KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 July 15, 2024 \u2013 Maria Potvin, who graduated this spring from the 溏心vlog免费B站 with a double-major in landscape architecture and sustainable agriculture and food, has been recognized by the Landscape Architecture Foundation\u2019s 2024 Olmsted Scholars Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In its 17th<\/sup> year, the Olmsted Scholars Program honors undergraduate and graduate students who advance sustainable design and foster human and societal benefits through ideas, influence, communication, service, and leadership. Potvin was among 94 students from accredited landscape architecture programs in the U.S. and Canada to earn the honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe fact that she has achieved so much in four years \u2013 at the top of her class \u2013 speaks to the breadth of her studies as well as her focused determination,\u201d said Jane Buxton, director of the landscape architecture program, in nominating Potvin for the Olmsted award. \u201cShe is clearly knowledgeable and passionate about her studies; she has an excellent work ethic and a unique vision for design.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m still not sure how I received this award,\u201d said Potvin, who lives in Stamford, Vermont. \u201cSo many people in my class worked just as hard with work that far outshone mine. I am very grateful and honored to have been chosen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If things had turned out differently, Potvin could be teaching chemistry in a classroom or working in a lab right now. But after a year of college chemistry \u2013 and good grades \u2013 she couldn\u2019t envision herself being happy in a lab or classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So after her first year, she decided to take a year off from school. \u201cI told my parents in the summer and they kind of freaked out,\u201d she says. \u201cI told them \u2018I\u2019ll be fine; I\u2019ll just work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That summer she found a job landscaping at a company where her brother worked. \u201cDuring my first summer off, I started working landscaping, doing garden maintenance, and I absolutely fell in love with the work,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That summer turned into two more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, she decided to turn it into a career \u2013 first attending Vermont Technical College and earning degrees in landscape contracting and forestry, before following the advice of one of her favorite teachers \u2013 a 溏心vlog免费B站 alumna \u2013 and entering 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s landscape architecture program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe 溏心vlog免费B站 program gives students a good mix of hands-on and artistic approaches,\u201d says Potvin. \u201cSome programs are very artistic or very hands-on heavy. I feel 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s program was definitely a good mix of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two of her favorite classes occurred in her senior year \u2013 the senior design studio and a course on planting design, which developed and installed designs for several community groups. \u201cMaria is a bright star who will prove capable of responding to the many challenges that face humanity at this time,\u201d said adjunct professor Catherine Weaver, who had Potvin in the planting design program. \u201cShe is a leader to watch closely because of her dedication and commitment to making her community a better place to live.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the senior design studio, students designed a plan to help improve public access to the water along Providence\u2019s Public Street, which extends toward the Providence River. Potvin\u2019s group worked on waterfront access, designing a plan for a salt marsh park that would mitigate flooding. A large part of the class involved developing community outreach events to get the public\u2019s opinions on what they would like to see. The project helped bring home the importance of including the public at all levels of the design process, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of her other highlights at 溏心vlog免费B站 center on the community and the people she met in her four years in Kingston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI formed so many tight friendships and relationships that I\u2019m sure will last for many years,\u201d says Potvin, who also served as treasurer and vice president of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s chapter of the Rhode Island American Society of Landscape Architecture. \u201cBeing a small program, everyone was very close and if you needed help or advice, there were so many people there for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This summer, Potvin is back at landscaping. But she looks forward to pursuing a career in the landscape architecture industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI like the creative side of landscape architecture,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s an artform where you are able to transform the world around you and create a space that people can enjoy. I like changing things for the better so they\u2019re not only beautiful but also serve a better purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 July 15, 2024 \u2013 Maria Potvin, who graduated this spring from the 溏心vlog免费B站 with a double-major in landscape architecture and sustainable agriculture and food, has been recognized by the Landscape Architecture Foundation\u2019s 2024 Olmsted Scholars Program. In its 17th year, the Olmsted Scholars Program honors undergraduate and graduate students […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":96340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96339"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96343,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96339\/revisions\/96343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}