CARISSA SHOEMAKER Landscape Architecture Portfolio Favorite plants in Cuyama Valley: • Manzanita • California juniper CARISSA • Biological soil crusts [email protected] • 515-419-9123 • Ames, • California sagebrush • Saltbush climate change food security community equity culture resilience environmental justice wildlife ecology social justice restorative justice habitat connectivity freshwater reserves

EDUCATION EXPERIENCE Iowa State University Iowa State University • MLA, Spring 2021 • Research Assistant, Aug 2018 - Present Genus Landscape Architects • GPA 3.83 Favorite plants in the • Design Intern, Summer 2020 Sierra Nevada foothills: Ecosa Institute NRCS/SWCD • Coast live oak Ecological Design Certificate, Spring 2018 • Conservation Intern, Summer 2019 • Wild plum Quail Springs Permaculture • Blue grama Grinnell College • Permaculture Assistant, Oct 2017 - Jan 2018 • Watercress • BA in Anthropology, Spring 2014 Werewolf Ranch • Field mint • GPA 3.14 • Animal Systems Manager, Mar 2017 - Oct 2017 Mission: • Refuge Manager, Sept 2015 - Mar 2017 PROFICIENCIES • Communication—writing, public speaking, After Effects InDesign Photoshop reviewing/editing • Research and concept work Animate Illustrator Premiere • Plant identification and selection, Adobe particularly native and/or edible • Basic welding, chainsaw, and carpentry ArcMap GIS Grasshopper Rhino • Spanish (conversational) Favorite plants in the AutoCAD Lumion SketchUp Wet Mountains: Other • Mountain mahogany REFERENCES • Quaking aspen • Ponderosa pine Mimi Wagner, Senior Environmental Dylan Jones, Associate, Genus Jason Hart, District Conservationist, • Soapweed Scientist, Stantec Landscape Architects NRCS/Warren County SWCD • Indian paintbrush • Current thesis advisor, former • Former supervisor for summer • Former supervisor for summer supervisor and professor internship internship • [email protected] • [email protected] • [email protected] • 515-294-8954 • 515-300-8193 • 319-361-7640 This portfolio serves as an introduction to my design interests, goals, process, and potential. I have highlighted three projects developed CONTENTS while in graduate school, ranging in scope from site design to master planning. I pursued breadth rather than depth in my program, experimenting MICROREFUGIA with workflow and representation throughout. In addition, each 01 project demonstrates: Climate-wise pollinator garden

1. Earnest and careful consideration of client needs 2. Anticipation of climate change’s impacts on weather patterns, hardiness zones, and ecosystems HABITATS PARK 3. Advocacy for underserved landscapes, communities, and 02 individuals (whether people, plants, or animals) Riverfront park master plan

A fourth principle I have just begun to explore is designing landscapes that generate new, place-based data. I strive to create functional yet innovative landscapes informed by the latest TRANSLOAD JUSTICE research. There are a lot of gaps in data, however, especially at the 03 local level, and conditions are rapidly shifting. Whether through Industrial district master plan transdisciplinary collaboration, community engagement, or other forms of practice-based research, I believe landscape architecture is uniquely positioned to run exciting and vital experiments of its own. 01 MICROREFUGIA Iowa’s pollinator habitat has largely been relegated to roadsides and stream banks, exposed to temperature extremes and anthropogenic disturbance. While pollinator gardens are becoming more popular in residential and commercial settings, conventional designs often fall short of local species needs, particularly in the context of climate change. With this in mind, I chose to explore the concept of microrefugia for the Horticulture Station’s pollinator garden. N.E. aster CLIENT PROCESS GOALS Cardinal • Horticulture Research • Research via expert • Model innovative flower Snowdrop Snow Station in Ames, IA interviews and readings pollinator garden crocus • Central Iowa pollinators • Site visit, client survey • Accommodate research Prairie • AutoCAD, hand graphics, and visitor groups sundrops Photoshop • Low-maintenance DIVERSITY IN PLANT STRUCTURE, FORM, PHENOLOGY, FUNCTION Smooth sumac REDUNDANCY— REPETITION IN STRUCTURE, ETC.

