Nastaran Moradinejad, FCSLA
Nastaran Moradinejad is a principal at PFS Studio where she is recognized for her communication and organizational skills. She is also a versatile designer who brings her past graduate experience in both architecture and landscape architecture to her PFS Studio projects. Since joining the firm in 2006, Nastaran has contributed her expertise to a variety of projects with a wide range of design requirements from conceptual site specific design and detailing to large-scale master planning.
Nastaran is a LEED Accredited Professional who holds a Certificate in Applied Project Management. She takes a keen interest in ecological systems and innovative ways to integrate them with site design. Her interests are in multi-disciplinary, technical projects and projects requiring custom solutions to project requirements. Nastaran has led PFS Studio teams to realize complex, challenging projects and is currently focused on managing some of the firm’s largest and most high-visibility projects in the public realm including the Concord Brentwood Master Plan, the mixed use Grosvenor Brentwood Master Plan, Edmonton ICE District, which is one of the largest sports and entertainment developments in North America, and True North Square in Winnipeg. She is currently working of the West End Waterfront Plan which is one of Vancouver Park Board and City of Vancouver's most significant planning projects.
Nastaran’s significant experience initiating, coordinating and managing complex multidisciplinary teams of professionals, colleagues and stakeholders and her confidence in working in dynamic environments involving many viewpoints and agendas are assets she brings to the assignments she undertakes.
As a testament to her commitment to her profession, Nastaran has held a number of significant volunteer posts throughout her career, most notably serving as President of the British Columbia Society of Landscape Architects in 2012 and as Canadian Society of Landscape Architects President in 2018. She currently chairs the Canadian Landscape Standard Steering Committee.
Monica Giesbrecht, FCSLA, MALA, LEED Ap., CR
Ms. Giesbrecht is a principal with HTFC Planning Design in Winnipeg where she has been practicing landscape architecture, urban design, and land use planning for over 20 years.
Monica’s early life experiences moving to the Prairies with her family as an Eastern European political refuge, drive her passion for creating welcoming, supportive and inclusive places. Monica uses her work to research and explore the symbiotic relationships between people and nature and the expressions of these interrelationships in the designed landscape.
Her ongoing investigations into the social, physical and psychological relationships between landscapes and youth, immigrants, marginalized groups, and seniors, serve as a foundation for her progressive work on healthy communities, integrated recreation networks, liveable neighbourhoods, inclusive urban environments, sustainable landscapes, and culturally sensitive lands.
A graduate of the Landscape Architecture Program at the University of Manitoba and a recent inductee into the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects College of Fellows, Monica uses her passion and talents to support organizations such as United Way’s Spark Partnerships, The North End Women’s Centre, the Winnipeg Arts Council , Trees Canada, and Health in Common.
Ron Koudys, FCSLA, FASLA
The son of a Dutch immigrant family Ron graduated from the University of Guelph in 1978. Moving to London he entered private practice and became a full-time professor at Fanshawe College the next year. He continued his academic career there for over 31 years, teaching over 2000 students and earning his Master of Education (UofT) along the way. Ron received many awards for excellence in teaching including the Fanshawe Presidents award and the Staff Excellence award from the ACCC, an organization that represents over 420 campuses across Canada.
Ron founded the Bachelor of Environmental Design and Planning Degree (Fanshawe’s first degree program) and the Horticulture program. He established an articulation agreement with the University of Guelph and as a result, many Fanshawe students have progressed to become Landscape Architects.
Ron has been active as a volunteer in the OALA, CSLA and with Landscape Ontario. He is one of the founding directors for the LO Designers Group, helped start the certification program for Landscape Designers (now a national program) and was presented the LO Presidents award for his service to the industry.
While teaching, Ron maintained an active private practice completing thousands of projects across Canada, the United States, China and in the Caribbean. His work has been recognized with scores of awards for excellence in design.
Ron sits as a director for many corporate and not-for-profit boards, has been married for over 40 years and has five children.
Mathieu Casavant
Mathieu Casavant is principal and co-founder of NIPPAYSAGE, a Montreal-based landscape architecture studio. Mathieu is a member of AAPQ-OALA-APALA with over 25 years’ experience (Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, Université de Montreal, 1998). In the early 2000’s, Mathieu established the award-winning studio with friends and colleagues, bringing an international breadth of experiences acquired at established design firms in Canada and the USA. Within NIPPAYSAGE, Mathieu acts as project manager and contributes both design and technical insights to most of the firm’s larger projects. He received a research grant from the LACF in 2003 focusing on informal playgrounds in South America.
Peter Briggs
Peter D. Briggs graduated from the University of Guelph in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Protection (minor in Ecology). He received a Master of Landscape Architecture degree in 1999 from the University of Guelph, receiving the Victor Chanasyk Medal for professionalism. He is a member of the Northwest Territories Association of Landscape Architects and the American Society of Landscape Architects. Peter founded his company Corvus Design in 2006 in Anchorage Alaska, and has grown it to be the largest landscape architecture firm based in the North. He appreciates that when you live in the North, a small company can be called “the largest”.
He served as the NWTALA representative to the CSLA board for six years prior to serving as president of the Society. One of the highpoints of his career has been serving as president, and being allowed to bring his excitement about the landscape architecture profession to the leadership of the CSLA and experience the amazing initiatives and projects our members are accomplishing. Having sat on a number of committees and CSLA efforts, his personal highlights include: over ten years on the LANDSCAPES | PAYSAGES editorial board (with great pride in what has been accomplished with our magazine by the volunteers that produce it), sitting on the World Landscape Architecture Month committee since its inception, and chairing the committee for the Society’s recent strategic plan update. He has also served as president for the Alaska Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and been involved at the local and national level in the US. He sees great things for landscape architecture and is proud of what the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects has accomplished, and will continue to accomplish.