KINGSTON, R.I. – October 24, 2013 – Danielle Desilets and Kristina Stevens, landscape designers at the firm of Carol R. Johnson & Associates, are the next speakers in the URI Landscape Architecture Lecture Series. The two graduates of the URI Department of Landscape Architecture will speak Nov. 7 on “Expectation and Reality: Life as a Landscape Architect.”

Their presentation begins at 7 p.m. in Weaver Auditorium in the Coastal Institute building on URI’s Kingston campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Desilets earned her degree from URI in 1999 and joined the staff of Carol R. Johnson & Associates in 2006 after earning a master’s degree from Cornell University. She is responsible for design studies, construction documentation, site supervision and client coordination. She focuses her work on historic and cultural landscape preservation, as well as campus planning and projects designed for LEED certification. Stevens joined the firm soon after graduating from URI in 2006. She spends her time keeping large projects organized and designing holistically for all demographics.

The final talk in the lecture series this fall is Ken Smith, principal of Workshop: Ken Smith Landscape Architecture, who will discuss “Larger Landscapes” on Dec. 5. Smith is an award-winning landscape architect who practices landscape design in the realm of public space. He is best known for his work on the roof garden at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and as a member of the THINK Team of designers that won the competition to reconstruct the World Trade Center site.

Speakers in the lecture series next spring are: Anne Penniman, principal of Anne Penniman Associates, on “Intersections: Nature/Culture” (Feb. 20); Todd Richardson, principal of Richardson & Associates, on “Context Driven Design: Responding to What’s Right in Front of You” (Mar. 6); Gary Hildebrand, principal of Reed Hildebrand, on “Telescopic” (Apr. 3); and Marion Pressley, principal of Pressley Associates, topic TBA (Apr. 17).

The URI Landscape Architecture series is co-sponsored by the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, the Rhode Island chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association, the Rhode Island chapter of the American Planning Association, and the URI Office of the Vice President for Administration and Finance.

For more information about the series, contact the URI Department of Landscape Architecture at 874-2983 or Professor Will Green at wagre@uri.edu.