Lauren E. L. Marshall

First, I design mostly recreation facilities, and often I am modifying or improving existing sites.  For example, I designed a new low impact campground that allowed us to close the existing camp sites and restore the flood plain they were previously occupying.  I don’t see low impact recreation development as encroaching on forest lands- in f…[Read more]

Hi Trace,
I am with the U.S. Forest Service, so my design work is generally on National Forest System lands.  I am often on teams ensuring that our work (whether design work or restoration work within an ecosystem) aligns with NEPA while meeting high design and aesthetic standards.  Most of my design projects have been on fairly undeveloped s…[Read more]

Well stated, Andrew! As a someone in public practice, I can tell you that my experience this far has been quite different than what Trace describes above.

Hi Gareth,
So sorry about your back! I got hit by a car on my bike a few years ago- that is a terrifying experience to say the least. Was it bike versus car in this case? I have been lucky to walk away relatively unscathed from both of my car-on-human battles (minus some heinous bruising in my most recent car encounter in Thailand), but I know how…[Read more]

I would encourage you to pursue the track that leaves you with the most flexibility in the end. Given your interests, I think urban planning or landscape architecture both sound like good options for you, but I think the landscape architecture degree is more flexible. Think about it this way- you can do urban planning with a landscape architecture…[Read more]

Hi Peter- what prep course did you take?  I studied for my last section on my own, and it was painful.  I am in the “still waiting on results’ boat on that one and am feeling the 4-6 week pain…