Chatham University ADC • Woodland Road • Pittsburgh, Pa

Landscape Architecture/Landscape StudiesFEB ‘09

Inside Information Important Chatham University News Conferences/Meetings/Events For Future Consideration American Society of Landscape Architects News Student Chapter ASLA News AIA Pittsburgh eColumns Call for Entries Scholarship Opportunities Internship Opportunities Design Opportunities Job Opportunities Volunteers Needed News of Interest CDCP News News from Sustainable Pittsburgh News from Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest

Brandende Stad - Bloeiende Stad(City on Fire/City in Bloom)2007, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, West 8

“It is possible for a blaze of flowers to explain what hap-pened on the 14th of May 1940 without being instantly an historic monument/The Schouwburgplein is an open space from where you can enjoy the skyline. It is the place to get together during the day. Flowers are hereby the finishing touch, the smile.” — Adriaan Gueze

West 8 is an international office for urban design and land-scape architecture, founded by Adriann Gueze in 1987. Over the last 20 years West 8 has established itself as a leading practice with an international team of 75 architects, urban designers, landscape architects, and industrial engineers.

Conferences/Meetings/Events

Monday, February 2, 2009Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture Lecture SeriesTom WiscombeCarnegie Museum of Art Theatre, 6:30 p.m.4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PAWiscombe is the founder of EMERGENT, an architecture and design firm incorporating the logistics of fields such as biol-ogy and computation in built work.

Saturday, February 7, 2009EcoLandscape 2009 Conference and Trade ShowSamuel Pannell Community Center2450 Meadowview Road, Sacramento, CAThis event will continue the tradition of past conferences by providing cutting-edge information on how to design, install, and maintain landscaping in an environmentally sound manner. Info/registration: www.ecolandcape.org.

Monday, February 16, 2009Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture Lecture SeriesSarah DunnCarnegie Museum of Art Theatre, 6:30 p.m.4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PADunn is an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Architecture, the co-founder of UrbanLab, and the research director of Archeworks.

Monday, February 16, 2009Design Excellence Lecture SeriesMargaret CrawfordPoint Park University Auditorium414 Wood Street, Pittsburgh, PAAuthor and professor of Urban Design and Planning Theory, Harvard GSD. Her research focuses on the evolution, uses, and meanings of urban space. Call the CDCP at 412.391.4144.

Tuesday, February 17 - Monday, February 23, 20098th Annual NOFA 5-day Course in Organic Land CareSchodack, NYAn intensive 5-day course developed to provide professionals with the education necessary to understand organic land care from design to maintenance. Contact Kathy Litchfield, 413-773-3830 or kathylitch29@yahoo.com.

Through Sunday, February 22, 2009Lisa Murch: Flora and FaunaWave Hill HouseNew York, NYLisa Murch draws on her studies of entomology, biology, and zoology to create her work, examining the complicated relationships and clever solutions of the natural world through the lens of sculpture and installation.

Thursday, February 26 - Friday, February 27, 2009Water Conservation ConferenceMarriott Pyramid Albuquerque, NMOffered by Xeriscape Council of New Mexico, this has become the national water conservation conference. For agenda and listing of speakers see: www.waterconservationconference.org or contact scott@xeriscapenm.com.

Conferences/Meetings/Events—cont.

Friday, February 27, 2009Laboratory of Architecture/Fernando RomeroCarnegie Museum of Art Theatre, 6:00 p.m.4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PARomero is the founder of the Laboratory of Architecture (LAR) practice, developing projects in Mexico, the United States, and Europe. This lecture precludes an exhibition of his work.

Opens Saturday, February 28, 2009Laboratory of Architecture/Fernando RomeroHeinz Architectural Center, Carnegie Museum of Art4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PATwo dozen projects together with large-scale photographs and analysis of Mexico City that help to situate Romero’s and LAR’s work in context will be on display.

Saturday, February 28, 2009Design Seminar with Gordon HaywardSheppard Pratt Conference CenterTowson, MDThe Horticultural Society of Maryland’s annual winter design seminar includes lunch, refreshment, and a book signing. Gordon Hayward has been a contributing writer for Horticultural Magazine and Fine Gardening for more than 30 years.Open by advance registration. See www.mdhorticulture.org for details.

For Future Consideration

Tuesday, March 3-Sunday, May 31, 2009Arbores VenerabilesGlyndor Gallery, Wave HillNew York, NY Wave Hill is celebrating “The Year of the Trees” by inviting artists to create drawings and paintings based on—or in response to—trees in Wave Hill’s collection. Artists include: Joel Adas, Rebecca Allan, Sandra Allen, Joan Backes, Isabel Bigelow, Emily Brown, Diane Carr, Jill Lear, Andrew Millner, Stas Orlovski, Ilene Sunshine, and Amy Talluto.

Friday, March 13-Sunday, March 15, 2009Go Green ExpoPennsylvania Convention Center, PhiladelphiaThe three-day event will showcase the latest in energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly products and services and hold interactive seminars and speeches on the growing green revolution. In addition, the expo will host an eco-film festi-val and fashion show. Tickets to the Go Green Expo LA are $10 each and can be purchased in advance at gogreenexpo.com or at the Convention Center on event day.

Tuesday, March 24-Wednesday, March 25, 2009Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment ConferenceParkCityDexter House, No 2 Royal Mint Court, Tower HillLondon, EnglandA ground breaking conference on the emerging role of green infrastructure in creating sustainable towns and cities and successful places. Contact ParkCity Conference Office, 020-8481-3349 or visit their web site www.parkcity.org.uk.

For Future Consideration—cont.

Monday, March 30, 2009Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture Lecture SeriesAaron BetskyCarnegie Museum of Art Theatre, 6:30 p.m.4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PABetsky, an architect, writer, and curator, is currently the director of the Cincinnati Art Museum and former director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute. He was also the director of the 11th Exhibition of the Venice Architecture Biennale.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009David L. Lawrence Convention CenterGreen$ense 2009Hosted by GBA, keynote speakers will include Harvey Bernstein, Vice president, Analytics, Alliance, and Strategic Initia-tives, McGraw-Hill Construction, and Joe Van Belleghem, Principal, Windwill West. Further details about Green$ense 2009 will be released soon.

Thursday, April 2 - Friday, April 3, 2009Streets as PlacesNew York, NYA 2-day transportation/placemaking training course designed to introduce participants to new ways of thinking about streets as public spaces and how placemaking can be used to build great streets and great communities. For details see www.pps.org/training/info/transportation_training_course.

Saturday, April 4 - Sunday, April 5, 2009Feminine Eco-Leadership: Women in Sustainability UC Berkley Extension Downtown Center425 Market Street, 8th Fl.Berkeley, CALearn about best practices and new leadership roles for women in sustainable education, design, and business from women who have already risen to the top of Bay Area sustainability organizations. Call 510-642-4111.

