Several students with Texas Tech University's Department of Landscape Architecture completed outstanding projects this semester and received recognition from both the American Society Landscape Architects Texas Chapter and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, officials with the university said today (May 16).

Four students from the department were selected for Merit Awards at the American Society of Landscape Architects Texas Chapter's Student Design Competition on April 27 at the Palmer Event Center in Austin. Among the winners were:

• Derek Gay, a senior from Lubbock
• Blane Potts, a senior from Lubbock
• Michael Ross, graduate student from Blanco
• Tyson Watson, a senior from Lubbock

The Texas Chapter of the American Society Landscape Architects was established in 1978 to promote the practice of landscape architecture and advanced the profession through advocacy, education, communication and fellowship. The group is built on a foundation that landscape architecture is the art and science of analysis, planning, design, management, preservation and rehabilitation of the land.

Separately, three Master of Landscape Architecture students from Tech were accepted to present their research this month at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Annual Conference in Beijing, China. They were Joanna Agyapomaa Aduhene of Ghana, Michael Ross of Blanco, and Caitlin Dodson of Flower Mound.

Program leaders note that the mission of CELA, which began in 1920, is to encourage, support and further education in the field of landscape architecture specifically related to teaching, research, scholarship and public service. It's composed of virtually all the programs of higher learning in landscape architecture in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Rim. There also are individual and institutional members from many other parts of the world.

CONTACT: Eric Bernard, Department Chair, Department of Landscape Architecture, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-3482 or eric.bernard@ttu.edu

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