Category Archives: Design

UW Press announces personnel changes and the creation of a combined EDP department

After thirty-four years at the University of Wisconsin Press, most of them spent in the role of production manager, Terry Emmrich retired this summer. His steady hand in that position was instrumental in helping us navigate some challenging transitions over the decades, both internally and endemic to the industry. It would be impossible to replace him, so we’re not going to try. Instead, we have merged the production and editorial departments, and Adam Mehring has been named the first editorial, design, and production (EDP) manager in the history of UW Press.

Adam started at UW Press in the 1990s as an undergraduate intern responsible for a number of tasks, including writing catalog and jacket copy. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a bachelor’s degree in English, he worked part-time in our marketing department for a few years before transitioning to the editorial department. He was named editor in 2001 and managing editor in 2006.

Joining Adam in the new EDP department is Sheila McMahon, who has been at UW Press since 1999, most recently serving as senior project editor and now taking on the managing editor position. Sheila began her career as a marketing student intern before moving over to the acquisitions department and finally into the editorial department in 2005. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English–creative writing and Latin American studies from UW–Madison. Sheila is also a freelance copyeditor and proofreader for several university presses.

We are also happy to announce that we hired Jessica Smith (she/they) as a project editor in May. Jessica comes to us after five years in trade book publishing at Sourcebooks, where she most recently worked as lead production editor for the Sourcebooks Casablanca imprint, shepherding multiple New York Times and USA Today best sellers to print. She was most proud to work on diverse and LGBTQIA+ titles and is an advocate for sensitivity, accessibility, and inclusion in publishing. She graduated summa cum laude from Illinois State University with a degree in English–publishing studies and a political science minor. Jessica currently works remotely from Illinois with two lap cats, Kya and Samwise.

Jennifer Conn joined the UW Press production department as art director in 2017, and is now with us full time. She’s been designing for a couple of decades, for a publisher of special ed curriculum, as a cofounder of a start-up, and for various freelance clients over the years. She enjoys combining her love of books and art and collaborating with designers, authors, and the press team. Her favorite spot is art journaling in a hammock in Door County and she’s ambivalently looking forward to her imminent empty nest.

*From left*: Sheila McMahon, Jessica Smith, Terry Emmrich, Jennifer Conn, Adam Mehring

We also want to take this opportunity to belatedly announce some other recent hires at UW Press.

Last fall, we hired Alison (Allie) Shay as our new publicity manager. Allie comes to UW Press following stints at UNC Press and Syracuse University Press, where she served as publicist and acquisitions editor, respectively. Before starting her publishing career in 2011, Allie spent five years as a bookseller and earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from UNC. She works remotely from North Carolina with her two dogs, Mason and Daisy, who have been known to pop up on our social media from time to time.

In our journals division, Dan Bennett joined us last fall as our new customer service and business development associate, coming from the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association, where he was a member services specialist.

Our journals production manager, Erica Teal, joined us last fall from the California Pharmacists Association, where she was managing editor of their journal. She began her publishing career at the Mathematical Association of America, working on two of their journals.

Finally, we recently welcomed our new journals marketing manager, David Bulgerin. David is completing his MBA from Colorado State University and has varied marketing experience, working in the provost’s communications office at Texas A&M, at Bryan Research & Engineering, and at Texas A&M Transportation Services.

With the restructuring of our EDP department and these new hires in journals and marketing, we are back up to full staffing for the first time since just before the pandemic began.

Landscape Journal Welcomes New Editor James LaGro Jr.

UW Press is pleased to welcome James LaGro Jr. as the new editor of Landscape Journal: Design, Planning, and Management of the Land. LaGro began his editorial tenure in June of 2021, succeeding former interim editor Katherine Melcher.