Monday, April 6, 2009Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture Lecture SeriesPreston Scott CohenCarnegie Museum of Art Theatre, 6:30 p.m.4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PACohen is the founder of Preston Scott Cohen, Inc. and is the Gerald M. McCue Professor in Architecture and chair of the Department of Architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.

Monday, April 20, 2009Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture Lecture SeriesBill MitchellCarnegie Museum of Art Theatre, 6:30 p.m.4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PAMitchell is a professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences at MIT. He is the director of the MIT Design Labora-tory and the Smart Cities research group.

For Future Consideration—cont.

Monday, April 20, 2009Design Excellence Lecture SeriesWalter HoodPoint Park University Auditorium414 Wood Street, Pittsburgh, PALandscape Architect, Architect, and Professor at UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design.Call the CDCP at 412.391.4144.

Friday, May 8-Saturday, May 9, 2009Dumbarton Oaks Spring Symposium“The Interlacing of Words and Things in Gardens and Landscapes: Beyond Nature and Culture”Dumbarton Oaks1703 32nd Street, NW, Washington, DCOver recent decades, debates about environmentalism, global warming and its consequences for life have triggered a questioning of the opposition between nature and culture. This has become particularly obvious in discussions among landscape architects and anthropologists. Yet there is little in common between these two areas of debate. In this sym-posium, an attempt is made to bring these two areas of debate closer by proposing new modes for the description and understanding of gardens, whether in the context of history or in the present—as they have been, or are, experienced by those who make and use them across many different areas of the world. See www.doaks.org for registration form. For further information, please contact Shannon Leahy, 202-339-6460.

Monday, May 26-Tuesday, May 27, 2009International Green Roof CongressNuertingen, GermanyUnder the patronage of the German Federal Minister of Transport, Building, and Urban Affairs, Wolfgang Tiefensee, the International Green Roof Association (IGRA), and the German Roof Gardener Association (DDV). Practical workshops and excursions to local green roof projects in and around Stuttgart and Freiburg will build upon the lecture series. The Congress 2009 will be of relevance to architects, landscape architects, planners, policy makers, investors, manufacturers, and installers. International Green Roof Congress, PO Box 2025, 72610 Nuertingen, Germany. Tel: +49 7024/96879596. Email: info@igra-world.com; greenroofworld.com.

Wednesday, May 27-Sunday, May 31, 2009EDRA’s 40th Annual Meeting: The Ethical Design of PlacesHyatt Regency, Crown CenterKansas City, MOEDRA seeks to confront people and place issues from a clear, ethical position. They value inclusivity, social justice, and sustainability. This shapes how good design is perceived, both in terms of process as well as product. Ethics shapes how one perceives one should act in relation to others and the planet. In proposing careful reflection on the path EDRA members have traveled, there is no more useful dialogue in which to engage than a return to first principles asking the question “Toward what good ends should design commit itself?” See edra.org for more information.

Monday, June 1-Wednesday, June 3, 2009Landscape Design in the City: Historical Landscapes in the Modern EraSt. Petersburg, Russian FederationContact: Dr. Irina Melnichuk, St. Petersburg State Forest Technical Academy, imelnichuk@peterlink.ru or Dr. Maria Ig-natieva, Lincoln University, New Zealand, ignat.m@gmail.com.

American Society of Landscape Architects News

ASLA Awards: Professional Deadline February 6

Submissions due by February 20.

Get more recognition for your good work by entering the ASLA Professional Awards program. The deadline for pro-fessional entry forms and payments is Friday, February 6. Submissions are due by Friday, February 20. The Professional Awards program features six categories: General Design, Residential Design, Analysis & Planning, Research, Communica-tions, and The Landmark Award.

To gain insight into preparing an entry, read winning strategies from Professional Jury Chair Mark Rios, FASLA, FAIA. For inspiration, review the 2008 ASLA Professional Award recipients and jury comments. Other questions may be addressed to Carolyn Mitchell, Honors and Awards coordinator, at 202-216-2331 or cmitchell@asla.org.

Alert! CA Licensure Under Direct Attack

Governor Shwarzenegger is proposing to remove licensure of landscape architects. This is quite a serious threat. Note the PDF item #8 in Government Efficiency. This threat is real, the $1.1 million amount is the total budget of the licensing committee. [#8: Eliminate Landscape Architects Technical Committee. This elimination would result in a savings of up to $1.1 million.]

According to the Department of Consumer Affairs Deputy Director, elimination means total deregulation and no state licensure. The state would lose taxes from the loss of business brought by our licensing AND the accreditation of our California schools will also be lost because they are accredited through the LATC.

It is important that we act on this threat to licensure quickly. Please disseminate to other LA’s and leaders letters you may obtain from this link: http://www.landscapeonline.com/research/article/11597. You may receive another request from ASLA, but the time is now. The Governor is proposing that this rule change be put before the Little Hoover Commission next week.

Contact: Angela Woodward, Past President, SCC/ASLA, IMA, 949-250-0023, x20 or awoodward@imadesign.comContact: Anna Mendiola, SCC/ASLA, President, 562-570-3165 or anna_mendiola@longbeach.govContact: Tracy Morgan Hollingworth, CAE, Assoc. Manager, CA Council of the ASLA, 619-255-8156 or CCASLA@sbc-global.net

The Student Chapter of ASLA meets the 3rd Thursday of every month.

LABASH Plans are being finalized. Those interested may contact Debbie Steinberg (dsteinberg10@gmail.com).

Orchid Sale takes place on February 12 from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Welker Room. A presale will be held in the JKM Library Lobby February 2 - 6 from 10:00 a.m. to 6 p.m.

AIA Pittsburgh eColumns

Sound of Conversation: A New Collaborative Event Comes to Pittsburgh —by Becky Spevack

When AIA Pittsburgh first learned of this global event with the hard-to-pronounce name, the office knew it could be a great opportunity for the region’s architects and designers. But it turned out to be much more...

STEP 1: PRACTICE PRONUNCIATIONPecha Kucha. Pay-cha Koo-cha? Pee-ka Kah-cha? No, no, no. Pecha Kucha Night (pronounced pay-chalk-cha) was devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein Dytham Architecture in Tokyo. It was an event conceived as an infomal place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work to the public. The idea is that each presenter is allowed to show 20 images, with each image shown for just 20 seconds—6 minutes, 40 seconds to talk about work, art, ideas, and then the time is up. This format has tapped into a demand for creative people across the globe. Since the first Pecha Ku-cha Night was held in 2003, the event has spread virally all over the world, with more than 140 cities now participating in this format. Pecha Kucha—which is Japanese for “the sound of conversation”—not only gives architects a chance to share their work, but has also included designers, painters, photographers, musicians, performance artists, and more.

STEP 2: EXPLANATION AND SOLICITATIONAIA Pittsburgh learned of this event through a member of the chapter who brought a magazine article about Pecha Kucha into the office to share. It sounded like a great idea, one which the organization hoped would bridge not only the different generations of architects, but also bring together a wide range of creative people from the larger arts commu-nity. After much research, it was decided that, October—the month of Design Pittsburgh—would be the perfect time to introduce this creative conversation to the city. A committee was formed to help guide the process, headed by Dutch MacDonald, AIA of MAYA Design. Also, AIGA Pittsburgh—the society of design—was brought on board as a partner....

