I was born(1996) and raised in Montevideo, Minnesota; a small(5,000) farming community along the Minnesota River in far western Minnesota. A place that for most would look like South Dakota or Iowa. I studied ‘Planning and Community Development’ and ‘Spanish’ at St. Cloud State University. While studying I spent a summer season working at Voyageur Canoe Outfitters, spent 6-months studying & traveling in Chile, researched at the St. Cloud State Survey Research Center, interned at Crag Law Center, and was on the swim team. After, in the Spring of 2019, I work-traded on an off-grid homestead in Finland, Minnesota and spent the remainder of the year working and living at the end of the Gunflint Trail.

My work, at the broadest level, is interested in landscape, what we see around us, our habitat. It seems likely in the far distant past our influence over the landscape was less than or equal to a beaver’s. We live in a different place now. Although there is no question we are a part of nature, not apart from it, cities no doubt are “human zoos”. They are ‘unnaturally’ constructed environments that shapes our values, movement, and opportunities. Geography, after all, is a consistent predictor of outcome.

Narrowly, I am interested in landscape change. You’ve heard and experienced it. Change is a, if not the, consistent fixture of human experience. The what is far less (compelling, interesting, or thoughtful) than the why though. I use shifting baseline syndrome to understand why NIMBYs, YIMBYs, planners, designers, and developers make decisions about the landscape.

Do we feel differently about a cornfield being developed into a neighborhood than a former industrial space being turned into a neighborhood. What if it was a park being converted? What we forget, how was the land used(or not used) before its current use.

Other questions that inform my work include: How can planners, designers, and developers use biomimicry to enhance the built environment? How does naming of sites and places affect experience in the built environment? How is identity of place shaped by media - how does that affect experience in the landscape - how does it affect individuals’ identities?

The goal of all my work is to encourage an increase in knowledge, participation, and passion for land use planning.

The name ‘Forest Floor’ comes from a desire for democratic decision making and thoughtful planning in land use. It’s biomimicry for community development. There are countless interdependent and symbiotic relationships that connect the forest floor to its individual parts. I want our communities to be the same, I believe that when we all work together will be better for it.

Thanks for visiting, feel free to ask a question or reach out.