James LaGro Jr. is a professor in the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He received his MLA and PhD from Cornell University, and he has also worked in private practice as a professional land planner. Prior to joining the faculty of UW–Madison, he served as a 2008-09 AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Center for Environmental Assessment – Global Change Research Program. His 2008 book, Site Analysis: A Contextual Approach to Sustainable Site Planning and Design, was selected by Planetizen as one of the top planning books of that year.

The following interview with LaGro was conducted by Jennifer Tse of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) and published on the CELA website, and we are republishing it here with their permission. In it, LaGro details some of his exciting plans for the future of the journal.

ARE THERE ANY SEMINAL MOMENTS IN YOUR EDUCATION OR PROFESSIONAL CAREER THAT INFLUENCED YOUR PATH?

Yes, I certainly have had moments where I knew it was time to close one chapter of my career and move on to the next.

For example, my undergraduate degree is in urban horticulture, so I studied plant ecology and plant physiology, and soils and pathology, and all the things that contribute to healthy plants. I started a business in my senior year—a landscape contracting and gardening business—but within about a year I became much more interested in the design and construction aspects. So that led me to go back to school for my Master’s in Landscape Architecture.

I then worked for five years in private practice. When I was in South Florida with EDSA, I began to see the connections between public policy and land use change and impacts on the environment. And that got me interested in going back to school yet again for my PhD in Natural Resources Policy and Planning with a focus on urbanizing landscapes. Each step was a progression up in scale, looking at increasingly bigger issues.

I have also had good mentors along the way—in universities and in private practice. They influenced my career path by helping me visualize what my next steps could be.

IT SEEMS LIKE YOU’RE COMING INTO THIS POSITION AT THE PERFECT TIME.

I hope so. My experiences as a researcher, educator, and practitioner all help to broaden my perspective on land planning, design, policy, and management. I’ve planted trees and built patios with my own hands. But I’ve also worked on teams that planned new communities on sites as large as 5,000 acres.

AND YOU ALSO WORKED IN SWITZERLAND.

Yes, I did. I learned a lot about green roofs in Switzerland. The Swiss are fantastic in horticulture and in using space very efficiently. So that was fun because I spent time up on rooftops—sometimes five, six, eight stories up, overseeing the construction and planting. Because it was a design-build firm, I would be in the field about half of the time, supervising crews that were always international. These skilled workers came from several European countries.

WHAT INTERESTED YOU IN BECOMING EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF LANDSCAPE JOURNAL?

One of the reasons is that I love to write. I am continuously trying to improve my craft. I enjoy the writing process. I enjoy editing. And I enjoy helping other people write well. I often review graduate student writing, but I also peer-review journal and book manuscripts. So, this opportunity really appealed to me—a leadership position focusing on writing for publication. Frankly, I was impressed by the position description because it was clear to me that there had been considerable thought given to where the journal has been, where the journal is currently, and where it could go in the future. That came through very clearly. I was impressed by the level of analysis, but also by the visionary aspect—that the task force envisioned a new model for editorial oversight and leadership. It was also clear that this wasn’t just a caretaker role, but an opportunity to provide innovative leadership. So that attracted me very much.

AS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ARE THERE ANY TYPES OF SCHOLARSHIP, GENRES, OR TOPICS THAT YOU ARE MOST INTERESTED IN EXPANDING OR EMPHASIZING IN THE FUTURE?

Yes, definitely. I would like to encourage scholarship from a broad range of authors. Original research articles, obviously. Those are the mainstays of an academic journal. But I also would like to find ways to encourage review papers that synthesize the literature and articulate the state-of-the-art on important issues for the profession and discipline. Different practice types, educational pedagogies, and research methods could be examined. I would also like to encourage reflective and speculative essays, to encourage more practitioners to write for Landscape Journal.

I also think there’s a role for advocacy scholarship in landscape architecture. Public policy plays a huge role in shaping the built and the natural environment. So, public policy briefs that are evidence-based and analytical could be published in the journal. These policy briefs might look at two or three policy scenarios: compare the pros and cons, and then make recommendations for policy reforms. These could focus on federal, state, or local-level policies. Landscape architecture, as a profession, could play a more assertive role in public policy conversations in this country and across the world.

