About/Advisory Board

nsachsNaomi Sachs, ASLA, EDAC
Founder & Director
College Station, TX

Naomi is Founding Director of the Therapeutic Landscapes Network. She received her MLA from the University of California, Berkeley in 1999. Naomi has been an active member of the American Society of Landscape Architects' Healthcare and Therapeutic Design Professional Practice Network since 1999, and served as HTD PPN Co-Chair and Chair in ’05-‘06 and ’06-‘07, respectively. She is a member of the Center for Health Design's Environmental Standards Council, and serves on the Editorial Review Board of the American Horticultural Therapy Association's Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture. She an instructor at the Chicago Botanic Garden's Healthcare Garden Design Certificate Program and has taught and spoken about the restorative benefits of nature throughout the United States. Naomi is currently co-authoring a book on the evidence-based design of therapeutic landscapes with Clare Cooper Marcus, to be published by John Wiley and Sons in 2013. Starting in fall '12, Naomi will be pursuing a PhD in Architecture at Texas A&M University's Center for Health Systems and Design. As the recipient of the 2012-2013 W. W. Caudill Endowed Graduate Student Research Fellowship in Architecture, she will be studying the potential salutary effects of nature in outdoor and indoor healthcare and office environments.

jblomJinny Blom
London, U.K.

Jinny is Principal of Jinny Blom Limited, Landscape Design. Her background training is in transpersonal psychology and psychotherapy. Before she began her career in landscape design, she headed a residential non-profit organization for people with extreme psychiatric conditions. Horticultural therapy was an important part of the program, and Jinny continues her interest in therapeutic landscapes with her design work, particularly around issues of how spatial organization affects people. Although principally involved in high end private work, she maintains an active involvement in raising awareness around the need for good quality public and non-profit landscapes. Her most famous project in this area was the Healing Garden, designed with HRH The Prince Charles of Wales, for the Chelsea Garden Show in 2002.

jpcarmanJohn Carman, FASLA
Medford, NJ

Jack Carman, FASLA, RLA, CAPS, President of Design for Generations LLC, is a Landscape Architect specializing in the creation of therapeutic exterior environments for senior communities and healthcare facilities. Jack is co-editor and contributing writer to the recently published book Re-creating Neighborhoods for Successful Aging. Additional book contributions include Complimentary and Alternative Medicine for Older Adults and Interaction by Design. As a contributing writer for national publications, he has written numerous articles on connecting people with nature. Jack actively works to promote the design and development of therapeutic gardens and landscapes through speaking engagements, audio-conferences and contributing to the publication of technical papers. Jack is founder and former chair of the American Society of Landscape Architects Healthcare and Therapeutic Design Professional Practice Network. He is an adjunct faculty member at Temple University teaching “Healing Garden Design” and “Introduction to Horticultural Therapy” and at the Chicago Botanic Garden School of Healthcare Garden Design Certificate Program. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from Rutgers University and a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education from the University of Richmond.

cmarcusClare Cooper Marcus, ASLA
Berkeley, CA

Clare has over forty years experience evaluating environments in terms of how well they meet the needs of users. She is Professor Emerita in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at the University of California, Berkeley, and Principal of Healing Landscapes in Berkeley, CA. Clare is the author of five books including Healing Gardens: Therapeutic Benefits and Design Recommendations, which she coauthored with Marni Barnes. She has consulted and lectured in the UK, China, Iceland, Denmark, New Zealand and Australia. She was educated at the University of London, University of Nebraska, and University of California, Berkeley. She is an instructor for the Chicago Botanic Garden Healthcare Garden Design Certificate Program. She is currently co-authoring a book with Naomi Sachs on the evidence-based design of therapeutic landscapes, to be published by John Wiley and Sons in 2013

mepsteinMark Epstein, ASLA

Seattle, WA

Mark is a professional landscape architect and the director of landscape architecture for ESA Adolfson in Seattle, Washington. For nine years Mark served as co-chair of the Healthcare and Therapeutic Design Professional Practice Network for the American Society of Landscape Architects. He currently teaches therapeutic site design at the University of Washington and at the Chicago Botanic Garden. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the Chicago Botanic Garden program. His writings include a chapter in Interaction By Design (2002) and several articles in professional publications. Mark has presented widely on specific design techniques for healthcare gardens and the process for effective participatory design. His practice emphasizes evidence-based design within a participatory process, based on measurable outcomes for user benefits.