BEYOND FORAGE—SHELTER/ NESTING YEAR-ROUND

Brush pile

CONCEPT

Climate refugia are areas that buffer the effects of climate change. Microrefugia, then, are the nooks and crannies of a site, physically and figuratively. To design for pollinators, we have to look at the landscape from their perspective: the minute. The smallest changes in topography and plant structure create microclimates for these micro creatures, making every leaf on the ground, every shadow cast, and every thermal mass worthy A: Garden aesthetics of our consideration. This garden strives to provide opportunities for microrefugia while The design was shaped both by science and the client’s also addressing the everyday needs of pollinators: spring to fall forage for their entire preferences. A natural yet cared-for appearance was requested, BEYOND PLANTS—MATERIALS, lifecycle, nesting opportunities, a diversity of plant species and forms, and more. resulting in a “cottage garden meets Prairie School” aesthetic MANAGEMENT, TOPOGRAPHY CONNECTS TO PRAIRIE AND RIPARIAN CORRIDORS

AGGRESSIVE SPREADERS MOSS NEW JERSEY TEA PAVED PATH (8’) PENN. SEDGE FILLS THE SPACE BETWEEN LEADPLANT CORRALLED BY SIMILAR PINK LIMESTONE STEPS SPECIES AND/OR PERIODIC MOWING/TRIMMING + P-H SNEEZE- TUSSOCK HP 1015.2 WEED SEDGE 0 2 5 10 B: The plants in the short section above bloom at different times, WINDBREAK providing forage spring through fall, with moss pink blooming first and leadplant last. Flower structures also vary between these plants, accommodating both short- and long-tongued pollinators

STRUCTURAL COMPLEXITY, EARLY BLOOMS TESTING IMPACT OF BRUSH PILE, 2.5% INTRODUCED SPECIES BARE PATCHES FOR RIVER ROCK PERCH/ WITH LATE WINTER GROUNDNESTERS RUNNEL SHELTER + 1013 BOOM TIME GROUP SPACE

BRUSH SAND HILL PILE C: Section C cuts through diverse nesting f Minute changes in topography and cover create MINERAL oraging, and sheltering zones. PUDDLE microclimates, complete with pollinator-scale north- and south-facing slopes. Plants depicted, from left to right: prairie sundrop, snowdrop, sideoats grama, prairie smoke, Eastern prickly pear, little bluestem, floxglove beardtongue, spicebush, American plum EPHEMERAL POND + 1011

0 5 10 20 C

1.67% MICROREFUGIA PLAN BIOSWALE

The garden showcases recommended and experimental practices, BEE LAWN—GRASS OF B CL, 2% and provides a controlled environment for ongoing data collection + CHOICE + LOW-GROWING LP 1008.5 for future designs and policy. Plants were carefully selected for their PERENNIAL FLOWERS; MOW ability to provide microrefugia physically as well as temporally. Plant AS USUAL, DO NOT SPRAY communities were constructed around the concepts of plasticity (ability to withstand and spring back), redundancy (repetition in 1010.2 form, family, species, forage provision, etc.), and diversity. Diversity BIOCELL encompasses variables like flower color and fragrance (preference A varies across pollinators), amenities provided, and biodiversity. CONNECTS TO ROAD, While a traditional pollinator garden—milkweed, blazing star, ROADSIDE CORRIDOR coneflower, aster, and goldenrod, for example—consists of two plant families, the proposed garden consists of 31 (and 64 species). 0 5 10 20 COMMERCIAL-INDUSTRIAL ZONE BETWEEN RIVER AND I-29 ELEVATED DOWNTOWN DISTRICT 02 HABITATS PARK HIGHWAY Sioux City’s riverfront should be teaming with life, yet it and the city it serves are gray. Now is the time to regreen, to welcome wildlife back into city limits, both for their sake UNDERPASS and for ours. The effort should start in Chris Larsen Park, a riverside park directly south of downtown Sioux City. The city hopes to reshape the park into a cutting-edge amenity for both residents and visitors, centered on an iconic element that is visible from the highway. CLIENT PROCESS GOALS • City of Sioux City, IA • Regional historical and • Welcoming and unique • Residents and visitors ecological research park environment for CONCEPT • Local flora and fauna • Site visit and meetings residents and visitors • GIS/Illustrator diagrams • Bold, artful element • Hand graphics visible from highway • Rhino + Lumion model • Represent river/region UNDERPASS IOWA CHRIS LARSEN CITY PARK

MISSOURI RIVER Missing wildlife: the unique conditions of the Hills and River Alluvial Plains support incredible biodiversity, yet many native plants and animals are threatened. By restoring and reconstructing their habitat, we can create Little glassywing Least tern American mink healthier habitat both for them and ourselves RV FUTURE CAMPGROUND PEDESTRIAN EXISTING LAND USE PROPOSED LAND USE BRIDGE