HAVE YOU SEEN A LOT OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS ADVOCATING FOR THIS AS WELL?

The New Landscape Declaration addresses this issue and that’s one of the reasons why I’m excited to serve as Editor-in-Chief. So, I do think some of the aspirational aspects of what the LAF (Landscape Architecture Foundation) and the Landscape Declaration are saying are outcomes that I can help bring to fruition.

We also can learn from critiques of built works—projects that have been implemented. LAF’s landscape performance case studies, for example, assess the social, economic, and environmental benefits of selected built projects. These increase our collective knowledge base. And in the best traditions of design criticism (I’m thinking, here, of Ada Louise Huxtable), critiques of built works could offer interesting new perspectives and insights.

IS THAT AN AREA WHERE PRACTITIONERS WOULD COME IN?

They absolutely could. This is an area where both practitioners and educators can contribute—including students.

WHY DO YOU THINK THAT PRACTITIONERS HAVE BEEN LESS REPRESENTED IN THE JOURNAL?

I think it has to do with the traditional expectations for publishable scholarship. And this is one area where I can help. I plan to reach out to practitioners in the field and invite them to reflect upon and write from their experience. These would not be 8,000-word articles reporting on scientific research. But shorter pieces—1,000 or 1,500 words—reflective essays that encapsulate the views and insights that they’ve developed through practice. This scholarship can have benefits not only for students, but for academics who are teaching the next generation of practitioners. I’m hoping this is a mutually beneficial dialogue that helps to shape the field’s future research agenda.

DO YOU SEE THEM AS PLAYING A SPECIAL ROLE WHEN IT COMES TO PUBLIC POLICY DISCUSSIONS?

Practitioners confront public policies in terms of regulatory requirements and ensuring that their projects meet local permitting and approval standards. Practitioners also have an interest in understanding the performance of implemented projects. Research collaborations—between academics and practitioners—could generate useful new knowledge. That kind of information can be good for business and also influential in shaping policy reforms.

Ideally, we will have authors from the research community and the practitioner community writing from their experiences in different contexts. I’m interested in the perspectives of practitioners working in the private sector, but also in the public and non-profit sectors. This is an under-tapped resource. In the city of Madison, the community where I live, there are landscape architects who are or have been in influential positions within local government. They have a story to tell, too, that I think would be interesting and useful.

DO YOU THINK THAT THE GREATER PUBLIC WOULD BENEFIT FROM HEARING FROM PEOPLE SUCH AS YOURSELF AND THESE PRACTITIONERS?

Absolutely. I often tell my students that, as future professionals, they will have a responsibility to be civically engaged. When opportunities arise to serve on committees or advisory boards, they should take them because they have a unique lens for looking at community issues. They can contribute to the greater good if they use their knowledge and values to weigh in on local policy decisions.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE MEMBERS OF CELA?

I’m excited about this new role. The plan is to increase the annual number of Landscape Journal’s issues from two to four. This will happen incrementally. So, all these changes will increase opportunities for publishing scholarship from CELA members, from practitioners, and from other disciplines. More information on the journal’s revised aims and scope and author guidelines will be forthcoming.

WHAT IS YOUR OVERALL GOAL FOR YOUR EDITORSHIP?

Increasing Landscape Journal’s impact factor is a key goal. As an international outlet for scholarship on land planning, design, and management, the journal should be a respected resource for scholars and practitioners, not just in landscape architecture but in other disciplines as well.

An image of the cover of Landscape Journal vol. 40 no. 1

Landscape Journal is the official journal of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA). Landscape Journal offers in-depth exploration of ideas and challenges that are central to contemporary design, planning, and teaching. Besides scholarly features, Landscape Journal includes editorial columns, creative work, and reviews of books, conferences, technology, and exhibitions. In publication since 1982, Landscape Journal continues to be a valuable resource for academics and practitioners.