STEP 3: BREAK A LEGA quick run-through the evening before helped calm some nerves, but not all. Dutch MacDonald, AIA, who had been in-strumental in organizing the event, had agreed to MC. The artists were asked to show up early, to be given a pep talk and the order in which they would present. The slides were in order, a sea of chairs lined up facing the projection screen, and everyone stood around, waiting for Pittsburgh’s first Pecha Kucha Night to get underway.

A handful of people showed up, then more people, until a steady stream was flowing into the space. A crowd had mate-rialized, a large, attentive crowd that filed into the rows of seats and eagerly awaited to find out what this event with the odd name was all about. The microphone was switched on, and with that, the conversation was started. Each presentation was incredibly different, with some presenting ideas, some presenting painting, photography, installations, architecture, life. An intermission halfway through created a chance to interact with the various presenters, and the feedback that was heard helped create a sense of accomplishment—everyone was enjoying themselves! At the end of the night, everyone who remained had nothing but positive words, asking when the next Pecha Kucha Night would be held.

STEP 4: THE CONVERSATION CONTINUESAIA Pittsburgh and AIGA Pittsburgh have one successful Pecha Kucha Night under their belt, but look to expand and enhance the conversation. Now that the community has a better idea of what exactly it is, hopes are high that the next event will be even better, pulling artists and creative types from all corners of the city. Interested or know someone who might be? Contact AIA Pittsburgh at 412-471-9548 and ask to be included on future mailings for Pecha Kucha Pittsburgh.

Call for Entries

Torsanlorenzo International Prize 2009

The Torsanlorenzo International Prize 2009 is offered with the aim of highlighting completed projects and promoting the quality of forest and urban green spaces. There are three sections: Section A - Landscape Design in Transformation of the Territory - actions or environment restoration, renewal, and recovery; Section B - Urban Green Spaces - the quality of projects in cities: squares, neighborhood green spaces, urban and private parks; Section C - Private Gardens in Cities and Suburbs.

The prize is open to landscape architects, agronomists, and foresters worldwide or other professionals involved in landscape and environment projects and enrolled on national and international professional registers. Projects that have already won other prizes are not eligible. There is no entry fee. For further information, see www.premiotorsanlorenzo.it or contact the secretary of the organizing committee: 39 06-91 01 90 05/email: info@premiotorsanlorenzo.it.

The Great Places Award

The Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA), the journal Places, and Metropolis expand a twelve-year effort to advance a critical understanding of place, the public realm, and the design and creation of human environments through joint sponsorship of The Great Places Awards. The program will continue to recognize professional and scholarly excellence in design, plan ning, research, and academic publication, and to raise awareness and apprecia- tion of the design and maintenance of the public realm. With its interdisciplin-ary focus, concern for human factors in the design of the built environment, and commitment to promoting links be-tween design research and practice, this awards program is the only program of its kind to represent the full breadth of environmental desgin and related social science activity. www.edra.org; www.places-journal.org/awards/edra.php.

I-Park Environmental Art Residency Program

Environmental artists, landscape/garden designers, other visual and performance-based artists are invited to submit pro-posals for site-specific works on the grounds of the 450-acre I-Park artists’ community in rural East Haddam, CT. Twelve artists/designers will be selected by a three-person independent panel for two, two-week residency sessions (August 17-31 and September 2-16, 2009), with a grant of $1,200 per invited artist plus up to an additional $1,000 for reimburse-ment of travel costs and/or materials. Lodging and meals will be provided for the term of the residency. A public event on September 19, 2009 will showcase the work. For additional details, see www.i-park.org/2009EnviroArtRes.html. Applica-tion deadline: February 23, 2009.

Beach and Pool

In this conceptual design competition, designers from around the world are welcomed to create products that reflect new ideas for the beach, sea, terrace or swimming pool spaces, involving aspects such as comfort, pleasure, recreation, cleaning, environmental protection, etc. The products to be submitted for competition may be generic-re-invented, ap-plicable to almost every environment, or specific, intended for a particular space or environment. Consult the website for more details: www.thedesigninstitution.com. Deadline is March 2, 2009.

Call for Entries—cont.

Luther College Sesquicenentennial and Jens Jensen Centenary Project

Luther College invites professionals with experience in site-specific design to submit conceptual design proposals that transform a portion of its grounds in celebration of the school’s Sesquicenentennial and the Centenary of Jens Jensen’s original landscape plan for the College, both of which occur in 2011. Contact David Kamm for further information: kam-mdavi@luther.edu or 563-387-1665. For additional information about Luther College, including the history of the Jensen landscape plan, images of the campus, and background on sustainability initiatives see www.luther.edu/about.

Scholarship Opportunities

The Landscape Architecture Foundation partners with generous sponsors and organizations seeking to improve the environment through student support. The financial support resulting from these partnerships includes multiple scholar-ship categories, which reward superior student performance or assist those with unmet financial need, and fellowships, which encourage original research. In addition to financial resources, LAF promotes internship opportunities, which enrich traditional education with practical experience or support research. Below are just a few of the many scholarships offered. For more detailed information, visit www.lafprofession.org/financial/scholarships.htm.

Steven G. King Play Environments Scholarship—undergraduate or graduate students enrolled at LAAB-accredited schools. Award: $5,000.

The Dangermond Fellowship—graduate students in the United States. Award: Up to three $10,000 fellowships.

Peridian International, Inc./Rae L. Price, FASLA Scholarship. Award: $5,000.

The Douglas Dockery Thomas Fellowship in Garden History and Design—graduate student in the United States. Award: $4,000.

The Arnold Arboretum invites applicants for Curatorial Fellow. Curation of the living collections is a fundamental part of the Arboretum’s mission, and detailed plant records have been maintained since 1872. This long tradition in col-lections management allows the Arboretum to provide aunique learning opportunity to an individual interested in a curatorial career at a botanic garden, arboretum, or other public horticultural institution.

During the year-long program (flexible start date in May), the fellow will become competent in the core area of cura-tion through formal training, experiential learning, and self-guided project work. Through collaboration with the curator of living collections, the successful candidate will participate in various research projects and learn the essentials of basic museum practice, curatorial review, collections development planning, and approaches to taxonomic verification. Working with the manager of plant records, the fellow will learn field-checking tactics and become proficient in the use of living collections management software (BG-Base) and electronic mapping technologies (GPS, AutoCAD, and GIS). Working with the curatorial assistant will expose the fellow to methodologies related to nomenclatural verification, accession documentation, and herbarium voucher collection. There will be additional opportunties to interact and collaborate with other Arboretum curation, horticulture, research, library, and education staff. The fellow will also be expected to conduct an independent project of their interest and appropriate to the Arboretum’s curatorial needs.

