My story is a little convoluted, but whose isn’t? Before coming to landscape architecture, I got my Bachelor’s of Science in Geology from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. After briefly pursuing the research science track, I transitioned to work as a chef and attended culinary school at Parkland College. My interests in soils and food networks as they pertain to landscape are vestiges of those past lives.

My current work is broadly focused on rural landscape issues. I’m currently a research assistant for Professor Kelley Lemon on a Graham Foundation-funded project investigating the history of African-American agricultural communities in Illinois. My thesis research is about using photographic systems of inquiry to document the typologies of the landscape gradient between urban and rural areas with the hope of generating more rural-inclusive design methodologies to be taught and employed in the future.

I try to bring an arts-informed sensibility to my practice; in addition to my photographic work, I have begun experimenting with land art as a medium to enhance landscape architecture. In keeping with this, I will be attending the Fall 2023 session of the program Land Arts of the American West at Texas Tech University to further develop this interest.

Please feel free to contact me by email or connect on LinkedIn if you’re interested in talking. I’m currently beginning to look for post-graduation employment opportunities, with my earliest availability in May 2024. For everything else, I’m always ready to talk landscape, art, or something else entirely.

Me, Stirling