Ecological Restoration Editor Named ESA Fellow

Steven N. Handel, editor of Ecological Restoration

Congratulations to Steven N. Handel, editor of UW Press published journal Ecological Restoration, who has been named a 2021 Fellow by the Ecological Society of America. ESA Fellows are recognized for outstanding contributions related to ecological knowledge and are elected for life. Handel was chosen for “contributions in urban restoration ecology, including research on opportunities and methods for adding ecological enhancements to degraded areas; for building important bridges to the landscape architecture profession in prize-winning public projects; and for revising university curricula to better incorporate ecological concepts into landscape design practices.”

On receiving this honor, Handel says:

I am so grateful for this wonderful Fellow award from the ESA. Restoration ecologists learn many things, but we have neither the training nor legal license to actually draw blueprints. For that we must closely collaborate with landscape architects and planners. I have tried to build that link in my writing, public speaking, and university teaching. As editor of Ecological Restoration, I encourage landscape architects to publish their concepts with us, then ask working ecologists to critique those plans. We publish the critiques. I also write editorials in every issue that champion this transdisciplinary thinking. In these ways, we are trying to mesh the thinking of two professions and create a more ecological future for us all.

Handel is Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolution at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He has served as editor of Ecological Restoration since 2011, and his incisive commentary on the state of restoration science can be found in each issue’s editorial section, freely available to read. His latest editorial is entitled “Black and White, and Green,” and considers the connections between racism and environmental degradation.

Landscape Journal Welcomes New Interim Editor

Landscape Journal, the official journal of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA), is excited to welcome a new interim editor. Katherine Melcher succeeds previous interim editor Robert Corry and assistant editor David Pitt. The UW Press would like to thank Corry and Pitt for all their hard work on behalf of the journal over the past year. The following is a brief introduction to the new editor.

Katherine Melcher is an associate professor at the University of Georgia’s College of Environment and Design, where she teaches courses in community design, site engineering, and research methods. Her research interests span two areas: landscape architecture theory and social aspects of design, with a special focus on participatory design. Her work has been published in Landscape Journal, Landscape Review, Landscape Research Record, Town Planning Review, The Plan Journal, and New Geographies. Her piece in Landscape Research Record, “Three Moments in Aesthetic Discourse,” received the Outstanding Paper Award from the Council of Educators of Landscape Architecture in 2018.

She co-edited the book Community-Built: Art, Construction, Preservation, and Place, published by Routledge in 2017, and served as co-editor of the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts’ newsletter from 2017 to 2019. In addition to teaching research methods at the University of Georgia, she has supervised the research of over twenty-five master students.

Prior to joining the University of Georgia, she was Design Director at Urban Ecology, a nonprofit based in the San Francisco Bay Area that specializes in community-based design. She developed participatory processes that engaged diverse communities in the design and creation of their public places, including the East Bay Greenway, a twelve-mile pedestrian and bicycle path in Alameda County, CA. The California Chapter of the American Planning Association awarded the East Bay Greenway Concept Plan its 2009 Focused Issue Award of Excellence.

Originally from Oklahoma, she received her BA in sociology from Vassar College and her MLA from Louisiana State University. She is currently a PhD candidate at the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts.

On her new role with Landscape Journal, Melcher says,

I am excited about the opportunity to engage directly with landscape scholars to help further our understanding of how we can best plan, design, and manage our environments. I would especially like to thank Robert Corry and David Pitt for taking so much time and care to introduce me to the editing process. Because of their work, I believe the transition will be smooth. I also would like to thank Dan Nadenicek and Ashley Steffens for encouraging me to take on this role.

To learn more about Melcher’s work, see her 2013 article in Landscape Journal entitled “Equity, Empowerment, or Participation: Prioritizing Goals in Community Design,” which is freely available to read until the end of January.