The Team

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

In this studio, I've enjoyed getting out of the big city-ness of Seattle and reconnecting with the small town values and lifestyle that I grew up in. What I find so inspiring about Homer are the strong ideals and heartfelt love that residents have for their town. I am excited about offering a vision for preserving and celebrating this specialness in the heart of town.

Marin Bjork

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

My previous education lies in the field of social science. I have studied cultural anthropology and systems theory which taught me that the way humans construct their world is an expression of how they think. As a student in the Landscape Architecture Program at the University of Washington I am studying Urban Ecological Design. By building and strengthening my artistic and scientific knowledge base while retaining the perspective of a social scientist I will be better equipped with the tools to design in a manner which will inspire new connections and interest in how human environments intersect with natural processes. Homer offers a unique opportunity to design for a community who is already so aware and appreciative of their natural open space.

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

We were all so thrilled to be able to come visit you and have worked hard since our visit to generate thoughtful "insights" from the outside. I have always loved the northern reaches of the world--Norway, Iceland, Finland, Minnesota and Alaska. I moved to Seattle many years ago because it was "on the way" to Alaska and I intended to move there permanently! I haven't yet.... I approach Landscape Architecture with a desire to heal disturbed landscapes and to create places for people that foster positive experiences with nature. Having a liberal arts / studio arts background and twenty years in graphic design, I am supplementing my landscape architecture studies with courses in restoration ecology, geomorphology, soil science and plant ecology.

Marcie Demi-Bidwell

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

I am a landscape architecture masters student to enable my diverse passions and talents to merge in one field: I have been a designer in New York city, a wilderness educator in Utah, and a raft guide in West Virginia. I love small town living in wild settings surrounded by natural resources. My interests are all things related to water and mountains. I am interested in working with communities to balance the needs of economy, cultural heritage, and ecology through landscape design and environmental planning.

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

Cooking for former presidents, building trails on lava fields in Hawaii, and teaching ecology on the Pacific coast are the experiences that make the foundation of my knowledge and, I can make a mean gumbo. My studies are rooted in biology, environmental science, and sailing and my interest in landscape is rooted in all of these things and how they relate to one another.

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

After graduating with an Environmental Science degree I was confused about what to do with my life. My passion for photography and travel filled my head and kept me busy for a while. As fate would have it, I was exposed to this thing called Landscape Architecture. I quickly realized that all of my background and passions could be integrated into a profession that has a positive influence on people and the natural environment. Homer is a wonderful place and I am proud to be part of a group that has the opportunity to make it even better.

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

In the UW Landscape Architecture Masters program, I am working to integrate my background in ecology with recent courses in design, art, and urban planning. All of these fields of study are relevant to Alaska. The town of Homer is both a beautiful landscape and a growing community, which I feel extremely fortunate be able to study.

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

My background is in art history but my love of the outdoors led me to landscape architecture. It has been terrific to be able to visit Homer and meet some of the community. I have been struck by how deeply people care for this place and its future. I hope that our studio is able to share some ideas and precedents that prove helpful. Thank you for inviting us up, I have really enjoyed this project and know I will continue to learn from it.

Melissa Medeiros

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

I am a new graduate student in the UW’s Department of Landscape Architecture. Although the entire field is still very new and fascinating to me, I am especially interested in designing streets, public land, parks and civic spaces in the urban environment. I see these parts of the city as an ecological mosaic with the power to manage stormwater, improve habitat, and filter pollutants while they provide beautiful, educational places of refuge in the city. I intend to do my graduate thesis on a street redesign in Portland, Oregon’s Chinatown.
My undergraduate degree is in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley, where I minored in Ecological Design. After graduation, I worked for Habitat for Humanity in Portland leading volunteer work crews in residential construction. My experience in project management and sustainable building practices at Habitat led to a position with Sustainable Communities Northwest. This innovative community development corporation specialized in providing affordable housing in Portland with an emphasis on sustainable development. There I provided construction management services as well as helping to develop a series of green building workshops and resource materials for affordable housing providers in the state of Oregon. I also managed the development of native and edible landscaping and community gardens for apartment residents, which sparked my interest in the possibilities of Landscape Architecture.

Jodi Schoenen

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

My background is full of an array of experiences which have all led me in the direction of urban ecological design and Landscape Architecture. I have a degree in Biology (University of Kansas), and a Masters in Entomology (Cornell University), and have worked in such varied jobs as the Peace Corps in Guatemala, researching alternatives to pesticides in coffee in Honduras, teaching for the National Wildlife Federation, and creating an ecologically-based charter high school in Connecticut (Common Ground H.S. and the New Haven Ecology Project). Currently I am fascinated with brownfield development and the revitalization of contaminated industrial spaces and how this impacts a system at the watershed level. I spend my free time dancing salsa, hanging out in the beautiful mountains of Washington, and obsessing about urban space.

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

Originally I am from Colorado and new to Seattle. Traveling to Alaska has always been on the top of my list of destinations, however, I never seemed to make it that far. Now that I have been I only ask myself why did I wait so long. The magnitude of the mountains in Alaska makes the Rockies look like the Appalacians. I thank all the people of Homer for their generous hospitality.

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

I came to the University of Washington with a BS in Biology and number of varied experiences that seem to mix adventure with... fun. I have conducted breeding and dispersal studies of a federally threatened bird species on Camp Pendleton in San Diego, banded migrating birds in Massachusetts, counted cactus in New Mexico, taught children waterskiing for a summer, taught children snow skiing for a winter, worked as a snowmaker and a snow cat driver at a California ski resort, remodeled houses, and rode the software company boom in San Francisco as a lead quality assurance engineer testing analytical software. I now seem to do all of the above daily as a landscape architecture student.

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

I love both the outdoors and the city. Through design I hope to enhance the human experience of a towns and cities by creating walkable and lively spaces that have a mixture of architecture and open space. I am particularly interested in community-based design. Working with Homer has been a wonderful opportunity to learn about real world community process, as well as the complex relationships between design, economics, government and culture.

2nd year Master in Landscape Architecture

Thank you HOMER! My previous education is in forest ecology. I came to landscape architecture in hopes of incorporating more of the community and spirit that I personally feel for the outdoors into my passions for research and ecology. This project is a interesting challenge and I hope that Homer gains as much as we have from the experience. I feel fortunate for being asked to participate in your community and I hope that we bring a fresh perspective that allows you to further nourish your great town.