Stephen Lorber
Degree: MLArch
Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2022
Prior Degree
BA in Sustainable Community Development, Northland College, Ashland, WI
2021-2022 Scholarships
Cameron & McCarthy Scholarship for Landscape Architecture
Jon Decherd Research Award in Landscape Architecture
Lynn Mathews Memorial Scholarship
Oregon Chapter ASLA Student Aid Award
I Am Originally From Racine, WI
WHY I CAME TO THE UO AND HOW I CHOSE MY MAJOR
I chose to attend UO for its focus on the intersection of environment and social justice. The Department of Landscape Architecture is explicit about situating the curriculum at that intersection and creating space for nuanced dialogue. I also appreciate the connection the faculty make to the tangible world by developing site visits and connecting us to real community partners working on real projects.
As climate change places increased pressure on ecological and social systems, I see a need to redesign our built environment to be more resilient and adaptive to these pressures. Landscape architecture’s intersectionality allows me to engage with climate design in dynamic ways that I find incredibly stimulating. Resiliency designs need to place a uniquely human stamp on the landscape, and I aspire to design spaces that are ecologically integrative and simultaneously supportive for communities. Creating landscapes that nurture people is integral to the advancement of community self-determination, which I believe is an integral part of future resilient cities.
UNIQUE QUALITIES I BRING TO MY STUDIES
When I tell people I chose to live in northern small-town Minnesota and Wisconsin, I often get odd responses like I lived under a rock. Every time I’m reminded of it I feel small here – like my life in those secluded places wasn’t dynamic. Deep down I know that’s not true, and my work there reflects that, but it’s difficult finding people that care to listen about how dynamic my small home can be. Much of my work there was unquantifiable, unmarketable in that sense, and the nuance is hard to distinguish against the backdrop of my peers’ well-regarded firm names, awards, and ivy-league diplomas. For the better part of the last decade, I dedicated myself to my home- to the people and the land. I built intimate relationships with the Red Cliff Band where I helped reshape the local food system and transform land to honor the Tribe’s culture. I organized with the Bad River Band to fight a strip mine threatening their cultural foods and waterways. I organized a resource drive for the Standing Rock Tribe and stood shoulder to shoulder with Sioux defenders on the front lines of their pipeline protests. In Duluth, I worked with marginalized groups to build extensive infrastructure and systems that alleviate food insecurity while revitalizing landscapes through the process. It wasn’t flashy, but it was deeply intimate and meaningful. Being invited to stand alongside people defending their culture, while they perform rituals older than time, shakes you in ways words can’t describe. To gain your community’s trust that they privately open up to you about struggling for food and that your work is making the difference for their family each week – it rips you apart. Then knowing you have to keep grinding, understanding the importance of what you’re contributing to, because these connections don’t come from fleeting engagement, but rather from years of dedication.
I learned to give more love to a community than to myself. Most of the time it was thankless work – much of it isn’t something you can put on a resume. My work never had big private donors, so I learned how to creatively push my work forward. I learned how to build dynamic relationships and collaborations. I developed a land ethic directly supported by indigenous knowledge and community elders. I learned what the term resilience actually meant to people and landscapes.
Since coming to UO, I consistently contribute my skills to the LA department. Most notably, I was part of the team that organized the LA community after George Floyd’s murder to channel our frustrations and desires into action through the development of an Equity Toolkit and Diversity, Equity and Inculsion (DEI) Committee. I bring a breadth of experience with community organizing and leadership; collaboration with cities, organizations, and tribes; revitalizing landscapes; and developing a justice lens for site analysis. What I lack in accolades I bring perspective, creative drive, and a background in radical placemaking with actualized results.
MY INFLUENTIAL PROFESSORS
I have hads a few professors that have influenced me in different ways. Chris Enright, Senior Lecturer in Landscape Architecture, instilled a sense of identity when I first began, showing me that I should follow my passions and bring them to the field instead of being distracted by what the mainstream field is doing. Roxi Thoren, Professor of Landscape Arcitecxture, was influential by helping direct me through the DEI project process and bringing the toolkit to a larger audience. Zannah Matson, Visiting Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Faculty Fellow in Design for Spatial Justice, showed me how to push myself for myself – that one can always dig deeper and when you do amazing connections can occur.
MY EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
I’m currently the president of UO student chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and using my platform to advocate for more professional connections that lead to student growth, which I saw was a need for improvement in our department. I’m also involved in our department’s DEI Committee, which advocates for building a more equitable department and holding ourselves accountable for this change. In addition to these groups, I volunteer frequently at the UO Urban Farm. I see it as a unique asset for the LA Department and a physical lab to learn from and experiment with. Having an active role in my community is important for me as I see these group actions as the basis for strong and resilient community development.
MY GREATEST LEARNING EXPERIENCE AT UO
My greatest learning experience at UO has been the work I collaboratively did to develop the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Toolkit. The Toolkit took months of community organizing, meetings with various department constituents, and self-directed education. The end result was a product supported by the larger community as a framework for community accountability around developing more equitable structures in our department. My group collaborated with the department faculty, alumni, students, and professional network to create cohesion during the onset of the COVID pandemic. The project created a sense of community and action in a time of immobility and taught us how to be better community facilitators, which I see as an emerging role of the landscape architect.
AFTER GRADUATION
I plan on working on projects that integrate environment and social justice. Over the summer, I interned with the National Park Service Cultural Landscape Team to further develop my ability to advocate for and design with cultural landscapes. I see these spaces as vital for the preservation of community identity and using design to protect and enhance these spaces is fascinating to me. Whether I find work with the government or a design firm, it’s becoming clear to me that the work I engage with needs to be intentional about its cultural and ecological lineage and direct about the projection of their design actions. I have integrated place-based education into my professional work before graduate school, and I expect educating communities and colleagues to be an integral part of my role as a landscape architect.
YOUR GIFT
These scholarships give me confidence that my engagement resonates with the landscape architecture community. Financial assistance also helps alleviate stress and allows me to better focus on my education. Lessening the weight of debt opens up doors when I graduate to pursue passions in the field.
Thank you for taking the time to be supportive. The financial assistance is incredibly generous, and it’s encouraging to know the next generation of landscape architects is supported.