LA Adjacent

Join us for a thoughtful discussion with landscape architecture professionals about alternative practices. The discussion will be moderated by students in the Unruly Practices: Retooling Professional Design Practice for Relevance and Impact course with lecturers Rebecca Popowsky (MArch‘10, MLA‘10) and Sarai Williams (MCP‘17, MLA‘17).

Panelists:

Terri Carta is a leader in public space stewardship and nonprofit management. As Executive Director of Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy (JBRPC), Terri is responsible for advancing its mission to improve public parklands and wetland areas throughout Jamaica Bay and the Rockaway peninsula. In partnership with city, state and federal park agencies and multiple community stakeholders, JBRPC works to expand public access; increase recreational and educational opportunities; foster community stewardship and volunteerism; preserve and restore natural areas, including wetland and wildlife habitat; enhance cultural resources; and ensure the long-term sustainability of the parklands.

Terri’s career spans leadership positions in public engagement, community development, and urban park management. As the first Executive Director of Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, Terri advanced the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway as a critical connector of people and places, a component of New York City’s open space and mobility plans, and a mechanism for community-based visioning and engagement. Terri also built a coalition of partners from across New York City and led a campaign for a fully developed equitable citywide greenway network to serve all New Yorkers. Terri previously served in various leadership roles at Central Park Conservancy, including developing the Institute for Urban Parks where she served as its Associate Vice President. Prior to her career in New York City, Terri served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guinea, West Africa, in a community development role within a USAID-funded watershed management project.

Terri is passionate about advancing a transdisciplinary approach to improving urban environments and the greater public realm. She earned an M.S. in Ecological Teaching & Learning, a B.S. in Conservation Biology, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Brooklyn Greenway Initiative. Terri lives in Rockaway Beach, 2 blocks from Jamaica Bay, with her 13-year-old son and 4-year-old dog. 

Following a career as nonprofit executive and NYC Parks administrator, Maggie Greenfield now brings her passion for and expertise in urban environmental policy, climate adaptation, and environmental justice to her work as an organizational consultant, facilitator, and coach through her consulting practice, Greenfield Collaborative.

From 2017 - 2023, Maggie served as the Executive Director for the Bronx River Alliance Bronx River Administrator for NYC Parks. She also served in various roles  at the Bronx River Alliance from 2005 - 2017 ranging from Greenway Coordinator to Director of Programs and Development.  Her background in environmental science and policy and urban planning has involved work in the environmental review process at the Federal, State, and local levels and nearly two decades of urban river restoration, waterfront park and trail development, environmental education, and community engagement in the Bronx. During her 18-year tenure at the Bronx River Alliance, Maggie secured and guided investments of more than $250 million in greenway and ecological restoration and climate resiliency projects, increased the organization's budget by 60%, grew the staff to better reflect the communities served by the work, developed high school internship programs serving youth in EJ communities, and worked with multiple partners, ranging from community-based organizations to Federal agencies. 

Maggie’s academic background includes a Bachelor of Science in public health/environmental science and policy from UNC at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in City Planning from MIT. Maggie has been trained in environmental justice by the Bronx, where she lives with her husband and children.  Maggie seeks cross-cultural understanding and speaks rusty Spanish and Japanese that she learned while living and researching abroad in Osaka and Sendai, Japan; Guayaquil, Ecuador; and Tome, Chile.  

Maggie also enjoys playing classical and bluegrass cello in small, friendly circles. She lives in the Bronx with her husband, two children, and their dog Mitchell.

Andrea Parker has a passion for regenerating urban green infrastructure through civic engagement. As the Executive Director of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, she works to empower a community of environmental stewards and design advocates in the rapidly changing Gowanus Watershed.  In the role she has overseen the Gowanus Lowlands Master Plan and successful advocacy to build a connective 20-acre network of parks and open space. As an instructor at City College of New York, she engages landscape architecture students with the complex ecological, economic, and cultural forces at play in New York’s dynamic urban ecology. In her previous work as a Landscape Designer, she focused on urban and community resilience after Superstorm Sandy, as well as gained experience in public garden master-planning and residential design and construction administration. Her prior background as a gardener and nursery propagator enriches her design work with a pragmatic understanding of how landscapes are built and maintained.  She received a BA from the University of Chicago, studied Landscape Horticulture at Merritt College, and received a master’s in landscape architecture from the University of Virginia.

If you require any accessibility accommodation, such as live captioning, audio description, or a sign language interpreter, please email news@design.upenn.edu. Please note, we require at least five (5) business days’ notice.