Living Laboratory — Ronald R. Stoltz Scholarship
Gabrielle Jehle looks forward to creating sustainable environments for Tucson after her graduation in May. Jehle is a master’s candidate in the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, and the program’s combination of mentorship and hands-on learning has prepared and inspired her to give back to her community.
Kelly Cederberg, CAPLA assistant professor, and Gabrielle Jehle at the Sonoran Landscape Laboratory
The active learning space at the Underwood Family Sonoran Landscape Laboratory has provided Jehle and others with an outdoor lab for learning sustainable strategies for water harvesting and climate regulation as well as a model for an urban wildlife habitat. She also works for local landscape architecture firm Norris Design and was an intern for the Living Streets Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes safe and equitable transportation in Tucson.
Jehle’s studies have been supported by the Ronald R. Stoltz Scholarship. Stoltz taught landscape architecture at the UA until his retirement in 2015. He also served as the associate dean of the college twice and developed the sustainable built environments degree program.
“As teachers, the success of our students is the product of what we do,” Stoltz says. “In over 40 years of teaching I discovered that I’m a kind of great-grandfather to my students and former students who are now out in practice.”
The Ronald R. Stoltz Scholarship endowment was established by CAPLA alumni Heather Lenkin ’76 ’78 and Richard Underwood ’66, landscape professionals who met Stoltz when he was associate dean and raising funds for the landscape laboratory.
“Ron was a great professor,” says Jehle. “What I learned in his class will carry me through the rest of my career.”