January 24, 2025 @ 4:00 p.m. MT | Distinguished Alumni Lecture
About the Lecture
How can we display genuine empathy, grace, and compassion toward ourselves and others – and the natural world around us? Humans are reliant on the environment for essential resources and services. In the symbiotic relationship between humans and nature, landscape architecture plays a unique and critical role that, through design, addresses the social needs, fundamental rights, and wellbeing of people, while stewarding care and renewal of ecological systems.
Speaker Bio
Dave is a Professional Practice Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning (LAEP) at USU where he has teaching and Extension assignments. Dave leads instruction of the department’s Introduction to Landscape Architecture course, the largest of its kind in the U.S. with over 1,000 students taught annually. He teaches University Connections to incoming freshmen and has taught Foundations of Sustainable Systems, Land Planning for Residential Development, co-taught the Leadership in Planning and Design – a Capstone studio for LAEP seniors, and currently instructs the Analysis and Design I studio. In addition, Dave developed and taught the LAEP Landscape Architecture Record Exam Preparation course for several years. An alumnus of the LAEP program, Dave joined the LAEP faculty in 2012.
From 1995-2014, Dave worked as the Associate Director and Director of the Utah State University Botanical Center (USUBC) in Kaysville, Utah. The USUBC is a 100-acre facility owned and operated by Utah State University dedicated to the mission of promoting resource conservation. The USUBC includes water-wise demonstration landscapes, wetlands and ponds, a plant nursery, trails, the Utah House, an arboretum, the award-winning LEED Platinum Wetland Discovery Point classroom, and a USU Distance Education and County Extension Center.Dave has extensive experience and interest in water-conserving landscapes, regional identity, sustainable design, community engagement, and environmental education. He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and currently is a member of the Utah ASLA Sub Committee, serving as the Utah State liaison to ASLA.
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