FACULTY ASSOCIATES

Julian Smith, Executive Director of Willowbank and Director of the Centre for Cultural Landscape 

Julian is an architect, conservator, scholar and educator. He is internationally recognized for his contributions to the field of heritage conservation, in general, and to cultural landscape theory and practice in particular. After a childhood in Montreal, Quebec; Delhi, India; and Cambridge, Massachusetts, he did undergraduate work at Oberlin and graduate studies with Kevin Lynch and J.B. Jackson at MIT. He worked in the contemporary design field with Peter Eisenman at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies inNew York City, and then returned toIndiato do extensive research on cognitive mapping of historic town centres inSouth India. He moved toCanadaand eventually became Chief Architect for the National Historic Sites program, a position he held for six years. He then established his own architectural and planning practice, and also founded and directed the graduate program in Heritage Conservation at Carleton University. He became Executive Director of Willowbank in 2008. 

His projects have included design and development work, involving significant cultural sites, in Canada, the U.S., France, Italy, India, Sri Lanka, and Japan. He has also developed policy documents for a variety of federal and provincial agencies inCanada, and has been Canadian delegate to the UNESCO for the drafting of the new international recommendation on Historic Urban Landscapes. His use of a cultural landscape framework allows him to move across the boundaries between architecture, landscape and urban design. 

Julian is architectural advisor to the Trustees of Queen’s University, a past member of the Advisory Committee to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and a recipient of HeritageCanada’s Gabrielle Léger Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Heritage Conservation field.  

Lisa Prosper, BA, MA, PhD (in progress), Faculty Associate

Lisa is the leading Aboriginal voice in the area of cultural landscape theory and practice in Canada. She has been an invited speaker on the topic of cultural landscapes at national and international forums, and has published on Aboriginal cultural landscapes in the George Wright Forum.  She has contributed to the development of new guidelines for cultural landscapes in the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada, developed jointly by the Government of Canada andCanada’s provincial and territorial governments. She also sits on the Cultural Heritage Expert Committee forGatineauPark, a major National Capital Commission property outside ofOttawa.

Lisa is currently working on an interactive web project that adopts a cultural landscape approach to safeguarding and representing the cultural heritage of the Eastern James Bay Cree. Lisa teaches cultural landscape theory and practice at Willowbank. 

Wendy Shearer, FCSLA, Faculty Associate, Wendy is well known as a cultural landscape specialist. She is Managing Director of Cultural Heritage for MHPC Planning Design and Landscape Architecture. She has served on the Boards of the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals and theAlliance for Historic Landscape Preservation. She was founder and principal of Wendy Shearer Landscape Architect Limited, and for 24 years provided design and consulting services on a wide range of projects involving historic properties. She was an adjunct Professor at theUniversity ofGuelph for many years. She currently teaches cultural landscape theory and practice at theUniversity ofVictoria, and has been a frequent speaker on this topic in bothCanada and theU.S. She teaches the courses in historic landscape assessment and design at Willowbank. 

Victoria Angel, Director, Federal Heritage Building Program and previous Registrar, Canadian Register of Historic Places.Victoria teaches at bothCarletonUniversity and theUniversity ofVictoria, and is chairing a session on cultural landscape theory and practice for the US National Trust annual conference. 

Lyse Blanchet, professional conservation engineer, Public Works Canada, and vice-chair, ICOMOS International Committee on Education and Training. Lyse has worked withShelley Huson of Willowbank on the development of a new educational and training framework for ICOMOS, building in part on the combination of theory and practice that marks Willowbank’s approach. 

Meagan Brooks, archaeological consultant. Meagan has worked with staff and students at Willowbank on the rich archaeology of the estate, which includes the many prehistoric and historic layers associated with 8,000 years of habitation. 

Claude Charbonneau, Coordinator, Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada, Parks Canada. Claude has been responsible for the new edition of the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada, which includes the pioneering cultural landscape guidelines authored by Lisa Prosper and others. 

