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Kathleen Bogaski Named 2015–16 Marie M. Bickham Chair of Landscape Architecture

kathleen bogaski

Kathleen Bogaski, 2015 Bickham Chair of Landscape Architecture (Photo by Jim Zeitz)

Kathleen Bogaski has been named the 2015–16 Marie M. Bickham Chair in Landscape Architecture at the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture (RRSLA). Bogaski comes to LSU from Cal Poly Pomona, where she recently taught the site engineering course, Introduction to Earthwork.

“Kathleen Bogaski brings to LSU a great deal of experience in contemporary issues and practice,” said RRSLA Interim Director Van Cox. “Her interest in landscape ecology and technology, and, in particular, water management, will also add to our students’ understanding of sustainability in design. Her specialty in therapeutic/healing gardens brings a sociocultural emphasis to her classes.”

Bogaski’s research and design practice, Bogaski Design Studios, focuses on site designs using low-water-consumption plantings and sustainable materials, landscape renovation and redesign, and creative surface-water management and reuse techniques. Her clients include the Watershed Conservation Authority in Los Angeles, where she assisted with the development of a master plan process for the Gateway Cities and Rivers Urban Greening Plan. The study area comprises approximately 227 square miles, which includes the watersheds of the lower Los Angeles, lower San Gabriel, and Rio Hondo rivers. The greening plan will be based on research and needs-based analysis, public outreach, and agency collaboration that will set the groundwork for a network of green connections between the Gateway Cities’ diverse natural areas and the cities’ various cultural, historic, and recreational resources and local population centers.

 

Bogaski holds a Bachelor of Science in horticulture and landscape architecture and a Master of Arts in education from Michigan State University and a Master in Landscape Architecture from the University of Michigan. Her master’s thesis focused on creative strategies for surface-water management and reuse in semi-arid and arid environments. She also has advanced training and certificates in healthcare garden design, fire-wise design, and quality management. She served for many years as a grader for the CLARB (Council of Landscape Architecture Registration Boards) exam for licensure as a professional landscape architect—required in all 50 states, British Columbia, Ontario, and Puerto Rico—and has assisted with licensing exam development and as an occupational analyst for the State of California Registration Board. Her research interests are in therapeutic gardens serving wounded veterans and children with autism; creative, sustainable landscape materials; and the use of surface water runoff as a resource in all environments.

Bogaski has more than 25 years of professional experience working at exceptional design firms including Design Workshop, Inc., EDAW/AECOM, and LDR (Land Design Research). Her professional project experience is in the design, documentation, and implementation of corporate and institutional campuses, public parks and zoos, urban streetscapes, resort and estate gardens, and in environmental and historic restoration. As the director of quality for the EDAW/AECOM Design, Planning + Economics group, Bogaski led the development of the quality management system, training program, and guidelines, achieving ISO 9001: 2008 certification for the EDAW offices worldwide. As part of this effort, Bogaski was responsible for the development of the project management, quality assurance, and risk management procedures and forms for all landscape architecture and planning projects.

As the 2015–16 Marie M. Bickham Chair, Bogaski will present a public lecture at the LSU College of Art & Design, and she will teach courses in the fall and spring semesters. Her fall courses include research-based healthcare garden design and site construction materials and methods. She will place special emphasis on site design, incorporating sustainable materials and site performance evaluation techniques through lectures, field research, and studio assignments.

“I believe in fostering a collaborative process among the students, a process that values and invites opinions but also allows for the development of individual creativity, leadership, and decision-making skills,” said Bogaski.

Her teaching goal is to produce graduates who use their technical skills and artistic and ecological sensitivities to both lead and challenge the profession.

About the Marie M. Bickham Chair
The Marie M. Bickham Chair was established in 2001 by Marie Bickham (1936–2012), whose generous endowment has benefited the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture by funding salary supplements and supporting other academic activities of the professorship, including instruction in research, equipment, materials, and faculty improvement. Marie Bickham’s gift to the school followed her long history of caring for nature and the environment. Her vision was to enrich the education of landscape architecture students in the hope that they would be the next generation to protect and preserve the beauty of nature. Dr. Neil Odenwald, retired faculty member (1972–97) and former director of RRSLA (1981–87), was instrumental in establishing the Bickham Chair. He and Marie Bickham collaborated on many projects to enrich Louisiana.

About LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture
The Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture has established an international reputation as one of America’s leading and consistently top-ranked programs. Part of the LSU College of Art & Design, the school offers Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture programs. For more than 70 years, the program has produced landscape architects who practice all over the world and participate in the full spectrum of the discipline. For more information, visit landscape.lsu.edu.