By Liz Westbrook
The first year class of landscape architecture students is a diverse group from many locations and backgrounds. The students are from numerous places ranging from the west coast to the east coast and as far away as China. Their backgrounds range from artists, botanists, teachers and water system engineers to computer scientists, floral artists and organic farmers. It is a promising group for the future of landscape architecture.
Jeannine Bessette is from Ann Arbor. She studied Latin American Studies and History at McGill University for undergrad. Jeannine received her Masters at University of California-San Diego in Latin American Studies before returning to Ann Arbor for her Landscape Architecture degree.
Peter Breese grew up in Colorado. He received his undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and Applied Physiology at CU Boulder. Peter worked in public health as a medical epidemiologist before coming to the University of Michigan for Landscape Architecture.
Lauren DeSilva grew up in West Bloomfield, Mich. She received her undergraduate degree in Art History and Spanish at the University of Michigan.
Allison Krueger is originally from Michigan. She obtained a BS in Botany from Michigan State University in 2002. Since then, Allison has worked in numerous Botanic Gardens (Kew, Brooklyn, Morris Arboretum), focusing on education and horticulture. Before coming to school, she spent the last four years working for an Horticultural Services Co. in Chicago managing the interior and exterior departments.
Angela Lee is from Long Beach, Calif. Angela earned a BA in film from the University of Southern California. However, the West Coast could not contain her. She moved to Boston to work and found the city's Big Dig project guiding her to career aspirations in Landscape Architecture ... bringing her here to UM and SNRE.
Lauren Lesch grew up outside of Washington, D.C. She graduated with a Plant Science degree from Cornell University in 2005. Lauren participated in Teach for America teaching sixth grade science in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.
Jessica Neafsey grew up and went to undergrad in Chicago. In Chicago, she worked as an aerial photographer/artist. Jessica has traveled extensively (Italy, Yukon, California, northern Michigan) learning about sustainable agriculture, ecological restoration and "hardscape construction."
Chris Nordstom is originally from Grand Rapids, Mich., but spent the past eight years in Chicago. His undergrad was from University of Michigan, has been working in the litigation technology field for various law firms and consulting groups since graduation.
Shazeb Qadir grew up in San Jose, Calif. Shazeb received his undergraduate degree is in environmental policy and planning from the University of Michigan.
Patrick E. Reed, PE, is originally from Lansing, Mich., completed earning a BS in environmental engineering from Michigan Technological University in 2000. After graduating, he worked as a project engineer and, eventually, a project manager for Tetra Tech MPS, Tetra Tech Industrial Division, and N.A. Water Systems for approximately six years.
Jingyuan Wang grew up in the city of Chengdu, Sichuan province, China. He has an undergraduate degree in Landscape Gardening from the Beijing Forestry University. Jingyuan worked in a landscape firm for a year before coming to Michigan for his MLA.
Liz Westbrook grew up in Columbus, Ohio. She received her Bachelor in Landscape Architecture from North Carolina State in 2003. She has been working as a landscape designer in Seattle for the past four years before deciding to return to academic in order to explore teaching and research of landscape ecology.