Claudine Déom, conservation architect, Université de Montréal. Claudine is involved with Dr. Christina Cameron in the University’s unique heritage conservation program which operates in a strong interdisciplinary context. 

Sean Fraser, Manager, Conservation Services,Ontario Heritage Trust. Sean has been very involved in developing the Trust’s ecological approach to sites of both natural and cultural interest. He is a frequent speaker on sustainable practices and their relationship to cultural resources. 

Erik Hanson, Heritage Planner, City ofPeterborough. Erik is one ofOntario’s most respected and innovative heritage planners, with a background in both the technical and theoretical aspects of heritage conservation. 

John Hodson, Director, Aboriginal Centre,BrockUniversity. John has been an advisor to Willowbank on the development of its rich cultural landscape setting, and has participated as a mentor in the development of approaches to archaeology that reflect an Aboriginal perspective. 

Jacqueline Hucker, architectural historian and previous Director, FHBRO. Jacqueline has been the historian and advisor to the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada for many sites involving landscapes of national significance. 

Fern Mackenzie, cultural and architectural historian. Fern has been very involved in the historical research and interpretive programming related to the cultural landscape of the Parliamentary Precinct inOttawa. She has worked on many other sites of significance and is currently withURS Canada Inc. 

Douglas McCalla,Univ. ofGuelph.Douglas has recently retired from the position of Canada Research Chair in Rural History. Much of his research has focused on the economy and society ofUpper Canada, and he is currently researching patterns of consumption in ruralUpper Canada. 

Cecilia Morgan, History of Education program,OISE,Univ. ofToronto. Cecelia teaches in the areas of women’s history and gender studies, and has done extensive research on the history of tourism and commemorative activity in theNiagara area. 

Rob Ritchie, former Chief Naturalist, Niagara Parks Commission. Rob has been very involved with the cultural landscape of theNiagara River corridor, and has used his forest management and dendrology perspective in working on a number of environmental and natural resource projects. 

The following are members of the Willowbank Board of Directors, who provide both strategic direction and direct input to the activities of the Centre for Cultural Landscape.

Clinton Brown, President, Clinton Brown Company Architecture,Buffalo.Clinton has worked as a historic preservation architect on projects throughout westernNew York and further afield, and his professional achievements have been widely honored. He is a Commissioner of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, and is also on the National Advisory Committee for the Richardson Olmstead Complex, one ofBuffalo’s most important cultural landscapes. 

Dr. Christina Cameron, Canada Research Chair in the Preservation of the Built Environment, Université de Montréal. Christina has been closely involved with the evolution of UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention, including its pioneering work on cultural landscapes of outstanding universal significance. She has twice served as Chair of the World Heritage Committee. She was for many years Director-General of the National Historic Sites Program at Parks Canada, where she developed the Cutlural Resource Management approach that has been widely adopted by other jurisdictions. 

Francois Leblanc, past Director of Field Projects,GettyMuseum,Los Angeles. Francois began as an architectural conservator with Parks Canada, and then became Director of the ICOMOS Secretariat inParis. He returned toCanada to direct the Main Street Program at HeritageCanada, and was also Chief Architect for the National Capital Commission inOttawa. He has dealt with cultural heritage issues at the national and international level throughout a distinguished career, and has helped pioneer a dynamic approach that includes appropriate contemporary interventions. 

Richard Moorhouse, Executive Director,Ontario Heritage Trust. The Trust has been a leader in working at the intersection between cultural and natural heritage, and has become known for its work in protecting a wide diversity of heritage resources through direct ownership, protective easements, and broader advocacy and educational strategies. Richard has been closely associated with the Trust’s growth and professional standing. 

Chris Wiebe, Program Director, HeritageCanada Foundation. Chris did his graduate work on the importance of community involvement in cultural heritage issues, and has put his beliefs into practice in his work for HeritageCanada. He has spearheaded the Heritage Educators’ Roundtable, and has helped shape a succession of HeritageCanada annual conferences, which explore issues of contemporary relevance including the merging of natural and cultural resource conservation issues.