Casey Hanisko
From starting her travel career at a space voyage division of well respective Zegrahm Expeditions to launching new events and business solutions at ATTA (Adventure Travel Trade Association), CASEY HANISKO has spent over 20 years taking bold steps and pushing the boundaries of comfortable. Over the years she has marketed countless new innovative travel itineraries from deep sea submersible trips to in depth expeditions to countries such as Brazil, Japan, and Namibia. A creative and results driven executive, Casey’s roles have included business strategy and development, marketing, communications, and innovative product development.
As president of the business services and events division of the ATTA, Casey manages the strategic direction and dynamic team delivering an ecosystem of events and business solutions for destinations and adventure travel brands around the world. Former head of the ATTA’s marketing and communications efforts, Casey was responsible for communicating the place global adventure travel has in the context of the greater tourism industry. As president, Casey will lead the success of long term partnerships that are built to advance destinations’ efforts to support economic- and community-based initiatives. A speaker at industry events around the globe, Casey shares her expertise on adventure travel trends, branding, and travel’s evolving role in the future of communities, culture, environment, and wildlife around the world.
3 words to describe Nature?
Unexpected, Beautiful, and Necessary
3 things Nature taught you?
To be introspective, respectful, and wild
3 most treasured Nature spots?
My most treasured nature spots are close by because access to nature daily makes me a happier person - so first is a park just down the street in Seattle because I go there daily for walks with my dog, second is the Cascade Mountains in Washington, and third is the Puget Sound because there are small pocket beaches that can be accessed across the city and then also South and North. For years I would scuba dive those waters looking for octopus, ling cod and nudibranchs.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Alive
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Honored
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Alert
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I lived in rural New Hampshire when I was young. I used to explore the woods in the back of our house for hours on my own. There were trees back there with vines and I loved to find them and swing on them. It always felt like a treasure because I never remembered where they were. I felt like a female Tarzan swinging in the wild jungle.
Megan Harrison
MEGAN HARRISON is an artist who works in a variety of media and exhibits her work nationally. Most recently she was included in the exhibition Geomagic at NMSU, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Her artwork depends on images and insights from geology, architecture, astronomy and Nature. She explores the complexity of the world around her wherever she is. Watch the video, the Complexity of Scale, made by Walley Films.
3 words to describe Nature?
Compounding complexity
Transformative
Penetrating
3 things Nature taught you?
You don’t have to be lucky enough to travel to exotic places to interact with Nature. Nature is a constant and creative force that pushes itself into every aspect of our world, from the remote and distant wilderness to cracks in the sidewalk.
No matter how big, the drama and story of our individual life pales in comparison to the scale, history and complexity of the world that we belong to.
We are shaped, physically and psychology, by natural forces. Our neurological landscape mirrors that of our physical one, complete with domesticated centers, rural outposts and untouched wilderness.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Rocky Mountains of Colorado, where I grew up.
The North-East coast of the United Stated and into Canada. Instead of sandy beaches you will find huge slabs of ancient granite facing off against a dynamic and pristine ocean.
The wilderness of northern Minnesota (minus the mosquitos). Through all of the water channels and tiny islands you can go and go and go until it feels like you are a million miles away.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Salt water, sun kissed, wind-blown - when I look at the ocean I can sense for a brief moment the scale of the planet we live on.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
I feel like I could spend all day there, listening to the sound of my steps, watching the light through the trees, finding a spot have a snack. I am so at home there.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
When I see a volcano, it feels like all of my Earth Science textbooks have come to life. I can imagine the Earth’s crust, the lithosphere, the mantle and all of the tectonic plates bobbing around.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Seeing the sunset is an experience that usually comes to you. You are moving through your day and look up, and there it is.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
After a flash of lightning, the feeling of anticipation, waiting for that thunder to follow, is so satisfying.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Cozy and happy to have a good roof over my head.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Today I feel like a Forest person.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
A 10. In fact, just thinking about nature has positive effects; the idea of wilderness shapes such a large part of the human psyche.
Share with us a childhood nature memory
My dad took me on a short camping trip when I was 7 or 8. It was the first time I experienced hiking into a natural space with a pack as opposed to camping next to a car. It felt like we walked for a very long time, though it was probably less than a mile. It was just far enough to feel really surrounded by the landscape. I remember green everywhere, cold mornings, and the smell of the tent. I was amazed watching my dad; he knew all sorts of tricks - how to set up a tent, start a fire, hook a fishing line, cook outside, brush your teeth and clean dishes without running water. I would love to go find that spot again. I am curious to see how my memory has interpreted that space.
