Ecosa Alumni

The skills developed during our certificate program have allowed our alumni to pursue a variety of career directions. This is a sampling of the work that our alumni are doing after one semester at the Ecosa Institute:

• Founder and Architect, Tweed Studio
• Co-Founder and Designer, Grounded Design Studio
• Founder and Publisher, Tripple Pundit Green News
• Designer and Builder of Utah's first net-zero energy school, Sego Lily School
• Architectural Designer, South Mountain Company
  
• Founder and Principal Architect, Shelter Design Studio
• Stewardship Director, The Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust
• Sustainability Coordinator, Environmental Outreach and Stewardship Alliance
• Environmental Specialist, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Architects
• Business Sustainability and Energy Expert, Vanden Brink Consulting

Spotlight On:

Nancy Chan
"I came to Ecosa to learn more about the relationships between sustainability, design, and community. As a graphic designer, I knew I wanted to get involved with sustainable design but was unsure how to take that leap. Ecosa was invaluable in providing a comprehensive framework to understanding the various systems in our natural and built environments. The lessons I learned at Ecosa deepened my consciousness of the social and environmental inadequacies present in our modern lives. I had gained exposure to a variety of careers in sustainable design and since then, I have decided to pursue a masters degree in landscape architecture. READ MORE

Ken Long
"Greetings from the "Land Down Unda"!! Australia is where I am currently undergoing my next big adventure after my wonderful and pretty much life changing experience at Ecosa during the Fall 2010 semester! What brings me to the land of kangaroos, koalas, emus, and dingoes?? I will be transferring to the University of South Australia, pursuing a Masters of Sustainable Design. The program is very interdisciplinary, taking in people from architecture, industrial design, and communication majors, looking at sustainability from all angles of design, not just architecture, which pretty much is how I view design now after Ecosa and also how I hope to approach holistic regenerative design =) ...READ MORE

Marissa Matsler
"I was recently accepted into the Urban Studies PhD program at Portland State University, and was awarded an IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Tranineeship) by NSF. My interest and acceptance into this program is directly related to my time at Ecosa, where I was first exposed to the joys of working in an interdisciplinary group, realizing the power of integrating different backgrounds and points of view. Our Ecosa group in 2006 included a linguist, an engineer, a river-raft guide, a bull-rider (well in his past life :)...), a biologist, an architect, a carpenter, an artist, a raw-foods 'baker' - all interested in improving the urban condition and making human lives more sustainable... READ MORE

Darcy Everett
"First of all I would just like to say that I miss Ecosa and think about you often! I have been working at Bluegrass PRIDE for almost two years now - which I can't really believe. At PRIDE, I manage a program called the Live Green Lexington Partner program. I spend most of my days working with businesses and apartment complexes to help them start recycling programs, improve the water quality that is running off their property, and increase energy efficiency. I feel that I use the knowledge and experiences I gained at Ecosa everyday! READ MORE

Caitlin Goodwin
"I will be attending Illinois Institute of Technology in the Fall. My focus will be on maximizing passive solar heat gain in small buildings. Its more of a challenge to use solar heat gain in cold dark climates, like where I live. Right now I'm studying current design methods for passive strategies, and locating problem areas for further research. I'm doing an internship in Munich, Germany at the moment, at a firm called Hild und K. It is one of the most reputable architecture firms in Munich, with their work visible in many prominent parts of the city... READ MORE

Brian Haynes
"Since I came back from Guatemala I’ve been in Chicago where me and two friends started a small business (www.groundeddesignstudio.com) doing small-scale architecture and graphic design, and have been working on it ever since. Our partner Jamie moved back to Cincinnati after the first year, and we focused more on the architectural side of things after that. We finished a great design/build project in November of 2010. Through the business and non-profit work we’ve done, I’ve learned a ton in the last two years, particularly in the area of effective communication. Architects in many ways should be facilitators, not just designers. You can check out my portfolio online at: brianhaynes.carbonmade.com."

