On Feb 1st and 2nd, the College of Environment and Design hosted the annual Landscape Architecture Short Course at the Classic Center in Athens, Georgia. The short course had over 100 virtual and in-person attendees with 12 corporate sponsors. Educational session topics provided 16 PDH to registered landscape architects and covered a wide range of topics, such as ecoregional green roofs, supply chain disruptions, and preserving historic sites.
The Short Course began with a tour led by Corey Browning of Select Trees. It began with a visit to several tree installations on the UGA campus and concluded with a visit to their nursery. Participants learned about sustainable practices in growing, specifying, and installing large trees. After returning to the Classic Center, Patrick Perry gave the audience some insight into navigating various community tree ordinances. Hollie Schmidt of Jacobs spoke about planning for sustainability and resilience at military installations. Wednesday’s keynote saw Mason Ailstock and Bob Hughes speaking on the up-and-coming Rowen project in Gwinnett County. Rowen will serve as a mixed-use innovation hub grounded in principles of Low Impact Development.
After the keynote lecture, students in Donnie Longenecker’s professional practice course learned how to network with professionals at the Buck Jones Nursery Happy Hour. Students were tasked with locating a landscape architect and asking them to review their design portfolio in the coming weeks. After Happy hour, Attendees ventured into downtown Athens to catch up with their fellow classmates and friends.
Day two of the Short Course began with CED Professor Cari Goetcheus speaking on the landscape architect’s role in preserving and maintaining culturally significant sites. Bruce Dvorak, grounded by an ice storm, joined us from Texas on Zoom. His talk introduced the audience to ecoregional green roofs. Thursday’s lectures concluded with a panel of CED alums (Donnie Longenecker, Ed Castro, Jon Williams, and Brent Lloyd) discussing how COVID, supply chain and labor challenges have affected life in the business and academic world. The Short Course concluded with CED professor Cameron Berglund, leading attendees on a sketch walk around the UGA Campus.
All in all, the conference was credited as a success. Attendees had several compliments on the quality of speakers and the opportunity it provides to reconnect with friends, students, and fellow CED Alumni.
