Voices of Women in Landscape Architecture: Kayla Joiner, Liuyun Wang, and Lauren Venin

Left to right: Kayla Joiner, ASLA, Liuyun Wang, Associate ASLA, and Lauren Venin, ASLA

ASLA is sharing the next set of profiles of women in the profession (see the previous installment right here). If you'd like to be featured, the call for submissions remains open, with profiles being shared on an ongoing basis.

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These profiles will appear on the ASLA Women in Landscape Architecture LinkedIn group, Facebook group, and here on The Field. This post includes: Kayla Joiner, ASLA, Liuyun Wang, Associate ASLA, and Lauren Venin, ASLA.

Kayla Joiner, ASLA

Kayla Joiner, ASLA

What inspired you to pursue a career in landscape architecture?

Two things have remained consistent throughout my life-my love of the outdoors and my love of people. I find people's stories and motivations deeply fascinating. After exploring career paths in architecture and interior design, I found my way into landscape architecture and immediately felt at home. Not only did this field give me the tools and experience to shape the environment around me, but it gave me the opportunity to work alongside so many unique individuals. Partnering with clients to bring their visions to life is deeply rewarding.

Who are the female role models who have influenced your career?

There are many, but a few specifically come to mind: Jessica Fernandez, ASLA, PhD, PLA, and Shelley Cannady, MLA, PLA. Both were professors and mentors during my time at the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!). Jessica and Shelley carry a deep dedication to excellence in their lives and work as design professionals and educators-it is impossible to work alongside them and not feel inspired. I had my first daughter during graduate school, and the question always taunted me: "Can I really have it all?"-"It all" being a deeply rewarding career and well-balanced family life. Jessica and Shelley gave me the courage to believe both can (and do) co-exist.

Kayla Joiner, ASLA

What advice do you have for other women pursuing a career in landscape architecture?

Don't stop searching until you find people that you feel inspired by. Don't underestimate the power of a team that pushes you to be better and believes in your unique talents. Landscape architecture was never meant to be a "desk job;" it's an ever-changing, people-focused, active field of work. Find what you uniquely love-be that design, project management, client care-and lock in. There is no one path to building a career here.

Can you share with us a project you are particularly proud of and why?

I have always loved a challenge, and in this field, I consistently find myself gravitating toward the "against all odds" sort of projects. The ones where big dreams and high stakes intersect. One such project in the last year has been Anderson Lake-a 1,200 acre mixed-use master plan located in Anderson, South Carolina. The master plan design and subsequent approvals needed to make this decades-long dream a reality required immense creativity, perseverance, and attention to detail from the SeamonWhiteside team and the client. The underlying goal-to bring a diverse development that honors local history and provides the needed infrastructure to support the next several decades of growth for Anderson County-is inspiring. I am honored to be a part of a project that will bring so much value and growth to the community.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Don't be afraid to take up space. Your intuition, leadership, and unique perspectives as a woman are needed in this field. Realize that no one has all the answers, and your authenticity and willingness to learn and adapt can be your biggest assets. Ask the big question, take the risk, make the phone call-every bold decision along the way will only help you grow in experience and confidence.

Liuyun Wang, Associate ASLA

Liuyun Wang, Associate ASLA

What inspired you to pursue a career in landscape architecture?

I grew up in South China, where many coastal communities live closely with tidal landscapes and mangrove habitats. As a child, I often saw local residents reseeding mangroves and caring for the shoreline together. People didn't call it climate resilience or ecological restoration. It was simply part of how communities lived with the land and water.

Only later did I realize how much knowledge was embedded in those everyday practices-knowing when to plant with the tides, how mangroves protect the coast, and how ecosystems recover over time.

That experience shaped how I see landscape architecture today. For me, the field is not only about designing spaces, but about recognizing the knowledge already held by communities and learning how design can support those long-term relationships between people and landscapes.

Who are the female role models who have influenced your career?

