Landscape Architecture Student Awarded Scholarship
Master of Landscape Architecture Student, Jessi Flynn, Awarded Scholarship by Boston Society of Landscape Architects

The Boston Architectural College is pleased to announce that Jessi Flynn, a student in the College's Master of Landscape Architecture program, was one of four recipients of the Boston Society of Landscape Architects (BSLA) 2014 Student Scholarship Program.

Each year, BSLA awards up to four scholarships to landscape architecture students. Students are required to be from Maine or Massachusetts and be pursuing an education in landscape architecture from a degree-granting program. Alternately, students may be enrolled in an accredited landscape architecture program in Maine or Massachusetts. Students are required to submit a personal statement, work samples, two letters of recommendation, and proof of student status (per the ASLA Student Roster). This year, the BSLA received a record-breaking number of applications to review and consider before selecting the four recipients.

Jessi Flynn is a candidate in the Master of Landscape Architecture program at the BAC, with a BA in Journalism and Environmental Studies from Ohio Wesleyan University. She served in the Peace Corps in Panama; as the Conservation Program Officer for Earthwatch Institute, coordinating research centers in Belize, Brazil, Australia, Kenya, and the United States; as a Regional Recruiter for the Peace Corps; and as an urban Forester for the MA Dept of Conservation and Recreation.

She first became exposed to landscape architecture while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama, working with Ngäbe / Buglé Indigenous communities on large scale projects such as water systems, watershed reforestation projects, flood mitigation, and waste management, as well as working with farmers on farm planning and household gardens. The basic concepts of enclosed, self-sustaining systems, and finding a place for "waste" to be a resource is still what drives Jessi through problem solving in studio. Her studio projects have included repurposing old Boston overpasses into promenades and fine dining locations, creating a biofiltration system for the Boston Harbor Shipyard, and softening the waterfront of South Boston to be resilient to storm surge.

Jessi chose to study at the BAC to combine her scientific, environmental, and community-based work background with landscape design to make spaces that work for people and natural systems in her native Boston. Her interests are in how urban issues such as aging infrastructure, stormwater, industrial areas, food deserts, and pedestrian/ cyclist activity can be reconnected into natural systems present under the urban fabric.

She served as Treasurer of SASLA (2013), is a member of ASLA and BSLA, and is a Massachusetts Certified Arborist. She also serves as a Student Ambassador at New Student Orientation. She currently works for Land Escapes, an ecological design/ build company in Arlington, MA.
The complete list of 2014 BLSA Student Scholarship Awardees includes: Jessi Flynn, Boston Architectural College; Yong Uk Kim, Harvard University; Samuel Packer, Northeastern University; and Foad Vahidi, Harvard University.

Founded in 1913 as the American Society of Landscape Architects' first Chapter, the Boston Society of Landscape Architects is currently celebrating its centennial. Since that time, the BSLA has grown to become one of the Society's largest chapters. The BSLA provides significant benefits to its members. Educational programs, networking events with related professionals, social events, a highly-regarded awards program, and lobbying of local, state, and federal officials on issues important to landscape architects are just some of the services the BSLA provides to its fellow landscape architects.

The School of Landscape Architecture at the BAC offers Bachelor and Master Degree programs that are distinguished by an urban, global approach to contemporary design and an interdisciplinary curriculum. With foundation courses crossing between the various design programs, students are exposed to multiple design dimensions within an interactive and dynamic atelier environment. The curricular mixture provides both the BLA and MLA level programs with a solid framework for exploring the interrelated components of a meaningful design language, while also mastering the intrinsic conditions specific to the study and professional practice of Landscape Architecture.