2021 ASLA Student Honor & Merit Awards

Join us in celebrating this year's student award recipients!

We’d like to extend a special thank you to this year's jury: Charlie Brucker, Chelsea Schneider, Katherine Sheie, and Jeffrey M. Luers, who volunteered their time, and expertise to review student work, this event is made possible by your caring involvement! 

The ASLA Student Honor and Merit Award Program, administered through the ASLA chapters, is a collaborative effort between chapters and landscape architecture programs. The awards recognize academic achievement, design competence, and interpersonal skills, and are distributed to outstanding students in programs across the country.

The number of awards are based on the size of the academic program. At the University of Oregon, the faculty nominates two BLA students and two MLA students each year. Our nominees were recognized by the University of Oregon faculty as truly outstanding students for their scholarship, excellence in design, and service to the department. This recognition is worthy of honor and congratulations.

The Oregon Chapter of ASLA and the Department of Landscape Architecture virtually convened a jury of ASLA members to hear 20-minute presentations from student nominees. After hearing the presentations, the jury deliberated their decision based on the following criteria:

  • Design Excellence

  • Outstanding Mentorship & Leadership

  • Potential for Future Professional Impact

We are pleased to announce the winners of this year’s awards: 

  • Isabella Ospina, Undergraduate Honor Award

  • Nancy Silvers, Undergraduate Merit Award

  • Aaron Woolverton, Graduate Honor Award

  • Heather Tietz, Graduate Merit Award

It is a great honor to celebrate and lend support to emergent professionals. Stay tuned as we continue to celebrate these emergent Landscape Architects' work, and their overall excellence on our social media accounts: Instagram and Facebook.


Congratulations to Aarron, our 2021 Graduate Honor Award Recipient! Enjoy a bit about them and a taste of their work!Aaron is a graduate of the University of Oregon's Landscape Architecture program. With a bachelor's in Architecture from Drexel University, Aaron has an interest in the intersection between built infrastructures and the environment. His current research involves understanding complex ecosystem dynamics through dynamic mapping, environmental sensing, and developing interoperability between design platforms and environmental modeling software. Featured project: Instant Cities, a community oriented studio in Venita, OR and Masters Project - Algae as Agents

Congratulations to Aarron, our 2021 Graduate Honor Award Recipient! Enjoy a bit about them and a taste of their work!

Aaron is a graduate of the University of Oregon's Landscape Architecture program. With a bachelor's in Architecture from Drexel University, Aaron has an interest in the intersection between built infrastructures and the environment. His current research involves understanding complex ecosystem dynamics through dynamic mapping, environmental sensing, and developing interoperability between design platforms and environmental modeling software. 

Featured project: Instant Cities, a community oriented studio in Venita, OR and Masters Project - Algae as Agents


Congratulations to Heather, our 2021 Graduate Merit Award Recipient! Enjoy a bit about them and a taste of their work!Heather enjoys considering hybrid artistic approaches to design in landscape architecture. Tietz is interested in identifying emerging ways to integrate biota into the built environment to enhance ecological cycles and human health. She values learning about different cultures to create contextual design work and looks forward to designing with equity through inclusive design approaches.Featured project: Oregon Sequence at Coos Bay and Masters Project - Foreground for Mosses: Designing 3D Printed Clay Bryobricks to Enhance the Built Environment

Congratulations to Heather, our 2021 Graduate Merit Award Recipient! Enjoy a bit about them and a taste of their work!

Heather enjoys considering hybrid artistic approaches to design in landscape architecture. Tietz is interested in identifying emerging ways to integrate biota into the built environment to enhance ecological cycles and human health. She values learning about different cultures to create contextual design work and looks forward to designing with equity through inclusive design approaches.

Featured project: 

Oregon Sequence at Coos Bay and Masters Project - Foreground for Mosses: Designing 3D Printed Clay Bryobricks to Enhance the Built Environment


Congratulations to Izzy, our 2021 Undergraduate Honor Award Recipient! Enjoy a bit about them and a taste of their work!Izzy is a landscape designer and artist passionate about bringing cultures and histories to life. Their design work at the University of Oregon has been centered around spatial justice, empowering communities through collaborative design processes. She is interested in playful designs of all scales that engage our senses and imagination of time and space. In making her designs feel welcome and inclusive to a diverse range of people, she also acknowledges the history of violence and displacement many landscapes are associated with.  In her free time, she likes going to the movies, draws with her feet, and cooks experimental foods. Featured project: Eco Parque Quindio: Re-envisioning Tourism in Columbia

Congratulations to Izzy, our 2021 Undergraduate Honor Award Recipient! 

Enjoy a bit about them and a taste of their work!

Izzy is a landscape designer and artist passionate about bringing cultures and histories to life. Their design work at the University of Oregon has been centered around spatial justice, empowering communities through collaborative design processes. She is interested in playful designs of all scales that engage our senses and imagination of time and space. In making her designs feel welcome and inclusive to a diverse range of people, she also acknowledges the history of violence and displacement many landscapes are associated with.  In her free time, she likes going to the movies, draws with her feet, and cooks experimental foods. 

Featured project: Eco Parque Quindio: Re-envisioning Tourism in Columbia


Congratulations to Nancy, our 2021 Undergraduate Merit Award Recipient!Enjoy a bit about them and a taste of their work!Nancy is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in textiles, painting, and garden design. She received a Bachelor’s of Landscape Architecture through the UO. Working with materials that range in scale from a single thread to acres of gardens, Nancy seeks opportunities to explore and convey ideas surrounding identity and ecology. Nancy has been the head gardener for a 175-acre estate for 13 years. The property is situated in the woodland urban interface of south Eugene and she continues to witness, study, and advocate for maintenance practices that will respond to the changing landscape in the area.Featured Project: Oregon Sequence at Coos Bay Harbor and An exploration of beaver habitat and hydrologic systems.

Congratulations to Nancy, our 2021 Undergraduate Merit Award Recipient!

Enjoy a bit about them and a taste of their work!

Nancy is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in textiles, painting, and garden design. She received a Bachelor’s of Landscape Architecture through the UO. Working with materials that range in scale from a single thread to acres of gardens, Nancy seeks opportunities to explore and convey ideas surrounding identity and ecology. Nancy has been the head gardener for a 175-acre estate for 13 years. The property is situated in the woodland urban interface of south Eugene and she continues to witness, study, and advocate for maintenance practices that will respond to the changing landscape in the area.

Featured Project: Oregon Sequence at Coos Bay Harbor and An exploration of beaver habitat and hydrologic systems.