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Landscape architect delivers 'Last Lecture' By
Debbie Lamb
"My generation of Americans created many of the problems you will be asked to solve," Craig W. Johnson told USU students last week in the university's 26th annual "Last Lecture." The recipient of the award is chosen by USU students. Recipients are asked to give a lecture to their peers and the student body as if it were their last. This year the Honors Program presented the award to Johnson, of the department of landscape architecture and environmental planning, LAEP. Johnson joined the department in 1966. He received a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture from Michigan State University and a master of landscape architecture from the University of Illinois. In 1983 he earned an MS degree in fisheries and wildlife biology from South Dakota State University. Professor Johnson has been selected Department Teacher of the Year 10 times and has been named Utah State University's International Professor of the Year. He is a member of the University Liberal Arts and Sciences board and serves on many university committees. Johnson's lecture was titled "A Tale of Two Communities: Managing the Ordeal of Change in the Intermountain West." "The last lecture is an occasion to emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of landscape architecture, acknowledge our research and planning partners, and celebrate the ecological, visual and spatial qualities of places we plan and design," Johnson said. "Together we can held guide change toward a more sustainable future for both the human and wildlife community." Johnson broke his lecture into nine chapters. The chapters started with nature and moved on to cover Native Americans and human community in the 1990s. Fragmentation, chapter four, is caused by poorly planned expansion in the human community, Johnson said. Consequences of fragmentation include loss of original habitats, reduced patch size, increased edges, increased patch isolation and loss of disturbance regimes. Chapter five was Why Should We Care? Chapter six focused on the basic principles for managing wildlife community. "Conservation biologists emphasize the importance of being pro-active conserving or restoring patches and corridors to define a wildlife habitat context, then deciding where other uses should occur," Johnson said. "It's really about defining a green infrastructure to support human community." The last three chapters focused on the future and what steps should be taken to preserve our nation. "The past two generations of landscape architects expanded the concerns of our profession beyond rural estates, parks and parkways. We have provided you with a paradigm, an interdisciplinary orientation, and a process to address tomorrow's problems. You in turn will build on the foundation for future generations of professionals," he said.
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