"Hands down, if I ever get an opportunity to design a botanical garden, a space where the plant palette is unlimited, I would be all over that like sunshine on a leaf."
From the first five minutes with Elizabeth, you can’t help but smile. She brings thoughtful charm and a quick wit to each conversation, finding commonality in diverse perspectives and inspiration in the connection between people and place. With a Master's of Landscape Architecture degree from Colorado State University and an early career in Washington D.C politics, she draws on a diverse experience to satisfy a life-long craving to engage communities within their shared spaces.
The moment she realized she had been in love with plants and the physical space where they thrive created a catalytic shift, from political science to landscape architecture, in her professional and personal life.
"You learn a lot when you go out and talk to people. We cannot only design for one economic or social group; we have to design for everyone in order to make our entire community better. We become different people when we have to share; we really start to care."
This month, Elizabeth is speaking on a panel at the Jane Silverstein Reis Foundation event on the past, present and future of a West Denver neighborhood called Sun Valley. In 2015, she won a state-wide award for her in-depth analysis of this economically disadvantaged area where children outnumber adults. Through months of research, site analysis, and interviews with community members Elizabeth explored how a neighborhood’s history and cultural evolution impacts its ability to weather existential change in a city that continues to explode in population and development.
"Landscape Architecture is an apprenticeship field. You find the best and you pay attention, which is why I wanted to work at DHM. I’ve heard for years that if I had an opportunity to work with Ann Christensen, I would be a fool to turn it down. She has a reputation that she is too humble to acknowledge and I’m so happy to be here soaking it all in."