To apply, visist the Harvard University employment site. Applications will be accepted until March 1, 2009.

Scholarship Opportunities—cont.

Van Alen Institute Call for Fellows

Van Alen Institute invites applications for the 2009-2010 New York Prize Fellowship. Fellowships support critical inquiry and experimental practices that explore, challenge, and expand conventional definitions of public architecture. Fellows are based at the Institute for three-month residencies, where they generate projects in a range of formats on the most significant issues shaping public life and the built environment today.

The institute welcomes proposals emerging from practitioners and scholars in the design and planning disciplines, and other fields in the arts, humanities, and sciences. Fellowships are awarded in five project areas: Land Use and Develop-ment, Forms and Materials, Information and Communication in partnership with the Social Science Research Coun-cil, Systems and Ecology, and Culture and Politics. The Prize includes project support, stipend, work and gallery space, and publication in the Institute’s annual series Projects in Public Architecture. For more information, please visit www.vanalen.org.

Internship Opportunities

Design Workshop Summer Internships

The annual Summer Internship Program will be held June 8 throughAugust 21. The program is designed to expose students to an inter-active, professional office environment and a team of experienced design professionals. This year’s program is available for undergrad-uate and graduate students in Landscape Architecture and Planning.Recent graduates are encouraged to apply.

Selected individuals will spend approximately 10 weeks working as an intern in a Design Workshop office. Students will be exposed to both the creative and business environment. Assignments will vary and include project research, site visits, sketching, computer production, design reviews, and assisting on marketing proposals. To apply, please complete a copy of the online application. See www.designworkshop.com/SummerInternships.aspx. Application deadline is March 20, 2009 and finalists will be notified by April 3, 2009.

The Arnold Arboretum Isabella Welles Hunnewell Internship Program

The Arnold Arboretum offers paid internships that combine hands-on training in horticulture with educational classes. The internships offer the opportunity to work directly with an historic landscape and its world-renowned scientific col-lection of trees and shrubs. Interns are accepted for 12- to 24-week appointments. Ten interns work with the grounds maintenance department; two work in the Dana Greenhouses and the nursery.

As part of the training program, interns participate in instructional sessions and field trips in order to develop a broader sense of the Arboretum’s horticultural practices as well as those of other institutions. Interns are encouraged to share their experience and knowledge and to participate fully in the work of the institution. Over the course of the summer, interns work in groups to address a real landscape management issue and present their proposal to their peers and Arboretum staff. To apply, please see www.arboretum.harvard.edu/programs/intern.html.

OLIN Internships

For more than 30 years, OLIN has sustained a core commitment to education. The summer internship program teaches and challenges students with hands-on experience in a wide range of projects to facilitate the transition from scholarship

Internship Opportunities—cont.

to professional practice. As an intern at OLIN, students will be exposed to most project phases from inception through completion. The ten-week program is open to any graduate or undergraduate student advancing to their final year of study in an accredited program of landscape architecture. Applicants must show proof of legal authority to work in the United States. Please email info@theolinstudio.com for more information about OLIN’s 2009 internship program. Also see www.theolionstudio.com.

SWA Group 2009 Summer Program

SWA Group’s Summer Program consists of four design studios in one office followed by an internship in one of six offic-es. The program is open to any student of landscape architecture who will be returning to study in Fall 2009. SWA hopes that students engaged in the program will take the first steps towards bridging the gap between theory and practice and that they will return to their studies enriched by exposure to other students and by introduction to a highly focused design practice. SWA principals will direct the studios. Distinguished academics and professionals will attend final reviews.

SWA will provide housing during both the studio and internship periods. Interns should expect to pay for their travel expenses at the beginning and end of the program. Either a stipend or hourly wages will be paid during the month-long internship period only, depending on visa and other considerations, and travel from the studio office to the internship offices will be paid as well. Internship locations for each participant will be decided at the end of the studio period. Check the SWA website for more information: www.swagroup.com or contact them directly (summerprogram@swagroup.com).

Sacramento County Planning Department Intern Program

Sacramento County Planning Department needs people with varied backgrounds including urban/environmental planning, geography, economics, computer science, administration, and political science. Interns will be matched to projects based upon background, interest, and project availability.

The Program offers:

• Exposure to land use planning process • Opportunities to experience the inner workings of local government • Instruction necessary for your specific tasks • Constructive evaluation of your work • Important job contacts and a valuable addition to your resume • Class credit for some university departments • Fun and friendly working environment

Internships are usually unpaid/volunteer positions, However, class credit may be received if arrangements are made with college departments. Paid internships are occasionally offered, depend on funding. Paid internships will be subject to Sacramento County’s minimum job specifications and salary. For an application and more information, send a resume and cover letter to:

Carol Gregory Planner III Sacramento County Planning and Community Development Department 827 7th Street, Room 230 Sacramento, CA 95814 phone: 916-874-6141 email: gregory@saccounty.net

Internship Opportunities—cont.

Wave Hill Kerlin Education Internships

Each school year Wave Hill trains two interns who are interested in teaching natural science education and have a bach-elor’s degree. These interns join Wave Hill’s team of environmental educators who collectively plan, lead, and evaluate the integrated curriculum of natural science programs for children grades K-5. Each intern receives a stipend of $10 per hour on a part-time basis.

To apply, contact the School Partnerships Manager at 718-549-3200 x396 or education@wavehill.org.

Smithsonian Horticulture Internship Program

The Smithsonia Horticultural Services Division provides an excep-tionally well-rounded array of experiences in its intern programthanks to the wide diversity of services it offers to the Smithsonian.Interns will learn a broad range of horticultural endeavors from SI’sexpert professional staff and can provide a strong practical back-ground to emerging professionals hoping to enter the public gardening world.

Eligibility: Horticultural Services Division accepts current andrecently graduated undergraduate and graduate students studying horticulture, landscape architecture, museum studies, or other related fields. Selection is based on both an evaluation of the applicant’s application and available positions.

Duration: 10 to 16 weeks

Expenses and Stipends: A limited number of paid internships are available. Stipends pay $360/week for undergradu-ates and $420/week for graduate students. A Garden Club of America scholarship is also available for the Archives of American Gardens internship. Candidates must pay for their own travel, housing, and subsistence during the period of the internship.

Academic Credit: Interns may arrange for academic credit through their college or university.

Deadlines; Applications for internships should be received no later than the following dates. Internships will begin ap-proximately three months after the deadline. Summer: February 1; Fall: June 1; Winter: October 1.

Green Building Alliance seeks a Business Development Intern to work with the Green Building Products Initiative in Spring 2009. A Bachelor’s degree in a related field is preferred. Required skills and abilities: Excellent written and verbal communication skills; demonstrable science-based technical knowledge about green buildings; highly analytical; research skills using internet, secondary resources, and primary research (interviewing techniques); ability to translate techni-cal data to a variety of constituencies; knowledge of Microsoft Office programs. For more information, contact: info@gbapgh.org.

