This event offers two opportunities for ADW participants, a panel event plus an activation that participants can stop by at their leisure throughout the week, both utilizing the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Architecture (UTSOA) Living Wall installation as a backdrop.

The speaker panel will focus on the topic of urban biophilia and dive into the design details of the Living Wall pilot project. The panel features a diverse mix of local academics, practitioners, and community members working to instill more nature into the daily lives of Austinites.

During the rest of the week, the Living Wall will be available for participants to stop by and learn more about urban biophilia and the Living Wall project. Visitors can access information available via QR codes embedded into the plant cells of the installation. .

We hope to create a space for learning and informal discussions that grows the network of community members, leaders and activists involved in current and future projects that weave more nature and its many benefits into Austin’s urban fabric!

• HOST
• Danelle Briscoe, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture
• Danelle Briscoe is an architectural designer who studied at Yale University and the University of Texas at Austin. Her ten years of work experience includes being a designer at Gehry Partners LLP, Marmol+Radziner LLP and Centerbrook Architects. She has exhibited work in Axis Gallery, Tokyo, 2004 ICFF in New York, theMAK Center in Los Angeles and most recently at Objectspace in Auckland. She now lives in Austin, Texas and works as an independent practitioner and holds a position of Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is primarily engaged in material and digital fabrication research.
• HOST
• Caitlin Admire, Program Manager, City of Austin, Urban Design Division
• Caitlin holds a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Kansas State University and spent many years in the landscape architecture and urban design fields before joining the City of Austin’s Office of Sustainability in 2019. She recently joined the City’s Urban Design Division where she manages the Great Streets Program and continues her passion for finding opportunities to infuse moments of nature into the urban fabric and everyday lives of Austinites.
• SPEAKER
• Dean Michelle Addington, Dean, Rockwell Chair in Architecture, University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture
• Michelle Addington is the Dean of the School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin, where she also holds the Henry M. Rockwell Chair in Architecture. Formerly, she held the Chair in Sustainable Architectural Design at the Yale University School of Architecture and was jointly appointed as a Professor at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Educated as a mechanical engineer and as an architect, she focuses on advanced technologies, energy, and new materials.
• SPEAKER
• Councilmember Vanessa Fuentes, Councilwoman, City of Austin Elected to the Austin City Council on Nov. 3, 2020, Councilwoman Vanessa Fuentes is the second Latina to serve in this role. She brings more than ten years of community, public, private and nonprofit sector experience. As the daughter of a Mexican immigrant mother and military veteran father, the councilwoman’s parents instilled in her that education is the great equalizer. She is a first-generation college graduate, having attended the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to office, she worked as an advocacy strategist for the American Heart Association championing causes such as improved access to healthy food and quality and affordable health care. Councilwoman Fuentes serves as the vice-chair of the Public Health Committee, vice-chair of the Austin Water Oversight committee and sits on the Regional Affordability Committee and Community Action Network board of directors. She also serves on the Austin/Travis County Hate Crimes Task Force as an appointee by the Mayor. She lives in Southeast Austin with her husband Curtis Smith, chief of staff for a state representative, and their adorable fur baby, Axel the Bulldog.
• SPEAKER
• Kathy Zarsky, Nature to Neighborhood Manager, BiomimicryTX and Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center
• Kathy is a naturalist and founder of BiomimicryTX, a local node of the Global Biomimicry Network, sharing nature-inspired innovation through creative partnerships and events. While running her own business, HOLOS Collaborative, Kathy amassed 17 years in sustainable design consulting, research and education. Trained as an architect and one of the world's first trained Biomimicry Specialists, she's adopted the core tenets of reciprocity and ecological intelligence. Kathy has spent most of her career honing her expertise in bioinspired innovation and design methods. Her experience includes work on Austin’s most notable green building projects and national leadership positions with USGBC and the Biomimicry Institute Regional Network Community. At Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center, she joins a team of conservation and environmental scientists, biologists, educators and collaborators to develop new programming and partnerships to bridge the gap between communities and nature.
• SPEAKER
• Ucha Abbah, Climate Resilience Project Manager, Go! Austin/Vamos! Austin (GAVA)
• Ucha is passionate about how marginalized communities build social and economic power to access healthy environments and prepare for the impacts of climate change. Ucha earned her Bachelor's in Human Rights and Environmental Studies at Southern Methodist University. After graduation, she earned her Master's degree in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia and focused her research on how colonization impacts disaster response and public health. Since moving to Austin in 2019, she has participated locally on the natural systems advisory group for the City of Austin's Climate Equity Plan and globally as a UN SDSN Youth Local Pathways Fellow. She was also involved in developing equity frameworks, equitable parks master planning, climate resilience planning, and building health equity toolkits as a part of the Urban Ecology Studio at Asakura Robinson. Currently, she supports Climate Resilience work at Go! Austin/Vamos! Austin. Ucha is excited and committed to continued learning and unlearning in her career.