Left: Large swaths of industrial and commercial land—much of it now-vacant feedlots—separate residents from the river and some of the only parkspace in city limits. Impervious surfaces around the Floyd River intensify stormwater surge

Right: Vacant industrial land and key commercial spaces are reclaimed and rehabilitated to protect waterways (mitigating runoff, pollution, and flooding), bolster riparian corridors for vulnerable species, SPORTS provide more tree cover and greenspace for COMPLEX residents, and enhance the city’s trail network. While Sioux City can still celebrate its history of industrial innovation, it rediscovers another point of pride: its vibrant and iconic habitats 0 100 200 400 PINK SWATH: WHITE SWATH: PURPLE SWATH: N.E. GRASS SWATH: PLANTINGS CONTINUE QUEEN OF THE PASQUE FLOWER, ASTER, LEADPLANT, CANADA WILD RYE THROUGHOUT CITY, GREENING THE PRAIRIE BLUNT MOUNTAIN BALDIN’S IRONWEED GRAY AND IMPROVING WALKABILITY MINT, CULVER’S ROOT, CREAM GENTIAN HABITATS PARK Walk-thru sculpture MASTER PLAN Disks dance in the wind, visibly and audibly The city has embraced a master plan performing the processes VIRGINIA ST featuring expansive plazas, programmed PARKING LOT, recreation spaces, and abstract lighting 20 STALLS that formed the Loess Hills and sculptural features. I believe it would be more cutting-edge and GREEN ROOF more impactful to give the majority PAVILION I-29 of parkspace back to nature. We can still have our pavilions and cafes, but B let’s put them under the shade of an A oak tree or in the middle of a prairie. SPLASH PAD By immersing visitors in their native SERIES COVE WALK-THRU ecosystems, we can redefine Sioux City KINETIC LOESS and inspire a new age of development HILLS SCULPTURE and planning policies. Sioux City could be a green beacon, serving as a model DOCK for cities across the Midwest. D C

PARKING LOT, E 20 STALLS

FRONTAGE RD CANTILEVERED MOWED PATH PATH NETWORK

CANOPY CAFE NATURE PLAY AREA

A: Cove SIOUX QUARTZITE RIPRAP (EXISTING) DECK

MISSOURI RIVER

SHARED-USE TRAIL B: Green roof pavilion C: Dock 0 25 50 100 WHITE SWATH PURPLE SWATH

Splash pad series concept Symbols of the Missouri River and surrounding region—water, Sioux SHARED-USE TRAIL RESTROOMS AND PAVILION SHELTERED BY quartzite, limestone, sculptures of SPLASH PAD SERIES INTENSIVE GREEN ROOF riparian and riverine animals, and a border of native plants —safely RIPRAP AND PRAIRIE PINK SWATH PLANTS connect children with the mighty river 0 5 10 20

Walk-thru Loess Hills concept Iowa’s Loess Hills are not only regionally but globally remarkable, the INTERSTATE 29 FRONTAGE ROAD MIXED PRAIRIE WALK-THRU BOARDWALK TRAIL KINETIC LOESS HILLS PLAZAS only parallel being a loess deposit in SCULPTURE DOCK/OVERLOOK . Two sprawling replicas highlight MISSOURI RIVER their form—peaks, saddles, catsteps, and razor ridges—and formation, with discs rising and settling with the wind 0 5 10 20 At-grade crossings: train traffic is inconvenient for commuters and hazardous to local residents and wildlife 03 TRANSLOAD JUSTICE When we imagine the future of transportation, we usually think about what will carry us. We envision autonomous cars, rideshare, e-scooters, and Uber air. What happens to our goods, in this scenario? Do Amazon Prime vans continue to clog our streets, or do drones fill the sky? Will highways and railroads be replaced by hyperloops, vacuum tubes soaring above and below our cities? In this project, I explore the future of freight rail in Des Moines, Iowa, using a planned transload facility as a case study. CLIENT PROCESS GOALS • City of Des Moines • Research into city and site history, • Course: explore the future of • Surrounding future of transportation, freight transportation through innovative neighborhoods • GIS and Illustrator inventory/analysis urban design at several scales • Site visit, photos • Personal: focus attention on freight North-south divide: freight infrastructure and topography present enormous • Hand/digital concepts systems, design for social and barriers to pedestrian and vehicular traffic • Rhino, Illustrator, Photoshop environmental justice