Hitcock Design Group offers two internships: 10-week and Long-term. Information and applications are available online. See www.hitchcockdesigngroup.com. Submittals are due by February 20, 2009.

Design Opportunities

No Design listings this month.

Job Opportunities

OLIN is currently accepting applications for positions at all levels within the design studio. Since its inception in 1976, the OLIN studio has created award-winning projects in a collegial and collaborative environment in historic downtown Philadelphia. Candidates must have excellent organizational skills and ability to work effectively as part of a team. Auto-Cad R2007 is required; familiarity with other computer graphic programs including 3D and Illustrator desirable. Salary is commensurate with experience. Applicants must show proof of legal authority to work in the United States. Please mail resumes including references, non-returnable work samples, and salary requirements to: OLIN Human Resources. Public Ledger Building, Suite 1123, 150 South Independence Mall West, Philadelphia PA 19106.

Allegheny County, Office of the County Executive seeks a Sustainability Manager. Minimum requirements: A master’s degree in environmental science, public policy, business, or a closely related degree AND five (5) years of work experience in green policies, climate protection initiatives, organizational development, program development, fundraising, and a familiarity with LEED certifications. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be subsituted. For full details and an application, see: www.alleghenycounty.us/jobs/CESustainMgr.aspx.

East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District, Modesto, CA has a position available for a Project Coordina-tor. Major duties will be to organize, plan, and facilitate public outreach endeavors; coordinate activities with numerous partners that share a common interest in protecting, conserving, and enhancing natural resources; assist county and local city governments address soil, water, and related resource concerns and the impact associated with development and growth; maintain detailed records of grant tasks and deliverables completed, prepare quarterly reports and invoic-ing; work towards the development of locally lead conservation management plans; write additional proposals for future grant projects.

Specific Job Skills: Bachelor’s degree in an agricultural or environmentally related field AND related experience; excel-lent communications skills and ability to work effectively with a large variety of individuals with varying priorities within the watershed; excellent organizational skills; knowledge of and interest in agriculture and natural resources; excellent computer skills; knowledge and experience with the conservation planning and/or watershed assessment and manage-ment planning process; physically able to conduct field activities, including ability to lift 40 lbs. and travel distances up to 2 miles; possess a valid driver’s license, good driving record, and proof of insurance.

For more information, contact: Lisa Alamo at 209-9320, x121 or email her at lisa.alamo@ca.nacdnet.net.

EDAW is looking for a GIS Specialist in their Denver office. EDAW is a world leader in landscape architecture, planning, and environmental services. The GIS Specialist will support ongoing GIS data development, spatial analysis, and carto-graphic output for environmental and utility projects.

Requirements: Minimum of 1-3 years of GIS experience; BA/BS from an accredited college or university in GIS, cartog-raphy, geography, or environmental sciences; proficiency using the ArcGIS Desktop suite of products; proficiency using Adobe suite of products; proficiency in cartographic skills and techniques.

To be considered for this position, candidates are required to submit the following minimum requirements: cover letter, resume, portfolio including three recent examples of mapping and analysis work. See www.edaw.com for details.

Job Opportunities—cont.

An entry-level marketing position is open at Beal Alliance, Inc., a 30-year-old, multi-disciplinary, public practice firm is comprised of two divisions: Sport, which focuses on sport planning and design, and Landscape Architecture, a traditional landscape architecture and planning organization. Their primary markets include: parks and recreation, sports and athlet-ics, education, and private sector.

The marketing employee will work in the Sacramento office and must possess the following qualifications: experience with Microsoft Office products, InDesign, and Photoshop; ability to write and communicate messages clearly and concise-ly with strong attention to detail; ability to meet deadlines, handle multiple projects under pressure, and work effectively in a team. The ideal candidate will be working toward a marketing, business, or landscape architecture degree. Hourly rate is dependent upon qualifications. Contact Robin Weiner for more details (robin@bealalliance.com).

Volunteers Needed

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) has a Conservation Volunteer Program. Pennsylva-nia’s public lands need your help! The following areas are opened to all interested parties:

Trails/Wildlife HabitatInterpretation/Environmental EducationForest Fire PreventionTechnical and EngineeringCampground HostsMaintenanceResearch

More information can be found on their website: www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cons/cvtype.aspx.

News of Interest

Venturi House on Jersey Shore May Fall

Robert Venturi’s Lieb House (1967), a small masterpiece of abstract modern design, is on the brink of sale and, quite pos-sibly, demolition. Its current owner, Sheila Ellman of Philadelphia, has reluctantly entered into a $1.45 million contract with a buyer, whom she describes as interested only in the land. He “only believes in the huge homes that most of the people on Wall Street are looking for,” she says. “We do not have the biggest lot on the street, so his mind is to build something very large. He has no intention of keeping a Venturi.”

The house stands at 9 East 30th Street in Loveladies, NJ, on Long Beach Island, a seaside resort north of Atlantic City. Originally constructed for the Nathaniel Lieb family, it is Venturi’s next built project after the Vanna Venturi House inPhiladelphia, his first major commission.

The Ellmans, the house’s third owners, have held it for 30years, studying Venturi’s blueprints and, except for paint and abathroom renovation, maitaining his design. Other Long BeachIslanders have not shared architects’ admiration, however, regularly objecting to University of Pennsylvania architecturestudents who visit by the busload. The Liebs sold the house

News of Interest—cont.

after six months, Ellman says, citing neighbors’ negative reactions. She also notes that opposition now coexists with emu-lation. In newer beach homes nearby, Ellman says, “everybody has copied Venturi.”

A docent at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Ellman faces family medical expenses and can no longer hold the house off the market. She describes months of attempts to find a suitable buyer in collaboration with Venturi Scott Brown and Associates, but given the current real estate conditions, none has appeared. Lacking federal or state landmark protec-tion, the house’s only hope at this point would be an attack of conscience by the anonymous purchaser or an 11th hour rescue—perhaps an offer to move it to another site—by another party.

The buyer’s attitude, Ellman adds, presents another risk for preservationists. “He doesn’t want picket signs out there,” she says. If protesters appear, “he’ll knock it down faster than lightning.”

Boxed Up: Archives Preserve a Company’s History. They Also Help in the Here and Now

Richard Meier’s passions in life include not only art and architecture, but also organization and careful recordkeeping. For as long as he has run an office, Meier has assigned a dedicated employee to keep everything from valuable drawings to routine correspondence safe and handy. Meier’s current archivist is Laura Galvanek, who oversees the storage of the firm’s records at both its office on the West Side of Manhattan and at a larger, remote facility in Queens (where rents are cheaper). That secondary space contains hundreds of architectural models, some more than 30 years old, and is now open to the public once a week (call 212-967-6060 to visit). Galvanek, 33, worked as an archival assistant (for Tiffany & Co.) and curator of exhibitions (for the Morris Museum, a showcase for arts, science, theater, and historical artifacts in Morristown, NJ) before taking the job with Richard Meier & Partners last year. Archiving, she says, “is a way to preserve the history of your organization.” But there is more at stake than preserving your design process for future generations. Being able to show your best work when you want to, Galvanek says, may also help you land new business, and having ready access to all project materials can help you serve your current clients better.

