Asakura Robinson: Meet & Greet
Please join Asakura Robinson's Katie Coyne (Associate Planner & Ecologist), Brianna Frey (Planner), and Meghan Skornia (Associate Planner) for a presentation on the firm's work, culture, and hiring practices on Thursday, March 30 at 11:00am. The event will be held in Goldsmith Hall 2.308 (Dean's Conference Room). Coffee & pastries will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
From www.asakurarobinson.net: "Asakura Robinson is a planning, urban design, and landscape architecture firm which strengthens environments and positively impacts communities through innovation, engagement, and stewardship. Our employees are leaders in social and environmental design. As a firm, we strive to assist visionary clients to spur positive change. We focus on engaging communities in ever more diverse project contexts while maintaining a high level of creativity and collaboration in every endeavor. Three key values inform all of our work: interaction, diversity and innovation. We value the ability of the public to participate in our projects, creating places that encourage social interaction, and our staff’s deep engagement in our communities. We value our diverse workplace and communities and seek to optimize existing community-based and ecological resources. Finally, we value creativity in our processes, materials, technology, collaborations, approach, and design palette."
Speaker Bios
Katie Coyne: "Katie Coyne is an environmental planner and urban ecologist who is passionate about studying the overlap of social and ecological issues in urban areas and hopes to work toward a better connection between people and the ecological systems around them. She believes the integration of human rights and social equity into planning and ecological work is vital to a project’s success. She completed a dual M.S. degree at the University of Texas at Austin in Community and Regional Planning and Sustainable Design. Prior to graduate school, she worked as an AP Environmental Science teacher who also mentored LGBTQ students; and as an ecologist carrying out field research both stateside with Mote Marine Laboratory and abroad with the U.S. Peace Corps in Fiji. She is the founder of MyCreekATX, an Austin based website with a goal of better connecting Austinites to each other and the environmental systems around them by increasing access to creek data. Secondarily, she hopes that MyCreekATX will better inform management of creeks throughout the city by aggregating cultural and social data about creeks. Katie was born in South Florida where she spent more time in water than on land and spends much of her free time at the creek with her fiancé and two dogs."
Brinna Frey: "Brianna Frey is an urban planner who is interested in everything to do with urban planning, from historic preservation to community development. She completed her master’s degree in urban planning at University of Texas at Austin in May 2016. Her academic and professional work to date has focused on transportation, community development, and capital improvement projects in San Antonio, Austin, and Houston. If given the opportunity, she hopes to enhance the livelihood and vitality of future communities and public spaces. Brianna is especially passionate about public engagement and placemaking. She is dedicated to working on interdisciplinary teams that strengthen existing community relationships and programs. Brianna enjoys spending her free time volunteering with Conversation Corps to help facilitate civic dialogue in Austin, TX. She also enjoys traveling, playing soccer at Zilker Park, playing with her golden retriever, and trying all the restaurants Austin has to offer."
Meghan Skornia: "Meghan Skornia is an urban planner from St. Louis, Missouri. Her work to date has focused on zoning, placemaking and public engagement. She is especially passionate about relaying complex planning and zoning issues to the public and exploring new mediums for truly inclusive engagement. Her experience also includes project branding and working with multidisciplinary teams on form-based codes and master planning projects. In the future, she looks forward to furthering her understanding of transportation issues and how they relate to housing costs. Meghan completed her Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Kansas in 2013 and previous studies include a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies. During her time in school, she focused on community development and urban design, and became certified in service learning by completing implementable planning projects for local nonprofits. She also wrote for several print and web publications, reporting on architecture and design news. Meghan enjoys camping and hiking, particularly in far west Texas, trying to keep up with the Austin food scene and indulging her dog’s every whim. She also volunteers with GALS, providing support to women during their birth experiences and sits on the board of Friends of Austin Neighborhoods, advocating for a diverse array of housing types and truly inclusive communities."