thazenTeresia Hazen, MEd, HTR, QMHP
Portland, OR

Teresia M. Hazen, M.Ed., HTR, QMHP has been with Legacy Health System (LHS) in Portland, Oregon since 1991. LHS is a not-for-profit integrated healthcare network including five hospitals and related services that promotes gardens in healthcare to create supportive environments of care for patients, families, visitors, staff and neighbors. It is the only health care system in the United States to offer a horticultural therapy certificate program authorized by the American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA). Teresia is responsible for pioneering the horticultural therapy program and therapeutic gardens for Legacy’s long-term care and SNF patients. Today, she oversees nine therapeutic gardens and horticultural therapy work through the Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon, Emanuel Children’s Hospital and the Oregon Burn Center. In addition to being a Registered Horticultural Therapist, Ms. Hazen holds a Master of Education degree (M.Ed.), a K-12 Administrative Credential, and is a Qualified Mental Health Professional (QMHP). Teresia served on the AHTA Board of Directors from 1995-1999. In 2003, the Association recognized her leadership by honoring her with the Professional Service Award. In 2007, the American Horticultural Society awarded Teresia the annual HT award for national leadership. She serves as an instructor for the Chicago Botanic Garden Healthcare Garden Design Certificate program and the University of Washington Certificate in Therapeutic/Healing Gardens. She has taught, lectured and consulted in the US, Japan, Korea, China, Canada and Britain.

groehillGeoff Roehll, ASLA, CLARB
Naperville, IL

As Senior Vice President and leader of the Lifecare Studio at Hitchcock Design Group, Geoff has demonstrated his leadership, management, planning and design skills on prominent projects from the Midwest to the Southeast. Geoff joined Hitchcock Design Group, a 50-member planning and landscape architecture firm in Naperville and Chicago, Illinois, in 1990. Since that time he has directed many landmark projects in the healthcare and lifecare markets. Focused exclusively on senior living and healing environments, Geoff’s diverse background includes planning and design for both large-scale and small-scale projects. As a licensed landscape architect, he has a keen talent to communicate how lifecare and healthcare organizations can design successful therapeutic gardens and exterior spaces through careful planning of programming elements and do so with specific user groups in mind. Geoff has served as an instructor for the therapeutic garden certification program at the Chicago Botanic Garden for several years. He is also an active member of the American Horticultural Therapy Association, American Society of Landscape Architects, Life Services Network, Downtown Naperville Alliance Council and the Naperville Education Foundation Board of Directors. Geoff has presented at such conferences as the Life Services Network Annual Meeting, Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the American Horticulture Therapy Association Annual Conference and the Illinois Real Estate Journal Symposium on Health Care.

jsmithJerry Smith, FASLA, LEED AP
Columbus, OH

An advocate for sustainable healthcare and healing environments, Jerry serves on the Human Health & Well-being Sub-Committee of the Sustainable Sites Initiative. He is also on the Steering Committee of the Green Guide for Health Care. Jerry is the landscape architecture representative on the Environmental Standards Council of The Center for Health Design and is the Council’s representative on the Global Health & Safety Initiative. With over twenty years experience in healthcare architecture and holding degrees in botany, architecture and landscape architecture, Jerry’s work focuses on evidence-based design principles, integrating the benefits of nature into the built environment. Jerry is Principal at Smith\GreenHealth Consulting in Columbus, Ohio.