Odin Johnson, Linnea McWilliam, Grace Wagner and Danica Liongson (INASLA President-elect)
We are excited to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our students, whose projects received four awards at the 2026 Indiana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (INASLA) Student Design Awards. These recognitions highlight students’ creativity, critical thinking, and commitment to addressing environmental and social challenges through landscape architecture.
- Merit Award – Design Works: Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, by Katelyn Rocky (BSLA 2028). Advised by Aaron Thomspon.
- Honor Award – Design Works: Veterans Memorial Park Reimagined: Transforming a Brownfield into Accessible Lakefront Greenspace, by Linnea McWilliam (BSLA 2026). Advised by Aaron Thomspon.
- Honor Award – Planning and Analysis: Kankakee River Riparian Restoration Plan, by Grace Wagner (BSLA 2026). Advised by Aaron Thomspon.
- Award of Excellence – Planning and Analysis: Playground Materiality: Temperature and Comfortability, by Odin Johnson, Matthew Spinazee, Jennifer Kerr, and Grace Ackerman (BSLA 2026). Advised by Yiwei Huang.
Together, these projects demonstrate the breadth of student inquiry and design innovation, from exploring thermal comfort and materiality in public play spaces to reimagining post-industrial landscapes, restoring riparian ecosystems, and engaging with prairie landscapes.
Congratulations to all the award recipients and their faculty advisors on these well-deserved recognitions!