One person who deeply influenced me is Rachel from the Menominee community in Wisconsin, whom I met during my watershed fieldwork. Rachel studies and works to revitalize the Menominee language, and through our conversations I began to understand how language itself carries ecological knowledge.

During one of our discussions about stewardship, she described a simple ethic: harvest what is mature, leave what can regenerate, and return what you gather to the land. The goal, she explained, is not maximum production but long-term balance.

That perspective stayed with me. It helped me see that stewardship is not only about ecological management but about cultural knowledge passed through generations. Rachel's work reminded me that many landscapes already hold deep systems of care, and that as designers our first responsibility is often to listen and learn from those relationships.

I've also been fortunate to learn from many inspiring women throughout my journey. Julia Watson's book Lo-TEK first introduced me to Indigenous ecological knowledge and helped shape how I think about landscape as a living system of cultural and environmental relationships. Michelle Franco at Ohio State inspired me to consider landscape through the lens of labor and the often unseen work that shapes our environments. My thesis advisor, Montserrat "Tat" Bonvehi Rosich at Harvard GSD, supported and encouraged me throughout my thesis and fieldwork. In practice, my team leader, Jodi House, ASLA, PLA, at TBG, has always supported my growth and listened to my interests as I develop my career, and my mentor, Shiyao Liu, Associate ASLA, has been incredibly generous with guidance as I navigate the profession.

What advice do you have for other women pursuing a career in landscape architecture?

One piece of advice is not to work in silos. Landscape architecture sits at the intersection of many fields-ecology, planning, engineering, agriculture, policy, and more.

Some of the most meaningful work happens when we build relationships across disciplines and connect knowledge from different people and perspectives. Collaborating with communities, scientists, policy makers, and other designers helps us see the bigger system we are working within.

Landscape challenges are complex, and no single discipline has all the answers. Learning to connect those dots is one of the most valuable skills we can develop.

Can you share with us a project you are particularly proud of and why?

One project I'm particularly proud of is my graduate thesis, The Last REFUGIA, which explores riparian landscapes in Wisconsin's Fox-Wolf watershed. These river corridors support a large share of regional biodiversity but are often fragmented by private land ownership and agricultural production.

The project proposes a framework called REFUGIA that explores how farmers, tribal communities, and public agencies could collaboratively co-steward riparian corridors. Beyond ecological restoration, the goal is to reconnect communities with these landscapes: supporting biodiversity, food systems, and long-term social well-being.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would tell my younger self to slow down and spend more time listening to landscapes and the people who live with them.

Early in my education, I often felt that designers were expected to arrive with solutions. But over time I learned that meaningful design often begins with observation.

Many landscapes already contain deep ecological knowledge and cultural history. Our work becomes more responsible when we take the time to learn from those relationships.

Lauren Venin, ASLA

Lauren Venin, ASLA

What inspired you to pursue a career in landscape architecture?

When I was 16, I visited my older sister at Rutgers University and went to an open house for several programs, one of which was landscape architecture. Walking through the studios, seeing the students work made me think, "THIS is what I want!" I decided on the spot and never looked back.

Who are the female role models who have influenced your career?

I've always found my role models closer to home. My great aunt, who was not a design professional, inspired me to never let my gender hold me back. She built a career where she was the only woman in the boardroom, and I still channel her courage at times, today.

What advice do you have for other women pursuing a career in landscape architecture?

Speak up for yourself, and do not wait for someone else to speak for you. If you focus on being professional and building your network based on respect and competency, you will always find allies.

Can you share with us a project you are particularly proud of and why?

I am currently working on the 6th Street Embankment Park in Jersey City, NJ. It's an abandoned elevated rail line that has been the focus of ongoing land rights and redevelopment considerations for 20-plus years. My team and I have worked out a design concept that balances preservation of ecology with the need for safe public access, including balancing environmental remediation with extensive tree protection. This project is a once in a lifetime opportunity, particularly for a small LA team. Balancing needs and creating healthy spaces for communities are core considerations for me. I am very proud of my team and our ability to advance this project.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Trust yourself a little more. All those people who think you know what you are doing? They're not wrong.

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