Christiana Moss
CHRISTIANA MOSS is managing principal and a founding partner of Studio Ma, the current AIA Arizona Firm of the Year and a recent Architectural Record Design Vanguard Firm. Her interests in advanced environmental design and the relationship between natural and cultural systems inform her design philosophy. She is one of fiveStudio Ma principals and practices collaboratively with Christopher Alt, Dan Hoffman, Jason Boyer and Tim Keil. The hallmark of studio is a commitment to sustainability and research, seen most recently in Princeton University’s net-zero ready 715-bed Lakeside Graduate Student Community.
As part of the firm’s mission of advancing the practice of sustainable design, Studio Ma has recently developed a “triple net-zero” concept for higher education research buildings and practices using an integrated design process, for its campus, cultural and urban infill projects. Their work on university campuses focuses on student residential life, academic and research projects. Other notable recent projects include Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, a Smithsonian affiliate, Arizona State University’s Manzanita Hall, Northern Arizona University’s Native American Cultural Center, the Cranbrook Institute of Science addition, master planning and cabin prototypes for Summit Powder Mountain, PRD845 and artHAUS, an urban infill development. Studio Ma has received significant recognition for their work, including AIA Arizona Honor awards, the Chicago Athenaeum and SCUP/AIA National Honor for Building Design. Their buildings have been featured in Metropolis, Architectural Record and The New York Times.
Christiana received her Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art and Planning.
3 words to describe Nature?
Essential
Integral
Threatened
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility
Awe
Self-reflection
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Fire Island
Oak Creek Canyon, AZ
My back yard
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
When I’m looking out to the ocean I feel small and infinite at the same time.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
When I’m in a forest I feel sheltered, embraced and connected to the earth.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I haven’t seen a volcano yet.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Thankful for its rising and anxious for its return when it sets.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Hearing thunder makes me want to seek shelter.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
I enjoy feeling the wind on my face and prefer to be in it instead of hearing it from the indoors.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
This is a difficult question. I love them all and they are all connected, perhaps some at different times. I began as an ocean person. The desert was once an ocean and I now enjoy the expanse of sky of both, the silhouette of mountains and the unique life water’s absence creates in the desert. The forest is a place I go to be immersed in the smells and sounds of the earth and I long for this too, perhaps I will become a forest person.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
1 (being most important)
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I lived as a child on Fire Island without cars, free to run and swim in the ocean, walking in sand barefoot all summer long, picking blueberries and chasing rabbits. I lost this when I moved to New York when I was 12 and I’ve been longing to return to life without a city ever since.
Ardy Sobhani
ARDY SOBHANI is an entrepreneur and business strategist, energized by ideation, iteration, and systems design. After earning an MBA in Design Strategy from California College of the Arts in 2012, Ardy helped launched Oru Kayak via Kickstarter with his two co-founders. The response to the project was incredible, with over 700 backers supporting the folding kayak company. In three years since, Oru Kayak has grown quickly, from a weekend hobby to young and scrappy startup to international brand. all under the guidance of Sobhani, Oru Kayak's CEO.
Today the company markets and sells through a wide variety of channels, has a robust and efficient manufacturing and fulfillment process in Southern California, and has developed key partnerships with , and many other major distributors. Looking forward, the company--which has doubled in growth each year since its founding--is poised for rapid expansion, riding a wave of good fortune and a dedication to the aggressive strategies put forth by Ardy and the rest of the executive team. Oru Kayak's dream of changing the way people experience the outdoors is closer than many believe.
As a leader, Ardy is motivated by a desire to use human-centered design to make the outdoors more accessible for all. He believes that clever, forward-thinking solutions will soon create game-changing products and services in the outdoor industry, and that Oru Kayak is position well to be a catalyst for this change. Ardy uses design thinking frameworks to inspire innovative thinking, merging design and business to create and deliver value to the customer and faster growth for the company.
3 words to describe Nature?
Freedom
Fresh
Recharge
3 things Nature taught you?
Ecosystem - Everything has a purpose and nothing is wasted.
Flow - the easiest path forward. Nature always finds it.
All the answers we are looking for are in nature, but they are hard to find.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The waters that surround the cities. We need to utilize these natural water parks!
