Bergstrom recognized by New Jersey Chapter of American Society of Landscape Architects

Jeremiah Bergstrom, lecturer of landscape architecture in the South Dakota State University School of Design, has received a top award from the New Jersey Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects for a collaborative project on rising floodwaters. 

The American Society of Landscape Architects is the professional association for landscape architects with a variety of chapters throughout the United States. 

The project, “Creating Flood Resilient Landscapes: A Primer for New Jersey Communities,” won the Chapter Award, the program’s most prestigious award, in the Research and Communication category. 

There were 21 projects in the competition this year, with 11 of them recognized with awards. 

This is one of several awards Bergstrom has received from the New Jersey Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. In 2011, he won the Environmental Enhancement Award and Merit Award in Landscape Architecture Communications; in 2014 he won the Environmental Enhancement Award; and in 2017 he won the Merit Award in Landscape Architecture Planning, the Merit Award in Landscape Architecture Communications and the Environmental Enhancement Award. 

The Merit awards Bergstrom received included projects related to environmental enhancement, floodplain restoration and guidance manuals. 

This year’s award recognized a collaborative project that resulted in a guidance document for creating flood-resilient landscapes in a variety of communities across America. The first-of-its-kind guide is designed to provide resources to communities and their officials in restoring flood-prone properties to their pre-flood function. 

Bergstrom, along with former colleagues from Rutgers University, originally proposed this project in 2019 and have been working on it since. Former SDSU students Shelbie Smith, Emma Martin and Alyssa Faber all contributed significantly to the document. 

“I understood that we had covered many relevant topics and really worked hard to convey complex concepts in a way that could be understood by a very broad audience,” Bergstrom said. “From landscape architects, to ecologists, planners, graphic designers, public officials and engineers, it really took a team effort with a very diverse skillset and knowledge base to create this document.” 

Bergstrom hopes this guide allows communities to see flood-prone landscapes as assets and equips them with tools to restore these landscapes. 

“Flooding is a natural process, and where our human activities have infringed on these landscapes, we are bound to have issues,” Bergstrom explained. “This primer illustrates the significance and importance of rethinking our relationship with rivers and lakes and how they support and protect our communities. We need to see these resources and the landscape as a green infrastructure network just as important to the survival of our communities as our built infrastructure of roads, pipes and the electrical grid.” 

Learn more about the details of the project online.