Voices of Women in Landscape Architecture, Part 18

Left to right: Carolyn Pendelton-Parker, ASLA, Megan Terry, ASLA, and Justine Heilner, ASLA

As Women’s History Month rolls along, the ASLA’s Women in Landscape Architecture Professional Practice Network (WILA PPN) is sharing the next set of profiles of women in the profession (see the previous installment right here). If you’d like to be featured, the PPN’s call for submissions will remain open, with profiles being shared on an ongoing basis.

Submit a WILA profile!

These profiles will appear on the PPN’s LinkedIn group, Facebook group, and here on The Field. This post includes Justine Heilner, ASLA, Megan Terry, ASLA, and Carolyn Pendelton-Parker, ASLA.

Justine Heilner, ASLA

What inspired you to pursue a career in landscape architecture?

I was a landscape photographer, with a particular interest in how people understand landscapes, how being outside, experiencing nature, can make you feel. I was working in the darkroom at the American Museum of Natural History, printing pictures from their archives of expeditions—I became increasingly interested in understanding how people experience and relate to the natural world around them. I also wanted to work in sunlight.

Who are the female role models who have influenced your career?

Before school, I worked for a year in Edwina von Gal‘s office—she is such a sensitive horticulturist with a keen eye. It was a great grounding and connected me to one of my favorite peers, Abby Lawless, ASLA, who was starting her own career in landscape at the same time. Watching Edwina’s practice evolve has been inspiring and instructive—she has made her own way.

In graduate school, Anita Berrizbeitia, FASLA, was a great mentor to me. She kept telling me to be less uptight with my ideas, and also she encouraged me to explore careers in seemingly utilitarian landscapes like highways and roadsides. It took me a few decades but now I am working for a large state infrastructure with miles of trail and working lands. I find it fascinating.

I didn’t have a clear or straight path in my landscape architecture career and I think part of that was not having a consistent mentor—especially a woman. Instead, I feel like many of us have had to mentor ourselves. In this way, the women who have most influenced and continue to inspire me are my women peers. The women I have worked with and went to graduate school with, who have created their many different strong paths, are amazing! Several have started their own firms, or taken on leadership and evolved existing practices. Others have moved into adjacent fields like advocacy, agriculture, or other kinds of design. There is no one way.

All this said, gender is a spectrum and I have also learned a lot about showbiz from my trapeze teacher, Tanya Gagné, my favorite emcee Murray Hill, and my musician husband and his many bands. Performing (aka communicating) in front of people is part of the job of a landscape architect!

What advice do you have for other women pursuing a career in landscape architecture?

Think about how you like to work (inside at a computer, outside, hands-on, communicating?) and explore what’s out there before jumping into school.

Find a group of mentors that you can call on in different aspects of your life and career—and maintain those relationships.

Seek out opportunities to work together and collaborate. My favorite parts of my job are hatching exciting ideas with my colleagues across silos or work areas, and making them into something real.

Can you share with us a project you are particularly proud of and why?

Right now I am working on how to evolve a long (524+ miles) linear trail and working canal system into a park. It’s very complicated, and requires that I use my training as a landscape architect to ask a lot of questions, and slowly change the mindsets of “how we do things,” while also learning a lot about “why we do it the way that we do.” It requires humility, open-mindedness, humor, and persistence.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Don’t be in such a rush, but also, you aren’t wrong about your gut feelings. Listen to your body.

Megan Terry, ASLA

What inspired you to pursue a career in landscape architecture?

Growing up in a multi-generation logging family, I found a deep connection to forests, land, and the delicate balance between human use and natural preservation. As a child, I witnessed firsthand the hard work and tradition of logging, understanding both its economic importance and its impact on the environment—a duality that has helped in public meetings numerous times throughout my career. My years in the forests of Montana gave me a deep respect for holistic systems and for designing spaces that balance natural ecosystems with human spaces.

Who are the female role models who have influenced your career?

My role models are a group of incredible women who are not only close friends but also powerhouses in their fields, excelling in predominantly male-dominated STEM professions. Their support for one another, both professionally and personally, is inspiring every day. When I’m needing guidance, these women are the ones I look to for support and I often ask myself “what would they do” when faced with a decision. They are the definition of women uplifting other women. (One of these people actually sent me this form and encouraged me to apply). 🙂

What advice do you have for other women pursuing a career in landscape architecture?

My advice is to find confidence in your voice and to figure out how to get a seat at the proverbial ‘table.’ Our profession is made better with different perspectives, unique problem-solving, and other skills that know no gender. I’ve been lucky enough in my own career to have a strong network and, in my current position, support from male colleagues who make sure I don’t have to ask for a seat at the table—one is already there.

Water and Environmental Technologies’ “Resilient Butte: Sustainability, Health, and Resiliency Plan” won the ASLA Idaho-Montana Chapter’s 2024 President’s Award of Excellence – Planning and Analysis. / image: courtesy of Megan Terry, ASLA

Can you share with us a project you are particularly proud of and why?

The Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area (SBCCA) in Butte, Montana. This project put landscape architects in the driving seat to inform a Superfund Consent Decree that was over 30 years in the making. The 120-acre site will transform an area of town from one of environmental neglect to a thriving greenway and community park network. I was able to project manage the master plan for the SBCCA and have since used the lessons learned here on every project I have done since. This project helped me find my own voice and gave me confidence to step into leadership roles—and on a more personal note—it ultimately led me to moving back to the area I grew up in and gaining a new appreciation for a rough-around-the-edges mining town.

Recognition from the American Planning Association’s Montana Chapter / image: courtesy of Megan Terry, ASLA

What advice would you give your younger self?

It really sucks for a few years. Being in a rural area, we will have to move our young family to a new city to find a job under a licensed landscape architect to be able to get licensed for our state requirements. This move will show us the ugly sides of landscape architecture that is draining and depleting—outdated zoning codes that encouraged seas of asphalt parking lots, developers who have little respect for non-males—and we will have to fight on every project to justify doing the right thing. In the long run—wow, that builds up some resilience—and holy cow, it gets so much better. Hang in there—because the hard stuff makes the good stuff absolutely amazing.

Carolyn Pendelton-Parker, ASLA

What inspired you to pursue a career in landscape architecture?

With my decades of background in art history, geology, fashion, plus landscape ecology, it made sense to turn to designing exterior spaces and large land areas.

Who are the female role models who have influenced your career?

Beatrix Jones Farrand, Ellen Biddle Shipman, Martha Schwartz, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Gertrude Jekyll, Julie Bargmann, Emily Dickinson, Kathryn Gustafson

And a myriad of teachers throughout my education.

Coral Springs Downtown Pathway / image: Carolyn M. Pendelton-Parker plus URGe studio

What advice do you have for other women pursuing a career in landscape architecture?

Be a generalist—engage with artists, geologists, wildlife experts, and ecologists and find local historians to fully understand the project and its relation to the larger surrounding site: the ‘what was and what will be’ and the linkages to utilizing materials, vegetation, and art.

West Palm Beach Waterfront / image: Michael Singer Studios

Can you share with us a project you are particularly proud of and why?

West Palm Beach Waterfront—the broad mix of talent required for a city-sized project and the focus on artful ecology.

Special note: I worked on my first floating waterscape with oysters (found the spat and specialty native plantings) with a tidal wash on the center of three docks—a ‘living’ dock.

‘Living’ dock / image: image: Carolyn M. Pendelton-Parker and C R Parker

What advice would you give your younger self?

Build more landscapes and hardscapes. Work even more closely with knowledgeable technical wizards, biophilic experts, ornithologists, ecologists, building contractors, growers, and nurseries.