Keep CoolOriginal sketches are among the most important documents to archive, but tracing paper breaks down faster than other kinds of paper. So when Meier finishes a drawing, Galvanek puts it in an acid-free container. She keeps the container away from direct sunlight in a room that’s cool and where relative humidity is kept at about 50 percent. If you can’t afford a climate control, at least don’t store things in the attic, which is prone to temperature swings, she says. If you don’t have an archivist, you can buy the things you’ll need—including acid-free storage boxes and acid-free tissue paper—from compa-nies like Talas (www.talasonline.com) and Metal Edge (www.metaledgeinc.com), whose websites provide lots of informa-tion on the best ways to store drawings, correspondence, articles, and photos.

Mission ControlThe first thing you need to do is come up with a mission statement, so you know what you want to save and why, says Galvanek. There are the obvious things, like sketches that could be valuable some day. But there are also the kinds of documents that aren’t intrinsically valuable, but that you’d like to be able to put your hands on quickly. At Richard Meier & Partners, all computer hard drives are backed up daily. In addition, architects are asked to print out key correspon-dence; once a week, the hard copies are filed, newest on top, “so if you’re talking to the client and the system goes down, you can walk over to the file and pull the document you need, “ Galvanek says.

Dare to ExcelThere’s no point in saving things if you don’t know where to find them. Twenty years from now, you should be able to put your hands on any record, Galvanek says. Meier’s offce maintains an Excel spreadsheet for every project; the sheet gives the description and location of each item archived. You don’t have to use Excel; choose any template, Galvanek says, but be consistent. And try to catalog information at least once a week, so that you don’t fall behind, she says. Sound daunting? Luckily, she says, “Architects are the most organized people I know.” (continued on p. 16)

News of Interest—cont.

Boxed Up—cont.

Nothing Lasts ForeverDocuments are only useful if there’s a way to read them. Paper documents may last 100 years, but a CD may not reach its 10th birthday—a few scratches could make it unintelligible. And then there’s technological obsolenscence. If you have documents on old floppy disks, you may not have a way to read them today, and the same may happen in a few years with CDs. So make plans to copy data from one format to another every few years, Galvanek says.

You Never Know What You’ll Find in a Book

We may never fully understand what prompts people to leave unusual objects inside books. I speak of the slice of fried bacon that the novelist Reynolds Price once found nestled within the pages of a volume in the Duke University library. I speak of the letter that ran: “Do not write to me as Gail Edwards. They know me as Andrea Smith here, “ which the playwright Mark O’Donnell found some years ago in a used paperback. I speak of any of those bizzare objects—scissors, a used Q-tip, a bullet, a baby’s tooth, drugs, pornography, and 40 $1,000 bills—that have been discovered by the employ-ees of secondhand bookstores, according to The Wall Street Journal and AbeBooks.com. Mystery surrounds these deposits like darkness.

But the motives of some depositors—the novelist David Bowman, for instance—are knowable. “I was cleaning out a drawer and thought, Let’s do something with this,” Bowman said of the day four years ago when he stumbled upon all of the rejection letters from agents and editors about his first novel, “Let the Dog Drive” (1993). “Some of the letters were nasty,” he said in a phone interview. So Bowman scooped them up, tucked them in between the pages of the first edition of the book and sold the noxious bundle to the Strand, New York City’s famous used-book store. “It was very liberating,” Bowman said. “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

Bowman’s quest for vengeance is on the far end of the book-stuffing spectrum. More commonly, the stuffers are trying to create an aide-mémoire for themselves. “I have filled books with flowers I’ve received, to save the flowers in dried form and to remember the happy moments of receiving them,” Anne Rice said in an e-mail message. After Wayne Koes-tenbaum interviewed Vanessa Redgrave at a hotel bar about her role in the movie “Mrs. Dalloway,” he took Redgrave’s lipsticky napkin and placed it in the paperback copy of the novel he’d brought with him. That Redgrave’s lipstick traces might have besmirched his book seems not to have fazed him. “I might have also taken her swizzle stick,” he confessed.

In “Never Do That to a Book,” an essay in her collection “Ex Libris,” Anne Fadiman says that these aides—mémoires—are often specific to the book owner’s profession. Fadiman writes about a landscape architect who “savors the very smell of the dirt embedded in his botany texts; it is the alluvium of his life’s work.” She also mentions a science writer whose

News of Interest—cont.

copy of “Birds of Yosemite and the East Slope” contains an owl feather and the tip of a squirrel’s tail—remnants of an animal-on-animal smackdown—and whose copy of “Mammals of the World” has been “enhanced” by the “excremental splotches” of a band-tailed pigeon that perched on the book while learning to fly. Blurry grows the line between litter box and litter books.

Sometimes things get lost in books. The novelist Diana Abu-Jaber recalled putting a favorite photograph of a friend’s greyhound inside her copy of M. F. K. Fisher’s “How to Cook a Wolf”—and then promptly leaving the book on a plane. (“I hope it comforts someone who’s afraid of flying,” she wrote in an e-mail message.) Similarly, the musician Dan Zanes once used a book to store a prized possession given him by his mother—a rare photograph of J. D. Salinger, taken by Mrs. Zanes’s mentor, the German photographer Lotte Jacobi. “I’m sure it’s safe, but I have no idea where it’s safe, “ Zanes said. “Not in any book that I currently own, that’s for sure.”

Sherman Alexie figured out a way around botched safekeeping during his hard-drinking college days at Gonzaga and Washington State Universities in the 1980s. Fearful that he would spend all his money during a bender, he would “slide tens and twenties into random books in my apartment.” Months later, having forgotten about the money, he’d find it again. “It was like winning little jackpots,” he wrote in an e-mail message, adding, “I’m sober now, have been sober for many years, and I keep my money in banks.”

The cadre of book-depositers is not without its stylists. The comedian Jean Villepique, who played Tracy Morgan’s thera-pist on “30 Rock,” says she likes to slam insects between the pages of library books and then return the corpse-laden tomes. “I like to think that someone will get to Page 62 and think, “Eww!” and then, “Who?” Villepique said in an e-mail message. She preys only on small bugs that land on the page voluntarily—mostly gnats (“like a little dust poof”) and mos-quitoes, whether unfed (“neat and dry”) or bloody (“page joiners”). But Villepique warns that if any cockroach in her Los Angeles apartment “dares to creep near my copy of ‘Collapse’ by Jared Diamond, I will kill, knowing that my behavior and the roach’s existence are both causes of the collapse of our society.”

