Clare Cooper Marcus is professor emerita, Departments of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley and principal of Healing Landscapes, Berkley, CA.

She is internationally recognized for pioneering research on the psychological and sociological aspects of architecture and landscape design, particularly urban open space and therapeutic landscapes. She is co-author, with Naomi Sachs, of Therapeutic Landscapes: An Evidence-Based Approach to Designing Healing Gardens and Restorative Outdoor Spaces (Wiley, 2014).

Brian Bainnson, landscape architect

Brian Bainnson is a landscape architect with over 30 years’ experience in project planning and design on a wide range of institutional, commercial, governmental, recreational and residential projects. Mr. Bainnson headed up the design team for the Portland Memory Garden, the garden for people with Alzheimer’s, their families and caregivers. Mr. Bainnson has recently developed several therapeutic landscapes for Legacy Health including gardens for the Oregon Burn Center and Behavioral Health. These gardens are used for patient therapy as well as restorative places for patients, families and caregivers. In all of Mr. Bainnson's work understanding of the context, attention to detail, and an ability to understand and give life to the client’s expectations unite the projects.

Teresia Hazen MEd, HTR, QMHP serves as the coordinator for therapeutic gardens at Legacy Health, a seven hospital system in Oregon and Washington.

Since 1991, Hazen has used her extensive, broad-based background to facilitate interdisciplinary garden design teams and to develop therapeutic programs in the health care garden program. In 2015, Legacy HR and the garden program began collaborations to develop wellness activities, serving 13,000 employees, with focus on taking breaks in hospital gardens. Teresia authored chapters in Wiley Press’ Therapeutic Landscapes: An Evidence-Based Approach to Designing Healing Gardens and Restorative Outdoor Spaces. As project manager for nearby nature research studies with www.naturesacred.org, she looks forward to the sharing of results in 2017.

Jack Carman, FASLA, RLA, president of Design for Generations, Medford, New Jersey.

As a design consultant, Carman specializes in creating therapeutic exterior environments for senior communities and healthcare facilities. His design experience includes the creation of landscape plans for assisted living and Alzheimer residences, adult day health care centers, long term care facilities, continuing care retirement communicates and healthcare facilities through the United States. This includes the design of over 65 Memory Care Gardens for individuals with dementia nation-wide. He is editor and contributor of the book, Re-creating Neighborhoods for Successful Aging.

Mark Epstein, PLA, partner with Hafs-Epstein, a landscape architecture design firm in Seattle, Washington.

Mr. Epstein's firm puts priority on bridging research with practice, utilizing human psychology and site ecology in bringing ideas to life. Epstein helped establish the ASLA Therapeutic Garden Design Professional Practice Network, and he specializes in the creation of therapeutic gardens within public parks.

Florence Williams, Author of The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier and More Creative (W.W. Norton, 2017) and Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History, winner of the 2013 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

The New York Times calls The Nature Fix “fascinating” and the Wall St. Journal calls her writing “dry and crisp,” which makes her feel like a pastry. She is a contributing editor at Outside Magazine and a freelance writer for the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, and numerous other publications. She is also the writer and host of two new podcasts, “Breasts Unbound” for Audible and XX The Woman Factor for Outside Magazine. A fellow at the Center for Humans and Nature and a visiting scholar at George Washington University, her work focuses on the environment, health and science. A former Coloradan, she lives with her family in Washington, D.C.

William Sullivan, Ph.D. professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Sullivan investigates how the landscapes we design, especially urban landscapes, impact the health and wellbeing of people.