Marni Barnes, LCSW, ASLA
Deva Designs

Marni Barnes is a Landscape Architect who designs and consults on the creation of healing landscapes.  Drawing upon ten years experience as a psychotherapist and social worker practicing in the USA and in Great Britain, as well as 25 years as a landscape designer, Marni researches and writes about emotional health and outdoor environments.  Marni has been joint recipient of awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects (1996), the American Institute of Architects (1997) and the Places Research award from the Environmental Design Research Association (2000).  She has presented her work in Scotland, Australia, Norway and England, and co-authored two books on therapeutic gardens in health care facilities.  The most recent book, Healing Gardens, therapeutic benefits and design recommendations (with Cooper Marcus), was published in May 1999, by John Wiley & Sons.  Marni is the Principal of the landscape architecture and consulting firm Deva Designs. Her recent design work includes the courtyard design for Kaiser Medical Group. This space will be the key healing garden in several acute care hospitals throughout California.

Melissa Boland, BS
Therapeutic Horticulture Activity Specialist, Sugar Snap

Melissa Boland is co-owner of Sugar Snap in Portland, Oregon where she creates therapeutic landscapes and pocket gardens.  She consults for a variety of therapeutic horticulture settings including DePaul Treatment Center Outpatient Program, Adventist Medical Center, Emanuel Trauma Recovery Unit, Oswego Respite Care Day Program, St. Aidan’s and several residential facilities serving dementia residents.  Melissa serves on the 2006 Conference Work Team for the American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA) annual conference to be held in Portland.  She works as a gardener in the Legacy Therapeutic Gardens and completed the Legacy HT Certificate Program in 2001.  Melissa served on the NW Chapter American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA) BOD 2002 – 04.  She received her BS in horticulture from Montana State University and is now pursuing a master’s degree in counseling and her registration as HTR.

Julie Brown, AD
Therapeutic Horticulture Activity Specialist, Baptist Manor Retirement and Care Center

Julie Brown coordinates and conducts resident activities at Baptist Manor Retirement and Care Center in Portland, Oregon.  As Activity Director in the Retirement Home, she provides an activity program emphasizing horticulture, gardens and nature.  She serves as the therapeutic horticulture specialist in the Care Center/Skilled Nursing Unit which serves residents and patients who have a wide range of physical, emotional and cognitive needs.  The skilled nursing unit also provides rehabilitation services.   Julie completed the Legacy Therapeutic Horticulture Activity Specialist certificate in 2003 and has worked as a gardener since 2000 in Legacy Therapeutic Gardens. She currently serves as Vice President of the NW Chapter AHTA.  She is a member of the 2006 Conference Work Team for the AHTA annual conference June 14 – 16, 2006.

Jack Carman, ASLA
President, Design for Generations, LLC

Jack Carman, ASLA, president of Design for Generations LLC, is a Landscape Architect with over 18 years of experience in the analysis, planning, design and management of outdoor spaces.  As a design consultant, Jack has specialized in creating therapeutic exterior environments for senior communities and healthcare facilities.  His design experience includes the creation of over 75 Landscape Plans for Assisted Living and Alzheimer Residences, Adult Day Health Care Centers, Long Term Care Facilities, Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Community Hospitals.

Nancy J. Chapman, PhD
School of Urban Studies and Planning (USP)

Nancy Chapman is Professor Emerita in the School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University, where she was on the faculty for 30 years.  She is an environmental and social psychologist whose research in aging has focused on housing and neighborhood environments.  She was part of a grant that trained urban planners about housing issues that will confront them as our society ages. The resulting publication is a report from the American Planning Association, "Planning for an Aging Society." Recent articles explored the viability of accessory apartments as a housing option for older people, factors that make it easier or harder for family members to visit people with dementia in long-term care, and the relationship between urban form and activity. In addition to housing and neighborhood environments, her research has included help-exchange networks among the elderly, their family, friends and neighbors.  She was part of team that developed the Portland Memory Garden and has been involved in training of activity staff in long-term care units to enhance their use of gardens at their facilities and in the community.

Jane Gordon, PhD
Horticultural Therapy Student, Legacy Health System

Jane Gordon, Ph. D. is a senior researcher and analyst who brings over 25 years of experience in outcome-oriented public health and social research programs.  Jane has applied her research, analytic and computer skills to the design and implementation of programs and projects that are anchored by: the determination of measurable outcomes; building linkages between desired outcomes and the integration of organizational systems to track progress toward achievement of those outcomes; and the evaluation of program effectiveness.  Jane’s passion for gardening, training as a Master Gardener and now as a student in Horticultural Therapy made her an ideal partner for Teresia Hazen, MEd, HTR and Marie Valleroy, M.D. who have done substantial clinical work on the benefits of horticulture as part of healing.

