Meet the Panelists for AWAF's Awards Event featuring a panel about Architecture and Ecology in LA! Topic: Architecture and Ecology in Los Angeles, examining the intersection of our built structures and our semi-arid environment.Saturday, May 14, 2016DEBORAH J. WEINTRAUB, AIA, LEEDAPChief Deputy City EngineerBureau of EngineeringCity of Los AngelesDeborah is the Chief Deputy City Engineer for the Bureau of Engineering, and the highest ranking architect in the City. She provides leadership for an integrated architecture and engineering organization of approximately 800 people, with approximately 442 active projects totaling $3.5 billion. The organization provides professional design, project management and construction management to the City of Los Angeles, serving the needs of City residents and our fellow City employees. The projects she oversees include fire facilities, police facilities, cultural facilities, transportation facilities, recreational buildings and parks, zoo facilities, general office facilities, the Convention Center, and bridges. Deborah also has been integral to the Los Angeles River Revitalization effort.Some current projects of focus are the Convention Center expansion, the design and construction of the new 6th Street Viaduct and the related open space, proposals for reuse of the site of the old Parker Center building, the design and construction of a new facility for Channel 35 in a historic structure at Olvera Street, and a design competition for a new park at 1st and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.As a recognized expert in sustainable design, Deborah was instrumental in the adoption of LEED for City buildings, and has extended the sustainability initiatives by piloting net-zero energy design for certain City projects. As the most senior architect in an engineering-focused organization, she champions design discussions in the process of project delivery.Deborah has received numerous local and national awards, including a national AIA urban design award for the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, has published many professional articles, and has presented in a variety of professional and public forums. Elizabeth TimmeCo-Founder + Co-Executive of LA-MásElizabeth Timme is co-founder and co-executive director of LA-Más, a non-profit design firm that seeks to establish the potential for design-based outcomes in Los Angeles. With a diverse background working in resource-limited environments, Elizabeth has led the office to focus on projects that critically engage systemic problems and provide solutions based on research and community engagement.To date she’s led the LA Watts Community Studio project and the Reseda Great Streets initiative to pilot alternative uses for pedestrian-oriented streets that would reshape and rethink the future of equitable city growth. Most recently Elizabeth developed the strategy and approach for the Backyard Basics – a proposal for collective housing in Elysian Valley comprised of Accessory Dwelling Units for the Architecture + Design Museum’s Shelter: Rethinking How We Live in Los Angeles.Elizabeth teaches at Woodbury University's Architecture & Civic Engagement (ACE) Center and serves on the Zoning Advisory Committee of Re:Code LA, a city-led effort to transform the city’s outdated zoning code. She holds a master’s degree in architecture from Harvard's Graduate School of Design and a bachelors’ degree in architecture from the University of Southern California. Michelle R. Sullivan, RLA, ASLA, LEED AP, ISAPrincipal at Mia Lehrer + AssociatesWith over 30 years of experience in landscape architecture, Michelle has managed and designed many of the firm’s ecologically attuned projects, including the Nature Gardens at Los Angeles County Natural History Museum, Griffith Park Urban Environmental Center, and the Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California at Pitzer College in Claremont. Her background in horticulture and arborist certification root her designs in climate-appropriate strategies. In addition to these highly-detailed design projects, she has managed for Mia Lehrer + Associates large visitor-oriented projects such as Dodger Stadium’s improvements and the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood. Prior to Mia Lehrer + Associates, she worked for Walt Disney Imagineering for over 15 years. Michelle’s work focuses on connecting the public to their natural environment, and on revealing nature’s restorative and beautiful qualities tangible through design.