Emilie Dunnenberger

Emilie grew up in central Virginia, surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains with incredible access to state and national parks, immense forests, lakes, and hiking trails.  She grew up with the Shenandoah National Park at her fingertips, often traversing Skyline Drive to catch sunsets. Emilie’s core belief is that everyone should have access to nature. 

After earning her undergraduate degree in fine art, Emilie spent three years at the multidisciplinary firm Ayers Saint Gross in Baltimore. She gained experience in many project types, from wayfinding graphics to interior design to campus planning, learning how design plays a role at many scales. In May 2024, Emilie received her Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard GSD, where she completed a thesis that looked at the future of urban forests through the lens of environmental rights advocacy, drawing inspiration from the Cambridge Urban Forest Master Plan. 

Emilie approaches her work through deep site analysis. If she could work outdoors on-site every day, she would. Utilizing photography to document close details and beautifully unusual moments on-site, she captures the “invisible” elements and keeps records of the site as they change over time. She also uses digital tools (such as ArcGIS and Global Mapper and Lidar) to visualize hard-to-perceive site conditions.

Emilie is currently working on Powder Mountain, The Clark Art Institute, and Yale University Collections. Emilie loves cooking and sharing meals with friends and family. She is currently exploring a newfound passion for ceramics, dabbling in multi-method techniques at the Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven.