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.
These profiles will appear on the PPN’s LinkedIn group, Facebook group, and here on The Field. This post includes Jingyi Hu, ASLA, Jolene Rieck, ASLA, and Kaylin Slaughter, Associate ASLA.
Jingyi Hu, ASLA
What inspired you to pursue a career in landscape architecture?
My parents love planting. When I was a kid, they filled our little balcony with flowers and vegetables. They always proudly share greens and grapes with others because they can’t finish their harvest. They built a little fishpond with lotus planted in it, and it formed a mini ecosystem—bugs on the lotus feed the fish, fish waste feed the plants. I enjoy watching little magical moments happen in our garden and when I learned about landscape architecture, I knew it was for me.
Coming to Austin I got an opportunity to learn about the Food Forest. Jodi Lane and her amazing team built this beautiful place not only for the public to plant and harvest, but also a hub for the community to connect and thrive. Together with the adjacent community garden and food pantry, they helped their senior neighbors survive the Austin 2021 freeze. Through the food forest group, I saw my purpose in landscape architecture: to build a better living environment for the community.