SITE CONTEXT + CONCEPT

When I first discovered Des Moines’ transload facility plans, I was horrified. The neighborhoods surrounding the selected site were historically redlined and are now classified as Environmental Justice Areas by the Des Moines Metropolitan Planning Organization. I initially wanted to push the transload facility into the rural fringe, to protect residents from increased freight traffic and associated pollution. Doing so, however, would only place the burden on other ecosystems and Systemic vulnerability: surrounding neighborhoods were redlined in 1933; now, communities, or even create conditions for future injustices. It also nearly 100 years later, the MPO identifies them as Environmental Justice Areas would perpetuate our treatment of freight as irredeemably dirty, a blight to be minimized, mitigated, and managed.

What if freight could be transformed into a public good, a community asset rather than a detriment?

Freight is only deleterious because it has been neglected. We unquestioningly accept air, water, and noise pollution as long as its relegated to a certain side of town. We ignore the physical, social, and economic divisions freight infrastructure creates, as long as they don’t disrupt our lives. We plan around freight rather than with it, and let corporations dictate development and innovation. This project explores how to bridge the public-private planning divide to improve conditions for local residents, commuters, and businesses, paving the way for more equitable and efficient technologies and systems. HISTORIC EAST CAPITOL EAST FAIRGROUND NEIGHBORHOOD VILLAGE NEIGHBORHOOD GOALS I-235 • Diversify industrial district land use and connect to surrounding neighborhoods; prevent gentrification by collaborating with community and policymakers CAPITOL BUILDING • Prioritize active transportation and transit over AND COMPLEX private vehicles; provide attractive & connected TRAILS SAFELY CONNECT NEIGHBORHOODS, COMMERCIAL transit, utilizing existing infrastructure AREAS, AND PARKS • Ensure freight is transferred efficiently and conscientiously; accommodate/incentivize future CENTRAL freight technologies BUSINESS GRAIN DISTRICT TRANSIT STOP— TRANSLOAD ELEVATOR • Connect and create habitat, mitigating flooding and PLANNED AMTRAK, FACILITY pollution while producing a regional amenity MIXED-USE POTENTIAL COMMUTER • Protect river from polluting runoff and DEVELOPMENT TRAIN AND BRT neighborhoods from flooding with green D infrastructure and park system buffer

C B MLK JR. PARKWAY CONCEPT SKETCHES F MARKET DISTRICT A: Bus/multimodal system enhanced (PLANNED) E PARKS & REC KEMIN INDUSTRIES HEADQUARTERS HEADQUARTERS

NEW PARK & RIDE PARKS COMMUNITY A CENTER CHESTERFIELD NEIGHBORHOOD

CAPITOL VIEW SOUTH NEIGHBORHOOD B: Freight infrastructure made permeable

SE 14TH / HWY 69

EXISTING PARK ENHANCED BASED ON COMMUNITY INPUT COMPOST AND SALVAGE YARDS MOVED AWAY FROM RIVER, REPLACED WITH WETLANDS AND FISHING DOCK RIPARIAN FOREST C: Active transportation prioritized FISHING DECK DES MOINES RIVER

LEGEND

MCKINLEY SCHOOL/ COLUMBUS PARK Bus lanes & infrastructure Public park Shared-use trail NEIGHBORHOODS Water Woodland habitat Plaza / Loading zone

Green infrastructure Pedestrian zones Grassland habitat

Sedum green roof Micromobility lane INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT MASTER PLAN 0 200 400 800 D E

D: Food truck plaza A plaza hangs off of the SE 14th bridge, opposite a BRT stop and the upper entrance to the transit center, offering a space to rest, eat, or link with your next mode of transit

E: Shared-use trail A network of trails encourages active transportation and recreation. This path is headed to the Park and Ride Community Center, host to a daycare, flexible workspaces, a greenhouse and associated market, an Amazon Locker, several dining options, and electric car charging

F: MLK Jr. Parkway Large trees offer shade along the parkway, while a designated micromobility lane allows people and vehicles to safely and confidently share infrastructure

F CARISSA SHOEMAKER [email protected] Thank you for taking the time to page through my projects. Please reach 515-419-9123 out if you have any questions or would like additional information. carissashoemaker.com I am just beginning to build a personal website and social media presence, after several years off-grid and in grad school. Visit my carissashoe online portfolio for additional works and my blog for reflections on contemporary issues in landscape architecture. @CarissaShoe