Important Update: Increasing Membership Dues for a Stronger Community

As an esteemed member of NCASLA, we greatly appreciate your ongoing support and participation. Today, we are reaching out to you with an important announcement regarding a necessary adjustment in our membership dues. Over the years, our organization has grown, attracting new members like yourself who share a common passion and drive for our mission. Together, we have created meaningful connections and made a tangible impact in our community. However, to sustain our growth and continue servicing each of our members, we find it imperative to reassess our financial resources. In recent times, the cost to service individual members has increased due to inflation and rising operational costs. As a result, it has become challenging to maintain the same level of service excellence without making any adjustments to our funding structure. To ensure the long-term stability, vitality, and effectiveness of our organization, we have made the decision to increase membership dues. We firmly believe that this adjustment in membership dues is essential for the sustainability and growth of our community. We have looked at the surrounding chapters and here is their fee structure for comparison:

Based on these figures and our current fee structure, our new membership fees are listed below:

We understand that you may have questions or concerns about this adjustment. Therefore, we invite you to submit comments for the board to review. This period will be open from June 8th to July 16th.

Your continued support and dedication have been invaluable to NCASLA, and we remain committed to providing you with the utmost value for your membership. By increasing the dues, we can ensure a sustainable future for NCASLA and maintain our ability to deliver exceptional services and benefits to each member.

We sincerely hope that you understand the necessity of this change and appreciate your cooperation in this matter. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful difference and foster a stronger, more vibrant community.

Thank you for your understanding, support, and commitment. We look forward to your continued involvement in NCASLA.

Warm regards,

Nancy Haywood

Executive Director, NCASLA

On behalf of the NCASLA Executive Committee

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Selects María Bellalta as New Head of Department

By Christine Klocke

After conducting a national search, the College of Design at North Carolina State University has selected María Bellalta to serve as the head of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, effective July 1. María is currently dean and faculty at the Boston Architectural College (BAC) School of Landscape Architecture, where she directs both graduate and undergraduate programs and teaches design theory and practice as well as interdisciplinary studios on social urbanism.

María’s career is distinguished by the admirable work she has produced over the past 30 years across research, teaching, academic administration and practice in landscape architecture. Her research is focused on the urbanization of the Global South, its environmental and social impacts, and is informed by international projects and collaborations and her roots in Latin America.

Her recent book: Social Urbanism: Reframing Spatial Design – Discourses from Latin America examines rapidly developing cities in Latin America. The book expands a worldview which considers the cultural values of a given place as they connect to the geographical landscape of the region and as the driving forces behind future models of globalization and urban growth.
“We are delighted to have María on board, and look forward to the global, interdisciplinary work she can bring to the department,” says Mark Elison Hoversten, dean of the College of Design. “She is an active collaborator with leading organizations including the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), of which she is a fellow, and strives to bring forward a diverse, emerging generation of landscape architects who consider social and environmental justice in their work.”

Derived from her research work in Latin America, María leads international studios focused on social urbanism based in Medellín, Colombia and Mexico City, Mexico, as rapidly expanding cities that exhibit ecological, economic, and social dilemmas exacerbated by a climate crisis era. Since 2015, she has invited students to work alongside local landscape architecture and design students, broadening students’ perceptions of the discipline. Her work guides students through planning strategies that reconsider design in service of diverse communities and frames social urbanism as a means for inclusive development across territories.

“I am excited to be joining the faculty and students in the College of Design,” Bellalta states. “The caliber of the students and the scholarship of the faculty are fundamental to expanding the social and environmental focus of urbanism and the landscape architecture discipline today. I continue to explore means for understanding the ways in which communities are intimately connected to their landscapes and look forward to working together to influence urbanization in the future through this lens.”

María received her MLA from Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, with prior studies in environmental psychology from the University of Notre Dame. Her professional experience includes positions with Buró Verde Arquitectura, Martha Schwartz Partners, Sasaki Associates, and Copley Wolff Design Group.

María is a trustee for the Boston Society of Landscape Architects, ASLA Delegate to the International Federation of Landscape Architects – Americas Region and serves on the Americas Council of Landscape Architecture Schools. She has engaged in academic collaborations with Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Colombia, and Centro Metropolitano de Arquitectura Sustentable in Mexico City, among other academic institutions in Latin America.

Dean Hoversten thanks the search committee, chaired by Tsai Lu Liu, for its important work.