About Our Team

ANDREA BINZ as the SPONGIOLOGIST

Andrea is a Master of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism student at the University of Southern California. She holds a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in Asian studies from Furman University. Through her work in landscape architecture, Andrea combines her passions for science, culture, and design.

For this project, Andrea drew on her experience as a biology research assistant at both Washington University in St. Louis and Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, California. She is a published author on two scientific papers and has also presented a research poster at the American Heart Association Conference.

For the past year, Andrea worked as a researcher for Foreground Design Agency and USC's Landscape Justice Initiative, studying indigenous land management practices and learning from community organizers as part of Dr. Alison Hirsch's Landscape Architecture Foundation-funded project, "Histories, Practices, Futures of the San Joaquin Valley." This work hopes to establish future-forward planning recommendations for Regional Landscape and Urban Design in Fresno County and the greater San Joaquin Valley. Currently, as a landscape architecture intern with OLIN, Andrea continues to work to advance ecologically-minded and community-driven public spaces.

ZOE VOSS LEE as the PODCAST HOST

Zoe is a rising senior at the University of Southern California working towards a Bachelor of Science degree in Geodesign, a major that cross-cuts the fields of landscape architecture, the spatial sciences, urban design, and environmental studies.

While working for an environmental NGO in New Zealand, Zoe recognized her calling to unite her love of the urban realm with environmental activism. Her past experience working on a nature-based climate adaptation strategy for a city in Malaysia inspired her to further explore the nexus of biology, design, and social equity through this project.

This summer, she is working at Arup's office in Malaysia on sustainable urban master plans in the Southeast Asia region. After graduation, she plans on pursuing a career addressing the human rights impacts of climate change, both at home in New York City and abroad through creative, nature-based solutions.

ANA MANGINO as the HISTORIAN

Ana is currently a student in the Master of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism program at the University of Southern California. She earned her bachelor’s degree in architecture at the Anahuac University in Mexico City, and has been a licensed architect since 2017. During her college years, she earned a Certificate in Leadership in Community Service that led her to work alongside unincorporated communities and to do volunteer work in South America.

In 2016, she participated in an Academic Exchange Program with the University of New Mexico where she had the opportunity to take a Landscape Studio. It was there that she found her passion for landscape architecture and was motivated to pursue a masters degree in that field.

Before moving to the United States, she worked at CBRE where she learned about urban development and real estate market analysis. Also, she was elected to be part of her hometown neighborhood’s Representation Council, where she still serves and advocates for the preservation of green spaces and wellbeing of the residents. Currently, she serves as Landscape Architecture Senator at the Graduate Architecture Student Association at USC (GASA USC).

About Our Instructor

AROUSSIAK GABRIELIAN

Aroussiak is Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism at the School of Architecture and Affiliate Faculty of Media Arts + Practice at the School of Cinematic Arts, both at USC. Her scholarship focuses on both materialist perspectives on the living world of landscape matter, and the practice of imaging and imagining landscape. A trained Futurist and frequent consultant on futures oriented design, Aroussiak’s work aims to torque our imaginaries to help us re-think our interactions with both human and non-human agents on this planet.

Aroussiak has been exhibited internationally and has received numerous recognitions including, the Emerging Designer Awards from the Design Futures Initiative, the Tomorrowland Projects Foundation Award administered through the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Word Changing Ideas Awards recognized by Fast Company, and the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome. Aroussiak recently established and currently directs the Landscape Futures Lab at the School of Architecture at USC.

Advisors

ARIEL LEVI SIMMONS, Ph.D: Marine Ecology and Environmental Biology, UCLA

Levi Simons is a postdoc at the University of California, Los Angeles. His work involves the use of environmental DNA, remote sensing, and machine learning in order to develop new tools for assessing ecological conditions. He has an interest in collaborating with community scientists and artists in conducting and communicating research. Before embarking on his current career, Levi worked as a high school science teacher in the Los Angeles area where he and his students were able to become involved in a number of community science projects ranging from the design of insect traps, to monitoring nuclear fallout from the Fukushima meltdown, and mapping the chemistry of the Los Angeles river. It was through this work that Levi became involved with the maker movement, through the CRASH Space hackerspace, as well as the biology lab at USC he would eventually join as a graduate student.

CATHERINE EUALE, Artist: DIY Biofabrication and Biological Materials, Canada & Barcelona

Catherine Euale is a textile artist, activist, researcher, and storyteller. In her practice, she challenges the need to use materials and methods that are non-compatible with living systems. She believes that deepening our relationships with the material can raise awareness of our forgotten relationships within more than human worlds. She stands for interspecies and multidisciplinary collaboration rather than competition for creating true innovation. Her work is inspired by living systems and traditional crafting practices merged with digital fabrication and bio-material research.

MADDELYN HARDEN, Ph.D Candidate: Evolutionary Biology and Marine Conservation, USC

Maddelyn is a Ph.D. student at USC researching the genetic diversity, variation, and evolution of California macroalgae. With her work she hopes to apply population and evolutionary genetics to answer a suite of marine conservation biology questions as well as to inform policy initiatives governing coastal ecosystems. Her current research is funded by a National Institute of Food and Agriculture Small Business Innovation Research grant and is focused on understanding the complete phylogeographic and genetic structure of the California Rhodophyta, Asparagopsis taxiformis.

JORDAN CHANCELOR, Ph.D Candidate: Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography, USC

Jordan Chancellor is a Ph.D. student in the Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography program at USC. She received her B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University. Her research interests focus on sustainability and global food security, specifically the role that bivalves can play in mitigating the use of terrestrial protein sources. She is interested in understanding the quantitative traits underlying disease resistance in bivalves that can be applied to large-scale selective breeding.