Portrait by Garrison Taylor
Portrait by Garrison Taylor
As the youngest of four siblings in Gainesville, FL, I grew up surrounded by the best kinds of chaos. The constant noise and messes caused my parents all types of headaches, but for me, it was a source of inspiration. I was quickly drawn to the arts and design, spending most of my time either drawing, reading, or sewing. While I couldn't bring my sewing machine to my dorm room, I brought my creative spirit and constant desire to learn and improve my craft. At the College of Charleston, I double majored in Political Science and Historic Preservation and Community Planning, discovering a passion for architecture, design, and the outdoor world. I followed this passion and attained a Master of Landscape Architecture (M.L.A.) from the University of Georgia.
Before graduate school, I served in AmeriCorps at the University of Georgia Office of Service-Learning. I continued to work for the OSL as a graduate assistant while pursuing my Masters Degree. In this role, I coordinated volunteers, designed promotional materials, and mentored undergraduate students. This instilled within me a desire to serve my community through my work. I also completed a summer fellowship with the Atlanta History Center, which emphasized the importance of understanding not only sites and places, but the people that shape them. After graduation, I brought these skills to Moon Meeks & Associates, Inc., where I worked directly with clients seeking landscape architecture and civil engineering services. I took pride in my attentiveness to the clients' needs. I also enjoyed further integrating the company into the local community by organizing events such as school career days.
Performing field work in Whigham, GA
Kitchen garden concept
My design philosophy is rooted in preservation, service, and research; I believe there is no such thing as a "blank slate." Every site, no matter its size, has a story waiting to be told. As designers, we reveal these stories. We do not dominate the natural world in an attempt to tell a story out of step with the site. This is why the best designs work in harmony with the world around them, taking into account natural habitats, existing topography, and regional significance. Designs should connect people to the outdoor world and themselves, whether it be a small garden or a campus green. Good designs also create a sense of immersion, allowing the client to visualize the space before building. That is why my designs always include the small details that make a space feel lived-in, real, and fun.
Click here to view my portfolio, highlighting projects from my studio classes, internships, and professional career as a designer.
I was one of nine speakers chosen to give a TED talk as part of the 2024 TEDx UGA Snapshot Series. Watch the globally shared video above.
In the summer of 2022, I completed a fellowship with the Atlanta History Center, surveying, documenting, and researching a historic peanut farm in South Georgia. I wrote and published my findings in an article for their quarterly magazine, linked here.
I created a guide, linked here, for design professionals to memorialize losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The guide is led by the research question: How can we use the theory of collective memory to commemorate the ambiguous losses COVID-19 caused?