People
Our co-creation model involves a mix of full time and part time collaborators and contributors from a variety of fields including architecture, planning, goegraphy, ecology, graphic design and media. Below are some of our team members and contributors over the past few years. At the bottom of this page you can find information about working and learning with the Pilot Projects community.
Scott Francisco - Founder and Director of Pilot Projects - is a designer and systems thinker with a focus on infrastructure that supports long term cultural goals in cities, organizations and ecosystems. Scott's background in architecture, urbanism, construction, and consulting inform the high value he places on engaging stakeholders directly in the design process—particularly in the midst of today's overemphasis on efficiency and quantification. Scott has taught at the McGill School of Architecture, Michael Graves College, Parsons The New School for Design, Stanford in New York, and The University of Kentucky School of Architecture. He speaks regularly on systems thinking, wood and forests, workplace design, organizational culture, and sustainability. He holds architecture degrees from the University of Toronto and MIT.
Dr. Sarah Jane Wilson - Director of Nature-Based Projects - is a forest geographer with a background in ecology (MSc, BSc), human geography and tropical forests (PhD). Her research and practice connect culture and ecology in landscapes urban and rural, including conservation and restoration strategies, education, and community engagement. She has worked with community-based forest restoration and conservation enterprises in montane cloud forests in Andean Ecuador and the Nepalese Himalaya, and in lowland jungle in Guatemala’s Peten. Recent postdoc work with the University of Michigan and with the PARTNERS reforestation network focused on understanding the social and ecological drivers and outcomes of community forestry and restoration - and on crafting action-oriented research for the field. She has also served as a consultant and reviewer for many organizations, including the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, International Tropical Timber Organization, The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and Conservation International, and multiple academic publications. A recipient of the prestigious L’Oreal Women in Science Mentorship Award, she is dedicated to teaching and developing communities of practice around pressing social and environmental challenges.
Mack Phillips - Operations & Program Lead - is a strategist focusing on the design and implementation of innovative connections between urban, exurban and rural issues. With Pilot Projects he has helped lead the development on the Forest Footprint for Cities, Partner Forest Program, and the Sustainable Wood for Cities guide. Mack’s research work centres around urban, exurban and rural intersections of architecture, sustainable mobilities, land use, and resource theory. His prior research has been supported by SSHRC and MITACS and has covered topics such as optimal urbanization in suburban Montréal, the development of transit-oriented landscape amenities in exurban Sweden, and now focuses on the impact of urban consumption – including construction – on tropical forests and the global south. Prior to Pilot Projects, Mack has worked in various architecture offices in Canada and the Netherlands since 2014.
Michael Southwood - Urban Strategist - develops research and strategic insights at the intersection of urban planning and sustainable landscapes. Michael holds a M.Plan. Planning and Sustainable Development from University College Cork, Ireland, and a B.A Urban Planning from Concordia University, Montreal. He has worked as a planner in both Ireland and Canada. His academic interests are also shaped by a childhood spent in post-apartheid South Africa, a country he deeply loves. An outdoors enthusiast, Michael enjoys woodworking, drawing, and growing his own food. Ask him about growing gourmet mushrooms—a passion he is keen to share.
Karmen Hoge - Sustainable Systems Consultant - is an urbanist, civil engineer and passionate climate advocate. She holds a Master’s degree in Urbanism, Landscape, and Planning from KU Leuven in Belgium, a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from McGill University in Montreal and a Minor in Environmental Engineering from the Bellairs Research Institute in Barbados. She is interested in sustainable landscape development, urban/rural co-existence, biodiversity conservation, food security, and environmental stewardship. Karmen is also an outdoor enthusiast and has practiced sustainable agriculture working on small-scale organic farms. She hopes to inspire sustainable and inclusive development and connect society to nature through her work.
Valeria Romano Lara - Sustainable Development Consultant - graduated from The London School of Economics and Political Science with a Master's Degree in Development and Anthropology. She has worked on many projects both in the private and public sector, focusing on design, management, and evaluation. She has also experience in building strategic partnerships for project development. Currently, she directs a social outreach project at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, where she is a course leader.
Contributors:
Liz Burow - Creative Advisor - blurs the line between indoors and outdoors, hardscape and softscape, in both her art and architectural work. She has a studio practice in Brooklyn and teaches at the Parsons School of Design.
Laura Carlson - Designer - moved from Kansas to Boston's Northeastern University School of Architecture before arriving in New York City. She brings precision to model making, corporate interiors, and custom furniture design, balanced by midwestern authenticity and empathy.
Vicente Escriva - Social Responsibility Advisor - he returned from the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan to do graduate work in Urban Policy Analysis. He has worked on numerous organizational development projects, primarily focusing on AIDS prevention and youth empowerment. He has a Master's in Urban Policy Analysis from Milano, The New School and a Bachelor's in Economics from SUNY Purchase.
Salome Francpourmoi - Designer - is an architect with an interest in urban social and economic systems.
Yasmin Fodil - Strategy Advisor - is the founder of BYO consulting. She has worked on strategy with numerous government agencies, including the NYC Department of Education, NASA, and Chicago Public Libraries. Yasmin holds degrees in government and public policy.
