CREATiVE ECOLOGY+
CO-CRAFTING CREATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR COMPLEX CHALLENGES IN CITIES
DREAM it
•
DESIGN it
•
DO it
•
DREAM it • DESIGN it • DO it •
our cities are mirrors…
reflections of our beliefs and values
the world we see around us is a product of our preferences much more than that of “Mother Nature”
DO WE LIKE WHAT WE SEE?
SUPERFISKY+
Offers strategic advising and specialized services to interested parties involved in envisioning, planning, designing, implementing and sustaining efforts (from big to small) that aim to enhance + transform cities / urban ecosystems.*
*into places that we want to see and live in (and that are livable by plants and other animals, too)
Based in the laboratory of Los Angeles, SUPERFISKY provides well-seasoned experience working with public, private, nonprofit, academic, and community-based partners to generate creative solutions for complex challenges.
Blurring the line between the “built” + “natural” between “us” and “them”
SUPERFISKY translates effortlessly between the natural and social sciences—catalyzing socio-ecological networks that infuse a spirit of collaboration into efforts by bringing together students, researchers, artists, practitioners, community members, municipalities, counties, other government agencies, elders, indigenous, and individual voices all towards the shared goal:
co-create “symbiotic cities”
(places where people, plants, and other animals thrive)
WHAT DO WE WANT TO SEE HERE?
“we cannot solve the problems that we created with the same thinking that created them" -ALBERT EINSTEIN
“we cannot solve the problems that we created with the same thinking that created them" -ALBERT EINSTEIN
"MORE THAN MACHINERY WE NEED HUMANITY" - Charlie Chaplin
"MORE THAN MACHINERY WE NEED HUMANITY" - Charlie Chaplin
“the fut(our)e is ours to create... it will be us (and our ingenuity+tenacity) that will transform the world we live in” - SUPERFISKY
“the fut(our)e is ours to create... it will be us (and our ingenuity+tenacity) that will transform the world we live in” - SUPERFISKY
Photographed by Bear Guerra
KAT SUPERFISKY is an urban ecologist, artist, and educator who devotes their days, nights and dreams to transforming urban areas into more livable places for people, plants, and other animals.
After obtaining a Master of Landscape Architecture, Master of Science in Conservation Ecology and Teaching Certificate from the University of Michigan, Kat Superfisky moved 2,300 miles across the country for the Los Angeles River. Superfisky sees LA—and its river—as the perfect laboratory to explore how to (re)design urban areas into more “symbiotic cities.”
Prior to transplanting in LA, Superfisky spearheaded ecosystem management efforts for 24,000 acres of parkland in Metropolitan Detroit and developed an interactive environmental education program about sustainability in the built environment using a LEED-rated building as a living laboratory.
In Los Angeles, Superfisky has spearheaded ecological planning and design efforts at Studio-MLA—a landscape architecture and urban design firm; founded a nonprofit movement called Grown in LA—that aims to plant seeds, power people, and transform a city; and is currently the City of Los Angeles’ first Urban Ecologist.
Superfisky carries their practice and perspective of urban ecology and socio-ecological systems into the classroom, teaching at institutions like California State Polytechnic University Pomona, University of California Los Angeles, University of Southern California, and the University of Michigan.
Superfisky is a Certified Senior Ecologist (CSE), a former Doris Duke Conservation Fellow, and currently serves on the Ecological Society of America’s Board of Professional Certification and Nominations Committee, US Forest Service LA Urban Center’s Executive Oversight Team, California ReLeaf’s Board of Directors, City Plants’ Advisory Board, and the LA Biodiversity Index Expert Council.
Credentials:
Certified Senior Ecologist (CSE)
Ecological Society of AmericaMaster of Science in Conservation Ecology
University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and EnvironmentMaster of Landscape Architecture
University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and EnvironmentTeaching Certificate
University of MichiganNational Environmental Education Certifications - Project Learning Tree, Project WET, Project WILD
Affiliations:
City of Los Angeles Urban Ecologist
Los Angeles Biodiversity Index Expert Council Member
US Forest Services’ LA Urban Center Executive Oversight Team
California ReLeaf Board of Directors
City Plants Advisory Board
Ecological Society of America (ESA) Member, Board of Professional Certification, Nominations Committee
International Association of Landscape Ecology - North American Regional Chapter Member
Seed LA Member
Select Recognition:
Doris Duke Conservation Fellow
Woodrow Wilson Foundation (2010)Planning & Analysis Merit Award
American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Southern California Chapter (2018)Outstanding Part-time Faculty Award
California State Polytechnic University Pomona (2020)Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award
Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan (2011)Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award
Program in the Environment, University of Michigan (2011)
integrating
[ECOLOGY+ART+EDUCATION]
SUPERFISKY
ENViSIONS + PLANS + DESiGNS + ENHANCES + SUSTAiNS URBAN ECOSYSTEMS
Want to work together on a project? Book a presentation or eco-literacy training? Take a tour of the urban wild?