Quinn DiFalco

• Field and focus area of study: Landscape Architecture, Food-Producing Landscapes
• Hometown: Burlington, Vermont
• Fun fact: Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) is my favorite tree
• Favorite place at Cornell: Mundy Wildflower Garden
• Interests and hobbies outside of schoolwork: Aerial silks, climbing, swimming in rivers, foraging, photography, cooking and trying all the yummiest foods
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinndifalco/

What are your short-term and long-term career goals? 

In the short term, I want to gain experience working with a variety of design teams with different niches and values while I work towards licensure. This summer, I will intern for Cleveland Metroparks in their Planning & Design Department, but I am also interested in contrasting this experience with private, specialized firm work. I am drawn to firms that incorporate their own branches of design research and strive to innovate in these ways. Eventually, I want to open my own practice that specializes in food-producing landscapes across scales (from small and urban to industrial) and to collaborate with extension services on applying the skill set of Landscape Architects to improving water, soil, and nutrient management on farms. 

What were the biggest obstacles you had to overcome in order to participate in the program? 

As with most higher education, the financial aspect of this program has consistently been my biggest barrier. I also do not have a design background, so the learning curve for understanding the educational and critique structure was steep in addition to rapidly learning many new programs. 

What are the strengths of the CALS MLA degree program? 

The program feels very balanced between technical skills, scientific grounding, design training, and theory. The curriculum is intentionally designed to push you in each of these areas and the professors are all deeply committed to both your growth and success. They strive to rapidly adapt to the constantly changing demands of the field that require learning a wide array of programs and skills to keep pace with evolving use of technology. The culture is also very positive, there is a big emphasis on collaboration, community partnership, and students generally feel comfortable offering and taking constructive critique which helps improve all of our work. 

What words would you use to describe the CALS MLA degree program? 

Rigorous, collaborative, interdisciplinary

What courses were your favorite? Why?

I have really enjoyed the “Urban Eden / Plant Identification and Selection” course taught by Jamie Vanucchi; I love increasing my plant knowledge and it was very grounding after moving to a new place to feel much more at home knowing all the species around me. This class was exactly the type of learning that I enjoy because it involved getting outside and learning by doing, seeing, and touching, while reinforcing it with traditional methods and then applying the knowledge to design. I have also really enjoyed the Graphic Communication I and II taught by Anne Weber and Jennifer Birkeland respectively wherein we learned to use the Adobe Suite, Rhino, some AutoCAD, and other rendering software as they apply to our field. 

How has your MLA experience changed you, both personally and professionally? 

Coming from a non-design background, the structure of critiques was new to me; learning this way has improved my ability to receive and integrate feedback and work collaboratively. Professionally, I feel more confident in both the technical skills necessary for the field and the ability to present and communicate effectively. There is ample opportunity to present, refine, and practice more effective communication. Part of being a good collaborator is effectively listening to both your team and to whoever you are responsible to for this design. Personally, I enjoy the way that this knowledge and skillset has opened my awareness to ecological processes around me and to seeing the hand of other artists and designers in my experience of daily living - kind of giving this feeling of being wrapped in the world of other people’s vision makes me feel connected to all the designers whose shoulders we stand on. 

What do you enjoy most about Ithaca? 

I have loved visiting and swimming in some of the waterfalls; both the architecture of the parks and the way that the city finds ANY excuse to celebrate (Chilifest, Applefest, Ithacafest, Grassroots, the list goes on!) makes it feel like a place that is loved by the people who live here and that they find meaning and joy in celebrating the seasons and wild topography of this place. 

How did you prepare for the MLA program?  

I reached out to many practicing Landscape Architects to ask them about their work, their trajectory, their organizations, and their advice. This was invaluable for me in making the big decision of whether I needed to pivot my life and spend more time in school. In my final year at UVM, I also audited a landscape theory course and worked through their version of a studio course so I could gain exposure to that, took a forestry and ecology course at a local community college, and tried to spend some of my summer reading about and practicing my sketching. I also visited Cornell to ask lots of questions of the faculty and students and spent many hours deliberating with family and friends. Finally, I spent time looking at the technology recommendation pages from a variety of programs across the US to figure out what tools and technology I needed to be successful in this program.

What are the biggest challenges you want to tackle in the world?

Working on protecting the safety of our soil, water, food, and biodiversity in a socially just way. 

What are you passionate about? 

I am passionate about improving the areas where human health and environmental health overlap. I am passionate about the role that humans can play in being partners with nature to support our population without compromising the future of other species or our descendents. I am passionate about the rights that all beings have to clean water, clean air, food, and sound living conditions. 

What Cornell / MLA resources have been most helpful? 

The faculty, the Makerspace and Computer Labs, and the Cornell Botanic Gardens have been the most essential for me. 

How has learning from faculty experts changed your perspective on Design for Food-Producing Landscapes? 

I love that our faculty has a variety of academic and firm experience; they all have their unique tastes, priorities, and strengths and being exposed to each of these through studio and other courses gives us a very well-rounded perspective.