaGuardia, FASLA, LaGuardia Design Group; Mario Nievera, FASLA, Nievera Williams; Mike Albert, ASLA, Design Workshop
ASLA Online Learning presentations provide information on new and evolving practices and developments in design. These distance learning opportunities are also a convenient way to earn the professional development hours (PDH) needed to meet state licensure requirements. PDH are approved by the Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System™ (LA CES™) and can be earned after viewing a presentation by completing and passing a self-study exam. Be sure to check state mandatory continuing education requirements to ensure that LA CES courses are compatible with your state requirements.
More than 225 recorded presentations, available for on-demand viewing and browseable by topic area, include:
- ASLA annual meeting education session recordings from 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013,
- The Professional Practice Network (PPN) Online Learning series,
- The Student & Emerging Professionals SPOTLIGHT mini-series,
- Sustainable SITES Initiative™ (SITES®) Education, and
- Landscape Architect Registration Examination (LARE) Prep.
The ASLA Online Learning series also provides the opportunity to tune in live to ask experts questions, while earning PDH. The next live presentations, organized by ASLA’s Professional Practice Networks (PPNs) throughout the year and recorded for later viewing, are coming up later this month:
An Introduction to the ASLA LATIS publication, A Landscape Performance and Metrics Primer for Landscape Architects – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Designing (Digital) Landscapes: Using Social Media to Raise Awareness – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Questions about ASLA Online Learning? Please contact us at learn@asla.org.