Presenters:

Richard Piacentini; Executive Director; Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Molly Steinwald; Associate Director of Science Education; Phipps Conservatory and
Botanical Gardens

 

If we are to preserve the health of the environment, ourselves and our children, we must look for every opportunity to engage people in examining and changing the way they see and interact with the world; and their everyday world is the built environment where the majority of humanity lives, works and plays. Yet green buildings should not be our final destination. This interactive session recounts two individual but highly
interrelated journeys of questioning the status quo in how we see nature, build buildings and educate ourselves and our children about the environment. Focusing on connecting people to nature every day, Richard's questioning of conventional building design and Molly’s questioning of conventional science education and environmental outreach have led to the development of an interdisciplinary and participatory plan for occupying and educationally programming Phipps new living building (now under construction), and encourages others to creatively do the same.

Presenter Bios

Richard Piacentini
Richard V. Piacentini, Executive Director of Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens since 1994, holds a Bachelor’s in Pharmacy, Master’s in Botany and an MBA in Business Administration. He is responsible for the green transformation of Phipps, including the first LEED Visitor Center in a Public Garden; the most energy-efficient conservatory in the world; and construction of a Living Building. He is committed to green buildings, operations and educational programming. Recently he developed a task force to engage public gardens in healthy foods/gardens for children to help address childhood obesity.  He is past president and treasurer of the American Public Gardens Association, and recipient of its Professional Citation. Other recent awards include the 2010 USGBC Individual Leadership Award in an NGO, Carnegie Science Award, and ASID and Green Building Alliance Leadership Awards.

Molly Steinwald
Molly Steinwald is Associate Director of Science Education at Phipps Conservatory and
Botanical Gardens. She holds a B.S. Biology, M.S. Ecology, and is a Ph.D. candidate
studying how photography affects human-nature relations. An internationally recognized
photographer (including selection as ―1 of 7 emerging female artists‖ at the 2008
Sundance Film Festival), she is Environment Committee chair of the North American
Nature Photography Association and Affiliate of the International League of
Conservation Photographers. An experienced science and photography teacher, she is
frequent speaker on interdisciplinary, participatory education, communicating science to
non-traditional audiences, and child-nature interactions in the built environment. See
www.mollysteinwald.com.