Who knows what puzzling items lurk, or soon will, on the bookshelves of the world? Well, Meg Wolitzer gave advance warning of one. In the early ‘70s, during her freshman year at Smith, she and a friend got “punch-drunk” from too much studying in the library one night. “To entertain ourselves on a break, we took out a sheet of lined paper and wrote a ‘diary entry’ for one ‘S. Plath’ (‘Saw the most delicate bell jar today in an antique store....’), “ Wolitzer wrote in an e-mail message. The pair gave the document a 1950s date, then placed it between the pages of a reference book, “and left it there to age and corrode and finally be discovered.”

Wolitzer added, “To my knowledge and to my relief, it has not been.”

Delaware Towns to Gain from Waterfront Grant

Delaware County communities are among six towns and villages that will benefit from a recently awarded state Local Waterfront Revitalization Program grant. The town of Olive applied for a $91,417 grant for the Esopus-Delaware Corri-dor Revitalization project, which involves six communities along the state Route 28 corridor from Olive in Ulster County to Andes in Delaware County.

The partnership involves the Central Catskills Collaborative, the landscape architecture program of SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. The groups will con-duct community visioning exercises and produce both corridor-wide and site-specific designs for communities along the Esopus Creek and the East Branch of the Delaware River. Student internships will be included, according to a state docu-ment announcing LWRP grants.

“This award showcases the importance of community collaboration and the tremendous benefits that arise when towns and counties view each other as neighbors and partners—not rivals,” Lisa Rainwater, Catskill Center executive director

News of Interest—cont.

Delaware Towns—cont.

said in a media release. “All the towns along the Route 28 corridor will benefit from this revitalization strategy, and we look forward to working on this project,” Olive Town Supervisor Berndt Leifeld said in a media release.

The Central Catskills Collaborative includes representatives from seven municipalities along the Route 28 corridor—the towns of Andes, Hurley, Middletown, Olive and Shandaken and the villages of Fleischmanns and Margaretville.The state Department of State Office of Coastal, Local Government and Community Sustainability will coordinate the grant with the town of Olive and provide technical assistance. The grant grew out of the recent designation of the Esopus Creek as a Designated Inland Waterway by the state Legislature, which was signed into law by Gov. David Paterson in February.

Trust for Public Land 2008 Achievements

The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national land conser-vation nonprofit, will have protected more than 62,000 acres of land in 32 states, with a fair-market value of more than $330 million. In addition, TPL and its affiliate, the Conservation Campaign, helped 44 states, counties, and municipalities nationwide pass ballot measures that will generate more than $7.5 billion in new funding for parks and open space protection.

“Even though times are tough, people care deeply about conservation,” said TPL president Will Rogers. “Ultimate-ly it is the love Americans have for the land that fuels all of TPL success.”

Since it’s founding in 1972, TPL has helped protect more than 2.5 million acres of land, from the inner city to the wilder-ness, and helped create funding and develop plans for conservation in 47 states. Highlights for 2008 include:

Mazama Forest, OregonSince 1954, when a federal termination set aside past treaty provision, the Klamath Tribes have sought to reclaim at least some of the 1.2 million acres of ancestral lands lost at that time. In 2006, 90,000 acres of their Mazama Forest homeland was put on the open market by Cascade Timberlands LLC, and TPL began a partnership with the Klamath Tribal leaders to help them broker a deal to buy the land. In 2008 with funding in place to allow the deal to be finalized, we are in the final stages of restoring the land to the Klamath Tribes, who stand ready to care for the health of the forest, and the wild-life dependent upon it.

Fortress Cliffs Ranch, Palo Duro Canyon, TexasPalo Duro Canyon, the “Grand Canyon of Texas,” is a dramatic and colorful slash in the flat topography of the Texas Pan-handle. But large swaths of the canyon rim have remained privately owned, including the nearly 3,000-acre Fortress Cliffs Ranch, named for a six-mile-long ridge of rock that is one of the canyon’s signature sights. Last year, the ranch was listed for sale, raising the very real possibility that large homes could be built there. TPL stepped in and acquired the ranch as an addition to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, preserving one of the canyon’s most dramatic vistas for enjoyment by gen-erations of hikers, campers, and sightseers to come.

Santa Fe Railyard Park and Plaza, New MexicoIn September 2008, the City of Santa Fe, Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation, and TPL completed construction on the 50-acre Railyard Park and Plaza, the city’s newest and biggest downtown park. Now open to the public is the 10-acre Railyard Park, the Railyard Plaza and Market Station, the historic depot, and other attractions. With the historic train de-pot designated as a stop for the new Rail Runner Express, the park and plaza will be a center of transportation, business,

News of Interest—cont.

and tourism for the entire state. TPL acquired the railyard property in 1995 and at the city’s request oversaw design and development of the new park.

Brazilier Island, New Orleans, LouisianaBayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge-already the nation’s largest urban wildlife refuge-grew by more than 2,000 acres in 2008 with the addition of a significant portion of Brazilier Island in Lake Pontchartrain. Located 15 minutes northeast of New Orleans’ French Quarter, Brazilier Island is part of the New Orleans East land bridge and as one of the more intact coastal marshes in the area, providing wildlife habitat and helping to reduce storm surge to nearby communities.

Baker Morrow, FASLA, Stewart Udall Cultural Landscape Preservation Award Recipient

In 2006, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall presented the inaugural Steward Udall Cultural Landscape Preservation award. In 2008, Victoria Jacobson, historic architect for the National Park Service, submitted landscape archi-tect Baker Morrow’s name for consideration for the award. Mr. Morrow has conducted research on historic landscapes since 1980, often for the NPS. He has also served as director of the Registry of Historic Landscapes for the New Mexico NPS.

Mr. Morrow notes there are files on about 300 archaic landscapes in New Mexico, and believes there’s plenty of history yet to be discovered in central New Mexico. He observes there are some 300 pueblos in Chupadera Mesa alone.

Mr. Morrow helped seed the establishment of the landscape architecture program at UNM. He began teaching at UNM in 1975; by 1977 the beginnings of the landscape architecture program were present, with undergraduate coursework in the field. In 2003, the landscape architecture accrediting board reviewed the program and granted formal accreditation.

Mr. Morrow founded the firm Baker H. Morrow, Landscape Architect in 1973. Today the firm is called Morrow Reardon Wilkinson Miller, Ltd. In 35 years of professional practice, the firm has designed and seen through to completion the con-struction of over 3,000 projects. Water-wise landscaping has been integral to the firm’s practice for or two decades.

CDCP News

CDCP is accepting applications for Director of Design and Planning. Visit www.cdcp.org for details.

The following volunteer opportunities are available at the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh:

Office Volunteers: To help with filing, mailings, answering the phones, and various other administrative activities. Pedal Pittsburgh Volunteers: To see the complete list of volunteer opportunities, see the cdcp website.Design Fair Volunteers: Please contact Melissa Leiberton at 412-391-4144 or mleiberton@cdcp.org for more information on this position as well as the above.RenPlan Program Volunteers: To volunteer as a RenPlan program consultant, please contact Zack Ambrose at 412-391-4333 or zambrose@cdcp.org.

