SUPERFISKY is an urban ecologist, designer and educator who devotes their days, nights and dreams to transforming urban areas into more habitable places for people, plants and other animals. After obtaining a Master of Landscape Architecture, Master of Science in Conservation Ecology and Teaching Certificate from the University of Michigan, SUPERFISKY moved 2,300 miles across the country for the Los Angeles River. SUPERFISKY sees LA—and its river—as the perfect laboratory to explore how to (re)design urban areas into more “symbiotic cities.”
Prior to transplanting in LA, SUPERFISKY helped coordinate ecosystem management efforts for 24,000 acres of parkland in Metropolitan Detroit, and developed an interactive environmental education program about sustainability in the built environment for the University of Michigan. In LA, SUPERFISKY has spearheaded ecological planning and design efforts at Studio-MLA (a landscape architecture and urban design firm), founded Grown in LA (a nonprofit that is helping to increase the local collection and propagation of climate-appropriate plants, while providing Angelenos with educational and workforce development opportunities), and is currently the City of Los Angeles’ first Urban Ecologist.