SCHOLARSHIPS
CTASLA offers scholarships to students to encourage awareness and education in the field of landscape architecture. Scholarship applicants must be legal residents of the State of Connecticut. Applications for 2024 are currently being accepted. Applications must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on April 26th, 2024. Additional information can be found in each scholarship's application form below. Please contact scholarships@ctasla.org with any questions.
CTASLA offers two scholarship programs:
1. The Karen Ann Shopis-Fox Memorial Scholarship is awarded to students currently enrolled in an accredited landscape architecture program at the college or university level. Download the 2024 Karen Ann Shopis-Fox Memorial Scholarship Application Form.
2. The Landscape Architecture Environmental Stewardship Scholarship for High School Seniors is awarded to high school students who are applying to study landscape architecture at the college or university level. Download the 2024 Landscape Architecture Environmental Stewardship Scholarship for High School Seniors Application Form.
We encourage you to alert qualified students to the availability of this financial aid. Thank you for helping to spread the word about the CTASLA Student Scholarships.
Karen Ann Shopis-Fox, who passed away in August 2011, was a long-standing member of ASLA, a talented designer, and a dedicated advocate for the profession of landscape architecture. She served as member-at-large and vice president on the executive committee of CTASLA in the 1990s and was a founding member of the golf outing committee and a driving force in the formation of our scholarship. Karen practiced in Fairfield County with her own firm, Karen A. Shopis Landscape Architects. She won the chapter’s prestigious George A. Yarwood Award in 2002, given in recognition of members who have given unselfishly of their time and talent to further the profession of landscape architecture within the state and the nation.
Donations to the CTASLA's Student Scholarships, benefiting the next generation of landscape architects, may be made at any time, in any amount, using the Donation button below or by mailing a check (to "Connecticut Chapter of ASLA" — please write "Scholarship" on the memo line) to:
CTASLA Scholarship Fund
P.O. Box 209197
New Haven, CT 06520
The Connecticut Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization incorporated in Connecticut. Contributions to section 501(c)(6) organizations are not deductible as charitable contributions on the donor’s federal income tax return. They may be deductible as trade or business expenses if ordinary and necessary in the conduct of the taxpayer’s business.
2023 WINNERS
In 2023, the chapter conferred $12,000 in scholarships to eight outstanding recipients. This brought our 20-year scholarship award total up to $112,500 combined for the Karen Ann Shopis-Fox Memorial Scholarship and Landscape Architecture Environmental Stewardship Scholarship for High School Seniors. This tremendous achievement would not have been possible without the generosity of our members, sponsors, friends, and more!
Oliver Zych of Weston, Connecticut is a fourth-year student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. After visiting design-build construction sites and conversing with those professionals, Oliver has developed a strong interest in planting design and landscape installation, and being a 2023 Karen Ann Shopis-Fox Memorial Scholarship recipient will help further advance that interest. His passion for horticulture is clear in his study of the works of garden designers such as Dan Pearson and Piet Oudolf. Last summer, Oliver completed an internship at Kathryn Herman Design in New Canaan which provided him with great insight and experience in the field of landscape architecture.
Amanda Nackowski of Middletown, Connecticut is currently in her third year at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s landscape architecture program. She was previously enrolled in her high school's plant science program, and continues to apply an ecological perspective to her work. Over the summer she worked as a landscape architecture summer intern at the Department of Transportation, and hopes to continue in future years. Amanda was awarded the 2023 Karen Ann Shopis-Fox Memorial Scholarship.
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Caroline Klumac of Stamford, Connecticut is a junior at the University of Vermont, where she is majoring in Forestry and Environmental Studies, with a concentration in landscape design. Caroline is a 2023 Karen Ann-Shopis Fox Memorial Scholarship recipient. Through this path of study, she is learning how to integrate agroecological principles into the design of multifunctional landscapes. She hopes to be able to design residential spaces centered around parks and community gardens with an emphasis on permaculture, in order to benefit all residents. This past summer, she worked at Shelburne Farms, an educational working farm, assisting in the development of a forest management plant and helping maintain the market garden.
Abigail Varga is a rising senior at the University of Connecticut, in the Landscape Architecture program. Abigail is from Newtown, Connecticut where she also currently has an internship. Abigail comes from a strong horticultural background that she likes to use to support her designs. Her current interests are planting design and creating unique planting plans that fit each site. Abigail's goal for her last year in the program is to explore more materials and their uses to create more in depth plans. Her career goal after graduation is to continue to work with residential sites to create designs that are one of a kind and create a space that people can enjoy being outside. Abigail is the University of Connecticut Student ASLA Chapter President for the 2023-2024 schoolyear and a 2023 Karen Ann Shopis-Fox Memorial Scholarship recipient.
Daniella Macedo Portal of East Haven, Connecticut graduated from Quinnipiac University last spring with a degree in Environmental and Ecological Studies and an English Minor. She elected to continue her studies at The Conway School in Massachusetts for a Master of Science in Ecological Design. She has a strong interest in designing landscapes that increase biodiversity and functionality within ecologically degraded spaces. Daniella is currently working at Natureworks, a local garden center and landscaping business that specializes in organic growing, native/beneficial species, and community education. In her free time, she enjoys growing vegetables, hiking through the woods, and curling up with a good book and her extra-fluffy cat. Daniella is a 2023 Karen Ann Shopis-Fox Memorial Scholarship recipient.
Brendan Pugmire of Simsbury, Connecticut is a Junior studying landscape architecture at the University of Connecticut. He is the treasurer of the UConn ASLA chapter. Brendan grew up in Simsbury, CT, where he developed his love of the outdoors, plants and art. He believes landscape architecture should not be a luxury, and that every community should have accessible green spaces. He hopes to create sustainable green spaces that promote a high quality of life, further biodiversity, and address today’s prominent environmental challenges. Brendan is a 2023 Karen Ann Shopis-Fox Memorial Scholarship recipient.
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Brianna Lent of Guilford, Connecticut is a second year Landscape Architecture student at Penn State. Brianna found out about landscape architecture in her senior year of high school and immediately fell in love. It is the perfect combination of everything she is passionate about. She has always been interested in animals, art, plants, the outdoors, and science, which this major mixes perfectly. She grew up with an emphasis on travel and experiences, so she holds a deep admiration for the beauty the world has to offer, and being a 2023 Karen Ann Shopis-Fox Memorial Scholarship recipient will help her be a part of protecting it.
Emma Lepisto of Cheshire, Connecticut is a rising sophomore in the landscape architecture program at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina. Emma attended Cheshire High School where she was introduced to LA by taking an elective course in architecture. Since then, her desire to combine her interest in design and environmental preservation has grown. Emma’s most challenging and exciting project during her freshman year was the design of a memorial garden for a local African American history museum. Her plan combined the history of Pickens County, SC with a communal gathering space. Emma looks forward to the upcoming school year and the new, exciting projects she will work on in studio as a 2023 Karen Ann Shopis-Fox Memorial Scholarship recipient.