Sarah CowlesSarah Cowles, ALSA, is founder and director of Ruderal LLC. Her inventive approach comes from 20 years of international experience and a localized understanding of place. Recognized as a thought leader in the field and a critical advocate for landscape architecture in Georgia, her projects address geopolitical realities to forge new relationships between ecology and culture.Cowles brings insight and optimism to the urgencies of climate adaptation, applying expertise at regional, urban, and residential design scales. Her projects are global: landscape planning and master plans for cultural institutions, ecological rehabilitation of industrial, natural disaster, and mining sites. Notable works include the Shuamta Gateway Tourism Master Plan and Mtatsminda Afforestation Plan in Georgia, US Consulate in Guangzhou, and the large-scale urban redevelopment of Treasure Island and Hunters Point Shipyard in San Francisco.In 2019, she was named US Fulbright Specialist in Urban Design and Landscape Architecture. She is a member of UN Global Compact and works collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams in support of sustainable development. Landscape Architecture Magazine featured Ruderal on the cover of the April 2023 issue noting that the practice in Black Sea region is “in the thick of a global crossroads’ rebirth.”A compelling public speaker, Cowles lectures and serves on juries across the United States and Europe, taking up potent questions of urban-wild interfaces, forests, and the place of humans in an increasingly uncertain the natural world. She exhibited at the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Center for Land Use Interpretation. Her critical writing appears in many publications, including Landscape Architecture Magazine and Art Papers.Cowles received a Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design. She’s taught at The Ohio State University, University of Southern California, and Sam Fox School of Art and Design.Member: ASLA | FIABCI | UN Global Compact Georgia