The Beautiful North of Iran " Shomal"
My favourite tree in the neighbourhood
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm and at the same time strong. Always there to take care of you and never let go.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Respect. Our elders with much wisdom
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Never seen a volcano in person but it is very powerful. It's time for the earth to breathe.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Another day about to start or end :) Future or the Past. Both are very powerful.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Love it! Louder, please!
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Something is about to go down! We need to listen closely to what the wind is telling us.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I grow up in Tehran, Iran mountains city but lived in California for the most of my life. I love the desert for it vastness and its honesty. I love the ocean as it takes care of us. Mountains for their powerful stand and they are fun to play in. Forest for the oxygen the make. How about mountain forest next to ocean or lake.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10. I need more of it.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Camping in the forest of Iran. I LOVED it!
Brian MacKay-Lyons
BRIAN MACKAY-LYONS received his Bachelor of Architecture from the Technical University of Nova Scotia in 1978 where he was awarded the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Medal. He received his Master of Architecture and Urban Design at U.C.L.A., and was awarded the Dean’s Award for Design. In 1985, he founded the firm Brian MacKay-Lyons Architecture Urban Design in Halifax. Twenty years later, Brian partnered with Talbot Sweetapple to form MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited.
The firm has built an international reputation for design excellence confirmed by over 125+ awards, including the Royal Institute of British Architects International Fellowship in 2016, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal in 2015 and Firm Award in 2014, six Governor General Medals, two American Institute of Architects National Honor Awards for Architecture, thirteen Lieutenant Governor’s Medals of Excellence, eight Canadian Architect Awards, four Architectural Record Houses Awards, eight North American Wood Design Awards and in 2017 the firm received the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture. Also in 2017, the firm has been shortlisted for the prestigious Moriyama Award (result pending). A fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (FRAIC), and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA), Brian was named Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (Hon FAIA) in 2001 and International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (Int. FRIBA) in 2016.
He is a Professor of Architecture at Dalhousie University where he has taught for over thirty years and has held seventeen endowed academic chairs and given 200+ lectures internationally. In 2004 he was visiting professor for the Ruth and Norman Moore Professorship at Washington University in St. Louis.
Ghost (1994-2011) was a series of international Architectural Research Laboratories that took place on the MacKay-Lyons farm. Ghost was founded by Brian as a meeting place for an international ‘school’ of architects who shared a commitment to: landscape, making, and community. The final installment of Ghost took the form of a three-day historic gathering where the twenty-five invited guests and speakers commiserated over these shared values and their ‘resistance’ to the globalization of Architecture.
The work of the firm has been recognized in 330+ publications including six monographs: Seven Stories from a Village Architect (1996); Brian MacKay-Lyons: Selected Works 1986-1997 (1998); Plain Modern: The Architecture of Brian MacKay-Lyons by Malcolm Quantrill (2005); Ghost: Building an Architectural Vision (2008); Local Architecture: Building Place, Craft, and Community (2014); and Economy as Ethic: The Work of MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, authored by Historian Robert McCarter, published April 2017. In addition to these monographs, the work of the firm has been featured in 100+ exhibitions internationally.
3 words to describe Nature?
As a fellow Canadian, Nature is IMMENSE. But, as a Nova Scotian, all Nature is a mixture of both CULTURAL and natural landscapes. As an architect, Nature is the ultimate design MODEL.
3 things Nature taught you?
NATURE WINS. Any attempt to beat nature loses.
ELEGANCE = economy of means.
RYTHM of the seasons.
We learn our manners at home, then take them out into the world. As a child, I have been imprinted by the landscape where my ancestors have dwelled for thousands of years.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
EDGE, where the land meets the sea.
ACADIE, the local Micmac word for the ecologically rich tidal estuaries around the Bay of Fundy, where I hunted and fished as a youth.
DRUMLIN, a hill that points in the direction of the retreating glaciers in the last ice age.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
I feel connected to the INFINITE. (Prospect)
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
I am ALONE. (Refuge)
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I see a PORTAL to the center of the earth.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
A sunrise or sunset is a seasonal CLOCK.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Thunder, universally inspires TERROR.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
The wind is the weather FORECAST.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Clearly an OCEAN person.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
Nature connection is essential to my/our well-being, or GROUNDING, so it is a 10.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Dip netting spawning gaspereaux at dusk on spring evenings with friends, in the rapids, where the fresh water from the forest drops into the salt tidal estuary water. This is only one of the seasonal RITUALS that marked my PLACE in the world.