AMES, Iowa -- Internationally known sustainable designer and teacher Penny Livingston-Stark will present the Iowa State University Department of Landscape Architecture's annual P.H. Elwood Lecture at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27, in Kocimski Auditorium, College of Design. She will speak on "Water and the Landscape: Ecological Design Approaches and Innovative Solutions for Management of Stormwater Runoff." The lecture is free and open to the public.
Livingston-Clark is a prominent permaculture designer. Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable human environments. It uses ecology as the basis for designing integrated systems of food production, housing, appropriate technology and community development.
Livingston-Clark has worked professionally for 25 years in land management and development. She has extensive experience in all phases of ecologically sound landscape design and construction, as well as the use of natural non-toxic building materials. She specializes in site planning and design of resource-rich landscapes, integrating rainwater collection, edible landscaping, pond and water systems, habitat development and watershed restoration for homes, co-housing communities, businesses and diverse-yield perennial farms.
She is the founder of Sustainable Living Designs, Pt. Reyes, Calif., and the Permaculture Institute of Northern California and Regenerative Design Institute, both in Bolinas, Calif. She also co-created the Ecological Design Program at the San Francisco Institute of Architecture and serves on the board of the Solar Living Institute.
A reception will follow the lecture in the Lightfoot Forum, College of Design.
The Philip H. Elwood Lecture Series in Landscape Architecture was established in 1997 to honor the legacy of professor Philip H. Elwood, who is credited with developing the department of landscape architecture at Iowa State University. The lecture series brings renowned practitioners to the Iowa State campus as guest lecturers each fall.