Announcing Our Two 2024 LFA Fellows!
The LFA Fellowship Program has expanded with the selection of two Fellows, one in Perth and one in Sydney.
The 2024 LFA Fellowship Program is underway! This year we are pleased to have awarded two Fellowships to:
Daniel Jan Martin, an environmental planner and designer working in south west Australia on Noongar Country, and a Lecturer in Landscape Architecture at the University of Western Australia, and
Michael White, an associate landscape architect in Hassell’s Sydney office on Gadigal Country and a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales.
Daniel and Michael will each receive a $10,000 grant to progress their projects over the coming year. Both are exploring innovative ways to better understand and communicate environmental processes and issues around urban landscapes, but at different scales, in different formats, and on opposite sides of Australia.
Daniel Jan Martin, environmental planner/designer and Lecturer in Landscape Architecture at the University of Western Australia.
Building on his previous work in Perth’s south west forests, Daniel will produce a short film titled ‘Jarrah’, that will expand the community’s environmental awareness of the Jarrah forest and promote its critical importance to the people living in Perth and in regional towns.
He will use his fellowship to engage WA producer and filmmaker, Caeley Wesson, and continue his close working relationships with Noongar Elder Dr Noel Nannup, renowned scientist Professor Kingsley Dixon, and the convener of the WA Forest Alliance, Jess Beckerling, developed on previous projects.
Daniel sees the Fellowship assisting him to “ … (bring) advocacy to the medium of film. The collaborative potentials of film to translate and incorporate perspectives: Noongar, scientific, aesthetic, design, community, are very exciting. To convey an ethos of care and passion to a wide audience, to amplify a story for nature.”
Michael White is an associate landscape architect in Hassell’s Sydney office and a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales.
Michael’s project will also build on previous work, expanding the research undertaken for his PhD research, by applying new technology to model species composition and structure of planting trials. He will produce a ‘Field Guide and Digital Toolkit’ for conducting surveys of urban plantings, empowering landscape architects and other design professionals to more effectively collect data on urban landscape projects.
Michael sees a potential for the Digital Toolkit to “… transform landscape architectural practice and enable active participation in creating regenerative landscapes through evidence-based design.” The Fellowship will allow him to “translate research findings into educational materials that promote a commitment to practical prototyping and experimentation … (which is) essential in meeting the challenges of future urban landscapes.”
LFA’s Fellowship Program is a central component of the Foundation’s ‘Investing in Knowledge’ strategic priority. LFA Founding Director, Dr Catherin Bull commented: “Through this Program, LFA nurtures emerging leaders in a wide range of fields. LFA Fellows will advocate for and help shape healthy and resilient landscapes across urban Australia in the coming decades.”
Congratulations to Daniel and Michael! Stay tuned throughout the year for updates as their projects progress.
You can help expand the LFA Fellowship Program by making a tax-deductible donation - click through to our Donate page. Thank you!