Dr. Michael Glauser is the director of Entrepreneurial Programs at Utah State's Huntsman School of Business. In addition to being a professor at USU, he is an experienced business consultant and successful entrepreneur.  Knowing that landscape architects are the largest self-employed profession, he shared with us eight key practices of successful businesses.  Dr. Glauser also talked about the opportunities available on campus for learning entrepreneurial skills.

Click here to learn more about the Entrepreneurial Minor.

Laura Bandara, an award-winning landscape designer, is currently an LAEP adjunct faculty member and independent consultant.  Recently relocating to Utah after four years with AECOM Design + Planning (formerly EDAW) in Virginia, she has engaged in a wide range of design and planning work throughout the United States.  Laura's presentation, entitled "Icons and Eyesores: Reclaiming, Reconnecting, and Restoring Landscapes," looked at her recent work in both iconic and contaminated landscapes, whose juxtaposition reveal the interconnections between landscape, memory, and symbology. These projects included: Thomas Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (known by its famed St. Louis arch), The Learning Barge on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk, Virginia, and Tinian's North Field on (in the Northern Mariana Islands), where the WW II U.S. Atomic bombs were loaded and launched against Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Click here for a video of Laura Bandara's presentation.

Dr. John Shivik, a research biologist with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, primary work focuses on understanding animal behavior and devising non-lethal alternatives for managing predators in conflict with human interests.  His subjects include coyotes, wolves, bears, and brown tree snakes. In his presentation to the Landscape Architecture students, Dr. Shivik talked about predator management and the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and joint work between the academy and professional practice. He also walked students through the history of predator management in the U.S. and his day to day experience as a wildlife manager, noting that there are often conflicts of interest.  He also showed the students how predator (wolf, bear, coyote) behavior differs by species and even by individual and how planning for wildlife must be taken into consideration.  

Advancement board member John Suarez (BLA, 1986) and Juan Brenes, principals of SBD Studio based out of Scottsdale, Arizona, came and presented to the Landscape Architecture students about the exciting work of their firm SBD, an acronym for "Symbiosis by Design."  In this presentation they introduced the students to projects as diverse as an ecolodge in John Suarez’s native Peru, the redesign of a private school campus in Connecticut, to luxury resorts in Hawaii.  They also walked the students through parts of their design process, noting how each project fit into the local ecology and culture. To find out more about SBD Studio please click here.

Distinguished alumni, Blake Wright (BLA '86, MBA '89) is the President of Architectural Design West, a regional firm with locations in Logan and Salt Lake City, Utah. As a designer and businessman, Blake shared a unique prospective on how these two roles interact in "The Business of Landscape Architecture."  During his presentation, he spoke briefly on his own career,  the history of Design West, and it's connections to our campus. 

Joe Porter, BLA 1963, spoke to the Landscape Architecture students about the design for Wasatch Academy. The final design was actually a mix of LAEP student work and Landscape Architecture professionals.  He proved that the knowledge students are gaining right now in academia, truly is applicable to the professional world. Later that night, Joe Porter was awarded the College of Agriculture Distinguished Service Award. Read more about his award here.