Mary Martha Gaiennie - Planner - graduated from the Rutgers Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy with a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning, concentrating on urban design and transportation. Much of her planning project experience is in bike and pedestrian projects, innovative multimodal transportation systems, and (re)development projects. She is a cycling enthusiast, founding a bike recycling program in New Brunswick, and enjoys the outdoors.
Camille Goulding - Researcher - is a geographer and environmentalist with experience in the Transition Towns and urban gardening movements, in New York City and in her native Ireland.
April Greene - Writer - has covered environmental, cultural, and nonprofit news and stories for a variety of organizations and publications since the year 2000.
Megan Hustad - Editor - is a writer and consultant. In 2005 she founded Wherewithal Press, a developmental editing shop based in New York's Lower East Side. She is also the author of How to Be Useful (2008) and More Than Conquerors: A Memoir of Lost Arguments (Feb. 2014).
Hannah Kramm - Designer - is a community engagement and sustainability advisor. She recently graduated from Parsons The New School for Design.
Jarrett Ley - Designer - graduated from the College of William & Mary with a B.A. in Art & Art History and is currently pursuing a Master of Architecture at Columbia University. He is interested in the social agency of the built environment, specifically how architecture can be used to overcome social injustice and inequality.
Sariel Lehyani - Designer - is from Washington, DC, and a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park. His conversation around the office covers urban foraging, wild plants and mushrooms, social justice and how “natural” systems can inform innovative solutions to human problems.
Abigail Montgomery - Designer - is an architect with a deep interest in the relationship between buildings, culture and sustainability. She has experience in both residential and commercial projects.
Marny Pereda - Designer - moved to Brooklyn from Miami, Florida to study architecture at Pratt Institute. She is motivated by art, nature, graphic design, soulful music, and ongoing learning.
Amanda Potter - Designer - is an architect in New York City with extensive residential and corporate experience. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2005.
Drew Powers - Designer - is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he received a Masters of Architecture in 2011. His work focuses on urban public spaces and their influence on social interaction within the city.
Andrew Renninger - Urban planner - graduated from University College London with a Master's Degree in Urban Studies, with a concentration in place-shaping political economy. Andrew’s thoughtful approach to research, GIS and data visualization help inform our urban design work.
Antonina Simeti - Brooklyn Bridge Forest Advisor - is a planner with experience in strategic consulting, public policy, and environmental review. She is committed to projects that support sustainable development in New York City. Antonina is focused on creating small-scale, place-based interventions in line with the city’s broader policy goals.
Jamie Wilson - Designer - is an architect and geographer who recently received a Masters of Architecture from the University of Michigan. He's interested in new methods of material manipulation from atomic to urban scales, as well as urban intersections of architecture, public space, music, and food.
Jeffrey Zarnoch - Creative Advisor - has extensive management experience in the architecture and interiors industry. Jeffrey specializes in strategic thinking and leading interdisciplinary teams. He holds a B.Arch. from Philadelphia's University of the Arts, is a graduate of the DMBA Leading by Design Fellows program from California College of the Arts, and an Adjunct Professor, College of Architecture and the Built Environment, at Philadelphia University.
Jason Joseph - Designer - Jason Joseph - is an architecture graduate from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, specializing in transient architectures and event production. He was a project coordinator for the Orchard Streetscape revitalization project
Arianne Pizem - Graduate Architect - is a Montreal-based architecture graduate with working experience on three continents, whose research in flood mitigation design has received recognition from federal programs and private endowments
Maini Ke - Graduate Architect - originally from Shanghai,China and recently graduated from Columbia University GSAPP with a Master in Architecture degree. She has working experience in China, Japan and the US.
Christine Facella - Landscape Architect & Graphic Designer - is a landscape architect, product designer, an adjunct faculty member of Parsons School of Design and City College, and founder of recently launched ‘Modest’ - a design and education entity that provides skills-building to global artisans, specifically promoting the use of native plant-based resources that have been cultivated locally in restoration scenarios and that help rebuild natural systems.
Noah Garcia - Architect - is a registered architect, multi-disciplinary researcher and designer with over 10 years of experience working across scales from the body to the city with a focus on data technology and the environment.
Ben Fryer - Brooklyn Bridge Forest Advisor - is a conservation practitioner with a focus on working lands. His experience includes forestry, agriculture, and community development projects in the U.S. and Latin America, as well as several years in legal practice in the area of land transactions and finance. Ben holds a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, a masters degree in forestry from Yale School of the Environment, and a J.D. from Yale Law School.
Larissa Jarvis - Research Associate - has 10+ years of professional experience working as an analyst on issues of soil, water, and food security in both private and public sectors.
Sophie McCallum - Research Assistant - has a background in environmental sustainability and systems thinking. She has supported the research of Dr. Sarah Jane Wilson on forest restoration strategies for organizations such as Conservation International since 2019. At Pilot Projects, she supports Cities4Forests’ Faraway Forests offerings, in particular working extensively to develop the Sustainable Wood for Cities platform, the Forest Footprint Action Plan, and the ‘Better Forests, Better Cities’ publication. She has also worked in the area of sustainable agriculture and done multiple internships working hands-on in the discipline of permaculture.
Want to work with us?
We're always looking for great people to collaborate with. Contributor involvement varies from research and consultation to communications planning, modeling, and full-scale prototyping. We have rotating internship programs throughout the year.
For more information or to submit a CV, drop us a line.
