Conference Speakers

Claudia West

Keynote Speaker

Claudia West is a leading voice in the emerging field of ecological planting design. Known for her passionate advocacy of plant-driven design, Claudia is a widely sought out speaker and consultant who applies the technologies of plant systems to bring essential natural functions back into our cities and towns. She has worked on all sides of the green industry—as a designer, a grower, installer, and land manager—grounding her innovative work in pragmatic solutions that address the realities of our urbanizing world. She is the co-author of the critically acclaimed book, Planting in a Post-Wild World.

Having grown up on a family-owned nursery, florist business, and design/build firm in eastern Germany, Claudia was propagating plants before she could walk. Her love of American native plants brought her to the U.S. where she worked at Blue Mount Nurseries in Maryland and immersed herself in the study of American flora and mid-Atlantic ecosystems. Claudia holds a Master’s Degree of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning from the Technical University of Munich, Germany. Her intense studies of plant habitats and the science of plant community-based design strategies at the renowned school for horticulture in Weihenstephan, Germany built a solid foundation for her current work. Before co-founding Phyto Studio, Claudia was ecological sales manager at North Creek Nurseries, a wholesale perennial grower in Landenberg, PA. Her work was focused on bridging the gap between growers, designers, and land managers as well as introducing more functional and beautiful ecological plants into the nursery trade.

Sadık C Artunç

**Sadık C. Artunç, FASLA,** **FCELA, PLA, PE**, currently is a professor of landscape architecture. He served as the Head of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Mississippi State University from 2007 until 2024. Before his tenure at MSU, he taught in the Robert S. Reich School of Landscape Architecture at Louisiana State University from 2007 to 1981.
Sadık has a B.S. and M.S. in forestry and forest engineering from the University of Istanbul and an M.L.A. from the University of Michigan. He is a registered landscape architect in the U.S.A. and a registered forester and forest engineer in Türkiye. His teaching involves design implementation and construction, site planning and design, and regional planning and design. His professional consulting involves large-scale planning and design, focusing mostly on recreation and tourism, resource planning, and design implementation and construction.

Frank Hu

**Frank Hu, PLA** is Assistant Professor in Landscape Architecture, where he teaches studio in addition to courses in construction and graphic studies. His teaching and research explores advanced technologies in landscape visualization, digital media, and GIS. Prior to joining Auburn, Frank practiced for 8 years at Lamar Johnson Collaborative, based in St. Louis, Missouri, focusing on large scale urban design and public greenways.
EDUCATION
Master in Landscape Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 2013
Bachelor of Science in Architecture, Washington University in St. Louis, 2011
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Geospatial Modeling, GIS/LIDAR, Multispectral Imagery, Parametric Design, Remote Sensing, Visualization

Isaac Cohen

Isaac Cohen is Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture at Auburn University. He has two decades of experience working on all aspects of park and urban public space issues. He has spent this time working with communities around the country on the design of varied public spaces, advocacy and fundraising to build parks, and on engagement and research into critical issues impacting the use of public space. Most recently he was an Associate at Studio Outside Landscape Architecture in Dallas, TX where his projects ranging from built works to city scale planning and equitable development planning. His work has been awarded, published, and exhibited nationally and internationally.

Cohen’s design research addresses the connection between the contemporary practice of landscape architecture and the myriad uses — social, cultural, economic, and ecological — of public space. Demonstrating this commitment, he was recently recognized with an American Society of Landscape Architecture Honor Award for Research for his project Race and the Control of Public Parks with buildingcommunityWORKSHOP. This work asks challenging questions of the term public and for whom, when, and why we build parks and public spaces.

Kona A. Gray

**Kona A. Gray, FASLA, PLA**
As a firm leader with 30 years of experience in 30+ countries, his global design and management sense has positively shaped many environments. Kona envisions welcoming places that promote community and vitality in diverse neighborhoods around the world. His portfolio ranges in multiple scales with emphasis on communities, parks, hospitality, urban public realms, mixed-use destinations, healthcare, and campus spaces. At EDSA, Kona’s award-winning projects are inspired by a passion for creative design solutions that solve meaningful global issues.
A Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), Kona currently serves as ASLA National President. He recently served as the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board ASLA Representative. Kona is a Past President of the Landscape Architecture Foundation and active Urban Land Institute member. Kona serves on the University of Miami Architecture School and Nova Southeastern University Business School Real Estate Advisory Boards as well as the University of Georgia School of Environment + Design Dean’s Council. He is a registered Landscape Architect holding a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia and Commercial Real Estate Certificate from Cornell University.

Francesca Gross

**Francesca Gross** works for Cawaco Resource Conservation and Development Council as an Environmental Specialist focusing on active management of natural resources to enhance the well-being of city residents, while prioritizing the needs of frontline communities. She is Program Manager for Cool Green Trees focusing on restoring health to Urban Heat Islands in Jefferson County.
Previously she spent 5 years building the new Urban Conservation program at The Nature Conservancy in Birmingham, Alabama on projects such as the Shades Creek Watershed Management Plan, prioritizing Healthy Greening and Stormwater Opportunities in the Birmingham, Alabama area using ArcGIS mapping tools, and design/build of 4 landscape prototypes to transform vacant urban land in Birmingham Alabama.
Her educational background includes a BA in Natural Resources from The Ohio State University College of Agriculture, and MS in Systems Ecology, Environmental Engineering Sciences from University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida through the Howard T. Odum Center for Wetlands.

Dennis Masden, AICP

Dennis Madsen, AICP received his Masters in Architecture from Georgia Tech [Go Jackets!] and subsequently spent two decades working for private-sector architecture, urban design and community planning firms in Atlanta. His experience ranged from small-scale infill and mixed-use projects to public housing redevelopment efforts and master plans for major downtowns. In 2013, he joined the City of Huntsville as the Manager of Urban and Long-Range Planning, and he has since then been leading the award-winning comprehensive planning effort known as “The BIG Picture”. Dennis lives on Monte Sano with his wife Laura Lester (Huntsville High, class of ’86) and son Adlai (New Century High, class of '26).