Marla Kristicevich
"There is not a day that goes by that Ecosa is not on my mind or in my heart. I am constantly being reminded with every decision I make how much I've been impacted by my experience. Ecosa is part of the educational revolution that we so desperately need.
...As for me, I recently became the ecological design consultant for a local city planning commission...the Freetown/Porto Rico Coterie. A group of people in my part of town who work closely with the city urban planner and planning commission on decisions and developments in our area. I get to see the inner workings of city planning which I'm interested in... READ MORE

KC Sperry
"I came to Ecosa after my undergraduate studies in art at Rhode Island School of Design to get hands-on building experience. After the summer I attended at Ecosa I got into the pre-architecural studies program at Parsons School of Design. There, I built a portfolio over a fall semester to apply to both the Masters in Architecture and Masters in Landscape Architecture programs at the University of Virginia... READ MORE

Sheena Zhang
"I'll be graduating in May 2011 from the University of Georgia, and headed to Yale for their joint Master of Architecture and Master of Environmental Management! I plan on researching the application of biomimicry to architecture and city systems. Ecosa really widened my perspective on sustainable design, and Prescott will always hold a special place in my heart because of my time there."

Noami Brautigam
"After my semester at Ecosa I began to really invest my energies in the creation of healthier food systems. This began with an apprenticeship on an organic farm in Maine for the summer and then back to Baltimore to finish up my degree in Anthropology, where we continued to expand the gardening and composting program at my school.
After graduating, I lived in the city for another year where I taught an urban gardening class at an after school high school program. After working on a string of organic farms, this spring I have the unique opportunity to run my own vegetable farm, Sprouted Acre, near my childhood stomping grounds in New Hampshire. READ MORE

"Ecosa was part of a multi-year fellowship grant that I was awarded. After Ecosa I went on to a two week workshop with Glenn Murcutt and friends in OZ and a week long workshop in the jungle of Costa Rica with the Biomimicry Guild. I am now working with South Mountain Company, a progressive and employee owned design/build company on Martha's Vineyard that is well respected as pioneers in the New England sustainability scene. We have an incredible systems engineer, millwork shop, combined knowledge and solid karma. I got married and my wife and I bought a zero net energy home in a small community of eight families, built by the company I work for now. We are coming up on a full year of occupancy without a single utility bill." READ MORE

Jillian Brooks
"After my Ecosa semester I finished my undergraduate degree at Wellesley College and immediately moved from cold Boston to hot Austin. I spent my year there building for Habitat for Humanity and applying to graduate schools. My time at Ecosa and Habitat paid off because I was accepted to the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture where I will graduate in May of 2011. My next plan is to move to Nevada City, CA to work with Charles Durrett, who brought the term cohousing from Denmark to the United States. After that it's anybody's game."

Dawnielle Castledine

"Currently I work for the Austin EcoNetwork as their Promotions Coordinator. My job consists of me "redesigning" the business visually so that she is able to reach a broader audience, and have more interaction with her customers. Through the Austin EcoNetwork we are able to build a stronger environmental community in Austin. Outside of my work with AEN, I do freelance work with other small businesses working for sustainability to do business development, consulting and promotions/marketing. I use things I learned at Ecosa everyday, inside and outside of work. The ideas of cyclical thought, balance, and regenerative design now permeate my life as much as I can make them... READ MORE

Jesse Froehlich
"After Ecosa, I went on to complete a Masters in Sustainable Landscape Planning and Design at the Conway School of Landscape Design in western Mass. I spent some time working for MIG, a private consulting firm that does Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning, Parks Planning, and Public Outreach. I found the private consulting world wasn't for me, though, and now I'm finding my niche in the non-profit world, focusing on land conservation/restoration and community agriculture projects... READ MORE

"After Ecosa, I went on to pursue my Masters in both Architecture and Landscape Architecture from the University of Virginia. During which time I worked for William McDonough + Partners and Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects in Charlottesville, VA. In December 2009, I graduated with the two degrees, as well as a Certificate in Historic Preservation. Since then I have been working for OCULUS landscape architects in Washington, DC. I always speak very fondly of Ecosa, it was truly and unique a exceptional experience for me as part of my education."

Zak Robinson
After Zak’s Ecosa semester, he finished up his Bachelors in Environmental Studies from Prescott College. For his senior project, he lead an expedition on his sail boat to the Sea of Cortez to explore and document the region. Check out his blog following this adventure.
"I am now working as an engineer and research vessel captain for Cornell and UNH at their joint marine lab off the coast of New Hampshire. It's an interesting job as an engineer because we are on a small island and we produce our own electricity and fresh water, and our sewage treatment is self-contained... READ MORE

Laura (Alvarez) Squillace
"I moved to Nevada City, California, just 9 months ago after earning my Masters in Architecture from the University of Oregon in Eugene. It was an incredibly enjoyable and exhausting experience. My prior education at ECOSA made the first semesters in design school so much less overwhelming as I was already familiar with the design tools and concepts... READ MORE