photo by David Yaeger
About Jessica
Landscape Architect
I am a landscape architect, writer and artist with roots in Carmel, California and Vancouver Island. I have always been devoted to nurturing “soliphilia”: our love of and responsibility for place and support of the many interrelationships that make it whole. I am guided by affection for the ancient beauty of the wild world and love to design landscapes that invite connection; respect the rights of nature; and enable the mutual flourishing of people and place. As we experience the many consequences of accelerating climate change, including the increased frequency and severity of wildfire on the west coast of North America, I am dedicated to innovating adaptive design and development frameworks that gracefully uphold both architectural beauty and ecological integrity. My cross-training as a hospice volunteer and Threshold Choir singer has taught me how to lead others through major change in the landscapes we love – including widespread tree mortality, severe windfall, catastrophic wildfire, flooding and more. With over 16 years of diverse experience, I have appreciated the opportunity to engage in many thrilling projects and collaborations in land use planning, habitat restoration, cultural landscape restoration, and commercial, civic and residential design in California and beyond. Early, hands-on work in regenerative agriculture, ecological restoration and landscape construction combined with astrong background in landscape ecology and GIS gained in my graduate education contribute to my versatility to hold the micro and macro view simultaneously, and to practice from principles as well as practicality. As I enter a new phase of my career, I plan to write a book this coming year intended to aid the personal and collective processing of ecological grief. I hope this may help us to emerge out of fear and stagnation into a more fluid acceptance of imminent change so we may adapt with grace. Going forward, I intend to focus my design practice on meaning-making in the landscape through public art, interpretive and memorial landscapes that encourage healing, eco-literacy, social connection, generosity and peace. I am actively licensed to practice in California, Michigan and am currently applying for reciprocal licensure in British Columbia.
“Working with Jessica in Environmental Planning and Design, I appreciated her ability to navigate difficult transitions, both in the landscape and how residents perceived and accepted change. She is able to find innovative solutions that honor tradition and thoughtfully address needed change, particularly with regard to environmental impacts due to climate. Her compassion for people and place are equaled by her dedication to detail, and service to community.”
Linda L. The Sea Ranch
“All flourishing is mutual.” Robin Wall Kimmerer
Artist
As an artist, I find rapture in the nuance of pattern in flora, fauna and the elemental realm. All of my inspiration arises through an intimate relationship with our wild world, and I am devoted to celebrating its exquisite biological diversity. I believe we have a lot to learn from the wisdom embodied in life forms that have thrived on our planet for hundreds of millions of years. It is my joy to help decode the ancient language of evolutionary adaptation, and to invite people into the solace and guidance to be discovered there. Most of my creative expression begins with photography, my original medium. My body of work includes serial photography, photographic pattern design , anthotype, eco-printing, and katazome (a Japanese stencil/resist dyeing process). Recent themes I have explored include the grace of decay in the plant kingdom; the poetics of roots in old growth sequoia and cedar; the vitality of spiraling form.
Writer
As an author and poet, I believe in the power of words to help us navigate change, loss, impermanence and the homesickness we experience in our modern lives via disconnection from source and a declining sense of place in the wake of wildfire and other effects of climate change. Through sharing my own journey of reclaiming belonging and connection to the Earth as well as to my ancestral lineages, I hope to inspire others to begin where they are in their own search for “home.” As a Threshold choir singer, I love to share songs in harmony to help bring peace and comfort at the end of life.