Listen to Anne-Marie Lubenau and five other community design leaders express their visions for Pittsburgh in 50 years. Follow the link to WDUQ on the CDCP website.

News from Sustainable Pittsburgh

Input received from Transit-Oriented Development Symposium

On January 6 and 7, 2009, over 170 leaders in the community attended a symposium and tour to learn and assess the many advantages and opportunities presented by Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) in and around Pittsburgh. This program addressed insights to what is happening on the local front, the role of Community Development Corporations, the national agenda, and how we can work together to craft a Pittsburgh Transit Agenda.

The following link contains a summary of input collected during the community forum, which followed the neighborhood tour. Participants were invited to provide insights and recommendations per several pre-determined questions around which their input is organized. See what you and your colleagues had to say. http://www.sustainablepittsburgh.org/events/TODSummaryJan09.pdf

Listen to the DUQ Broadcast of Dr. Chris Benner

Didn’t get a chance to listen to DUQ’s broadcast of the Fifth Annual Regional Equitable Summit’s keynote address on January 11? DUQ has posted the link on its website for your listening pleasure.

News from Sustainable Pittsburgh—cont.

How a Progressive Stimulus Program Could Revitalize Pittsburgh and America’s Older Cities

Imagine a $1 trillion stimulus program that wasn’t laden with pork. Imagine a program that ended decades of sprawl and decline. Imagine investing in the cities that built America, the cities that have lost jobs and population for the past 30 years. Imagine developing a program that could reverse that trend and create a new triple bottom line of sustainable economic growth, investment in built environments and opportunity for all.

That would be some program.

Now stop imagining.

This year, Congress will have the responsibility—the opportunity—to decide how to spend nearly $1 trillion in a stimulus plan. It will also be making one of the most critical decisions on the fate of older cities, suburbs and small towns in our lifetime.

Difficult choices will need to be made. These choices will determine whether we continue on a path of urban decay and the continued development of our remaining open spaces—or if we begin a new vision of revitalizing Pittsburgh and the other cities that are the keystone of our heritage. Read the full story in the January 11 Post-Gazette. www.postgazette.com.

Transportation for America: More and Bigger Roads—Or an Investment in Our Future?

When a bridge collapsed in Minnesota in 2007, Americans were shocked to learn that thousands of bridges across the country were rated “structurally deficient.” Now Congress is poised to include billions of transportation funds in the next recovery package, but the highway lobby is pushing them to spend it on road expansion, not repairs. Fill out the form on the Sustainable Pittsburgh website to send a strong message to the new Congress demanding accountability in the economic recovery package. . .By signing this petition, you are joining the Transportation for America team. Sustain-able Pittsburgh will keep you updated with critical action alerts so you will never miss an opportunity to take action to get America moving again.

Green Building Alliance News

Coming Soon: Green$ense 2009

Mark your calendars for March 31, 2009, the date Green Building Alliance will host its annual regional conference, Green$ense, at the David Lawrence Convention Center. Join GBA as they present several topics pertinent to your company, including, “The Role of Specifications in Achieving LEED Certification,” presented by Ross G. Spiegel, associate/senior specification writer/green team leader, Fletcher-Thompson, Inc. Spiegel co-wrote the 1999 book, Green Building Materials: A Guide to Product Selection and Specification. This session will help you understand what green building project teams are looking for in products.

Keynote speakers include Harvey Bernstein, vice president of analytics, alliance, and strategic initiatives at McGraw Hill Construction; and Joe Van Belleghem, principal, Windmill West. Discounted rates for early registration will be available until March 10th. Further details about Green$ense 2009 including registration information will be released soon.

2009 Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference

The “Good Jobs, Green Jobs” National Conference will be held February 4-6 in Washington, DC. The conference will bring together 2,000 prominent leaders from the labor movement, business and industry groups, environmental organi-zations, and community groups, as well as elected officials and government decisionmakers. It seeks to forge an agenda for transforming our struggling economy through a variety of innovative environmental investments—including energy efficiency, renewable energy, and green technologies. Visit www.greenjobsconference.org to register or obtain more infor-mation.

DCNR to Invest $44 Million in Park and Recreation Projects

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will invest nearly $44 million for 316 conservation and recreation projects designed to help revitalize communities and protect natural resources. Funding for the grants comes from DCNR’s Keystone Fund, which is generated from a por-tion of the realty transfer tax, Growing Greener I and II and the ATV/Snowmobile Fund. The grants will fund many projects, includ-ing the creation of trails, open spaces, swimming pools, community parks, and greenways.

15 Pennsylvania Mayors Join Climate Protection Agreement

The United States Conference of Mayors recently announced more than 900 mayors, including 15 in Pennsylvania, have signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. The agreement encourages mayors across the country to meet the Kyoto Protocol’s emission reduction goals. This number of signers is seen as a significant milestone in the national campaign to reduce global warming and represents more than 81 million Americans. For more informa-tion, see the U.S. Conference of Mayors website.

New LEED Rating System The next evolution of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system for commercial buildings will be introduced in 2009. “LEED 2009” will include a series of major technical advancements focused on improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, and addressing other environmental and human health outcomes. See USGBC website—LEED 2009.

News from Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest

Love Your Tree

In conjunction with the upcoming exhibit at the Children’s Museum, Trees Inside and Out, Friends is going to be exhibit-ing artwork, photographs, and stories of tree-love in the entrance. Be a part of this exhibit! Send them photos and art-works regarding your favorite tree(s), a story or poem about favorite trees, and anything else 2-D that can be included in the exhibit. The exhibit will be displayed througout February. Also, check out the Love Your Tree Website!http://www.pittsburghforest.org/GetInvolved/LoveYourTree

Become a Tree Tender in 2009Have you made a New Year’s resolution to try something new or to become more engaged in your community this year? Make trees a part of your resolution. Consult http://www.pittsburghforest.org/treetenders for more information. New dates for Tree Tender Courses include: February 10th, 17th, 24th on the North SideMay 13th, 20th, 27th in HomewoodJuly 16th, 23rd, 30th on the South SideSeptember 15th, 22nd, 29th in Lawrenceville *Courses are open to City of Pittsburgh residents!*

Calling on Tree Tenders!

Seeking volunteers for the Arbor Day 2009 Celebration For the past several years, Friends has held Arbor Day celebrations at eight different Pittsburgh public elementary schools. If you are available on Friday, April 24th, and want to volunteer with with Friends at a school, please contact Caitlin for details: Caitlin@pittsburghforest.org

Winter Tree Care With the extremely cold and snowy weather lately, most folks have been de-icing their walkways with rock salt. Exces-sive salt can damage trees, but you might not notice the damage until summer. To decrease the risk of salt damage to trees:+ Use less salt: most manufacturers claim that you only need 1 tablespoon of salt per square foot of sidewalk. Also con-sider mixing the salt with sand when you deice your walkway.+ Use a salt alternative: Calcium chloride and calcium manganese acetate will not affect the health of trees as much as salt can. + Irrigate the soil in the spring to remove the salt.