Anne M. Hanenburg, ASLA, MSArch
University of Idaho

After a sixteen-year career working in the healthcare industry, Anne Hanenburg pursued a degree in Landscape Architecture where she discovered her passion for healing garden design.  She recently completed an MSArch where her research focused on way finding and dementia.  Anne recently completed the certificate program in healthcare design through the Chicago Botanic Garden.  She has given numerous presentations at Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and the annual meeting of Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA).  She is currently self-employed as a landscape designer with an emphasis on healing garden design in aging environments. 

Vi Hansen, LCSW
Clinical Social Worker, Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital

Vi Hansen, LCSW, has worked as a clinical social worker for 30 years.  She worked in long term care serving dementia clients for 18 years and currently works in the acute care hospital in cancer services and surgical specialties. Since 1991, Vi has actively served on the Legacy therapeutic gardens work team, garden design teams, advocating for therapeutic gardens, presenting at Legacy Therapeutic Garden conferences and conducting effectiveness studies.

Suzanne E. Hatty PhD
Professor of Culture, Epistemology and Medicine
Department of Social Medicine, Ohio University College of Medicine

Suzanne E Hatty PhD is Professor of Culture, Epistemology and Medicine at the Ohio University College of Medicine. She received her BA (Hons) from Macquarie University, Sydney, and her PhD from the University of Sydney, Australia. Dr Hatty is a psychologist, and behavioral scientist, with 28 years’ experience in the fields of health, health care, and more recently, integrative medicine. Dr Hatty is the author of nine scholarly books, and numerous articles and chapters. Two of her latest books are The Disordered Body: Epidemic Disease and Cultural Transformation (with James Hatty) and Masculinities, Violence and Culture. Dr Hatty’s current research interests embrace the fields of ecopsychology and ecohealth, global health, and the shifting relationship between Western and Chinese medicine.

Dr Hatty has occupied leadership roles in higher education institutions in the US, Canada and Australia. Before taking up her current position, Dr Hatty was Foundation Chair of the Center for Humanities and Human Sciences and Foundation Chair of the Center for Behavioral and Community Studies at Southern Cross University (SCU), New South Wales, Australia. Dr Hatty has been retained as an expert consultant to a large number of government inquiries and commissions dealing with a range of health-related issues. She continues to be involved with government and community agencies, especially those directed toward social change.

Cairene MacDonald
Virtual Assistant, Third Hand Works
Advisory Member, Acer Institute

Cairene MacDonald provides administrative support to independent creative professionals through her virtual assistance practice, Third Hand Works, located in Portland, Oregon.  Third Hand Works provides remote administrative assistance to independent professionals and micro-business owners in the context of long-term partnerships. Through enthusiastic, skilled, intelligent support to create calm, order and control out of chaos and urgency – enabling clients to focus on work that is their passion and expertise, pursue neglected ambitions, and experience renewed satisfaction in their professional and personal lives.

Her clients include a variety of “creatives” such as landscape architects and designers, the Oregon Chapter of ASLA, television producers, storytellers, authors, graphic and web designers, and creativity coaches.  Prior to launching her practice, Cairene held key administrative positions supporting architects, urban planners, engineers and landscape architects and has experience wearing a variety of enjoyable “hats” – from gallery coordinator to event implementer, to barista.  She assisted the Co-chairs of the 2004 Legacy Health System Therapeutic Gardens Conference, and is pleased to once again be involved in helping to create a forum for exchange among those in the profession of creating restorative and therapeutic landscapes.

Tracy Greene Mintz, MA, MSW, ACSW
Social Worker, Motion Picture and Television Fund

Tracy Greene Mintz is an Associate Clinical Social Worker with a certificate in gerontology from Portland State University.  In Portland, she worked as a social worker for the Robison Jewish Home and Providence ElderPlace, as well as volunteered at Rose Schnitzer Manor and with the professional education series sponsored Multnomah County Aging Services. She now practices in Los Angeles, serving entertainment industry retirees in independent and assisted living, as well as acute hospitalization, transitional care, and long-term care. She has a Masters degree in film & television and worked in sales and marketing for the entertainment industry for twelve years before becoming a geriatric social worker.

