New Directions in the American Landscape

Dr. Patrick Keyser is Professor and Director of the Center for Native Grasslands at the University of Tennessee. He leads research on management of native grasslands across the eastern US including in working lands settings (pastures, biofuels) and in woodlands and savannahs. He has authored numerous papers in scientific journals, extension articles, and the trade press, and was the lead editor and co-author of the book, Managing Oak Forests in the Eastern United States (2016).

Dr. Amy Johnson is a conservation biologist and Director of Smithsonian's Virginia Working Landscapes (VWL). In this role, Amy leads a team that cultivates a dynamic network of private landowners, citizen scientists, NGOs, state agencies, and scientists to collectively investigate the impacts of conservation management and land use on biodiversity. Amy's current research focuses on the responses of grassland bird communities to conservation practices.

Marc Wolf joined Mountain Top Arboretum in 2016 as Director of Horticulture and became Executive Director in 2017. He received his BA from Williams College, is a graduate of New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture, and interned at Chanticleer Garden. Marc studied with the noted landscape architect Darrel Morrison and worked as his field assistant on projects at New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and for private clients. As a writer and performer working in theatre, film and television, Marc received OBIE and National Endowment for the Arts Awards, among others.

Jamie Purinton, RLA has been a teacher, private practitioner, and writer in the field of landscape architecture for the last thirty-five years. She co-authored Landscape Narratives: Design Practices for Telling Stories (1998) and edited Voices of the Land (2004). She considers herself a lifetime student of wildlife habitats and native plant communities and believes her role as a citizen and designer is to protect and enhance our natural resources.  Her Hudson Valley based practice focuses on sustainable design, minimizing our impact on the land, and collaborating with clients and contractors making distinct, meaningful, and vital landscapes.