Titles

• Principal, WERK | urban design

Biography

Jesse specializes in a signature style of natural system design that integrates site specific context cues, resulting in holistic design solutions. This strong thread is visible in his projects through the arid southwest, as well as in projects throughout the country. Working in Florida, for example, provided an opportunity to refine his thinking about soils, the influence of a high water table, and sensitive natural elements such as estuaries. Jesse thrives in an environment where he can develop collaborative and meaningful relationships with community members in order to achieve a unified goal. He has shown this resourcefulness on local design projects, such as the Veterans Reflection Circle (Surprise AZ) and Alameda Meadows Green Infrastructure Streetscape project (Tempe, AZ) as well as during his six-year enlistment in the Army as a Communications Sergeant serving in Nasiriyah, Iraq and Kandahar, Afghanistan. Jesse has advocated for Green Infrastructure and Nature Based Solutions and has refined his craft through membership and volunteerism with local advocacy groups such as Watershed Management Group, Trees Matter, Sustainable Cities Network: Green Infrastructure Workgroup, and the ad- hoc Phoenix Citizen Tree and Shade Committee.

Jesse attended Arizona State University, where he received his Master of Landscape Architecture degree. After graduate school, Jesse worked in a national multi-disciplinary firm before starting WERK | urban design nearly seven years ago. While at WERK, Jesse was the Landscape Architect for the ECO PHX project, where he was instrumental in presenting concepts for and refining the design of innovative approaches to an urban landscape, such as utilizing greywater as an irrigation source, and eschewing the use of inert rock groundcover for an organic wood mulch material. Jesse has been involved with ECO PHX for years on the design side and is eager to support this study to continue to sharpen his understanding of these innovations.