Keith Diaz Moore, PhD, AIA
Assistant Professor of Architecture / Landscape Architecture, IDP Coordinator
Washington State University Spokane, Interdisciplinary Design Institute

Keith Diaz Moore is an Assistant Professor at Washington State University with a unique joint appointment in Architecture and Landscape Architecture.  He is coordinator of the new Doctor of Design program at the Interdisciplinary Design Institute in Spokane, an interdisciplinary program of advanced scholarship in the area of environmental design.  Keith is an emerging leader in the area of environments for the aging, with a particular emphasis on community-based responses to our aging society.  His research has been funded by numerous foundations and has been recognized by his election to the board of the Environmental Design Research Association and as a trustee for the National Adult Day Service Association Foundation.  Keith is a registered architect and has his PhD in Architecture from the University of Wisconsin.  He loves to spend his summers exploring the Pacific Northwest with his ever-growing family. 

Anita Locke Philipsborn, ASID, IDA, APLD
Therapeutic Interior & Garden Designer, Philipsborn Design
Advisory Member, Acer Institute

Principal and owner for 22 years of Philipsborn Designs, Inc., an Interior Design and Garden Design firm in the Chicagoland area.  Philipsborn Design specializes in creating restorative spaces for residential use and for health care facilities.  Anita is a graduate from Yale University in plant ecology, attended the Art Institute of Chicago and the Healthcare Garden Design program at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Sharon Siefert
Senior Legal Counsel, Motion Picture and Television Fund

Sharon Siefert has over a decade of legal experience and is a member of the California Bar.   She currently serves on the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s Bioethics Committee and is active in the Southern California Hospital Bioethics Consortium and the Bioethics Committee collaborative between the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the Los Angeles County Medical Association.  Her legal expertise is derived from counseling businesses and nonprofits on all aspects of operational and regulatory compliance issues.

Her gardening practice started in childhood.  Today, she experiments with the community-building impacts of gardening, therapeutic garden design, and habitat restoration (and most likely to be found in her front yard happily explaining to passersby that the wonderful scent emanating from the garden is Salvia clevlandii).

She is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and was a founding board member of the Western Center on Law and Poverty’s Advisory Board.

• Admitted to the California Bar 1993
• Juris Doctor: University of San Diego School of Law 1993
• Bachelors of Arts, History: University of California Los Angeles 1987

Jerry A. Smith, ASLA, LEED AP
Karlsberger Companies Affiliation

Jerry Smith, ASLA, is the Senior Landscape Architect for Karlsberger Architects, Inc., a healthcare architecture firm based in Columbus, Ohio.   Jerry has been working in healthcare for almost 20 years, having spent most of his career with architecture firms in Boston and Columbus.   Holding professional degrees in Botany, Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Jerry's background and experience provide a broad foundation for his interest and expertise in therapeutic garden design.

An active member in the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) professional interest group on Therapeutic Garden Design and recipient of several ASLA design awards, Jerry Smith also serves on the Environmental Standards Council of the Center for Health Design, the faculty of the School of the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Board of the Hollandia Botanical Gardens,  the Steering Committee for the Green Guide for Health Care, and is a LEED Accredited Professional.Jerry lives and works in downtown Columbus with his wife and healthcare architect, Brooke, and their 10 year old daughter, Ruby.

Marie Valleroy, MD
Rehabilitation Medicine Associates, Legacy Health System

Marie Valleroy MD is a physiatrist (physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist) who trained at the University of Texas and the University of Washington. She has practiced in Portland with Rehabilitation Medicine Associates for over 20 years and has a special interest in rehabilitation of neurological disorders. Rehabilitation Medicine Associates has close ties to Legacy Rehabilitation Services and the Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon (RIO). Dr. Valleroy serves as the associate medical director of RIO and as the medical director of Legacy Cancer Rehabilitation as well as Horticultural Therapy. She also chairs the Clinical Advisory Committee of the Oregon chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Association. In addition to the traditional palette of rehab therapies, she is a strong believer in Horticultural Therapy and the value of therapeutic gardens.

Amy Wanat, BLA
Therapeutic Garden Designer, Sugar Snap

Amy Wanat, BLA is co-owner of and therapeutic garden designer for Sugar Snap in Portland, Oregon.  Sugar Snap creates therapeutic landscapes and pocket gardens through providing consultation, design, installation, and maintenance services.  She also works as a therapeutic gardener for Legacy Health System.  She received a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture in 2000 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and completed the Legacy Horticultural Therapy Certificate Program in 2003 and conducts therapeutic horticulture activities in care facilities.

Mark Epstein
Adolfson Associates
Chair, ASLA Therapeutic Garden Design Professional Interest Group
Advisory Member, Acer Institute

Michael James Kirk
Event Photographer

Clare Cooper Marcus
Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley
Therapeutic Garden Audit for Alzheimer’s Facility

Kathy Murrin
Portland Parks and Recreation

Gretchen Vadnais
Gretchen Vadnais Landscape Architects, LLC