How did you start your business?

I moved back to L.A. after working in the Bay Area, and decided when I came back I wanted to do it on my own. So I opened up shop in my garage and then moved into my office seven years ago. Many women do, since the architecture industry isn’t exactly a woman’s world. Also, I really needed to combine building design with site design. In former jobs, I designed buildings completely independently from their surrounding environment, like a piece of art on a blank slate.

Best part of your job?

Being able to re-invent myself every day. I make maps and I do lots for the state in terms of wetlands restoration work and beach restoration work. I can bring more than architecture into what I do—all related to the environment, all leaving a minimum footprint.

What is your favorite local green restaurant? Why?

Well, I have favorite dishes at two different restaurants, both in my neighborhood: There is the great tofu dish at Hal’s Bar and Grill and I love the lentil salad and the beet salad at Axe. Joanne, the head chef at Axe, is so committed to quality food that’s organic—right up to her garden in the back—and I love that about her place.

Where do you shop for organic groceries?

Venice Farmers’ Market on Fridays. For dry goods, I go to One Life because it’s close. I go to Wild Oats or Whole Foods once in a while, but they’re a little far for a bike.

What are some of your favorite local green businesses?

I love Mary Cordaro’s stuff, and she’s super-knowledgeable. I’ve worked with her on a number of projects, and she’s a valuable resource. I love the Green Building Resource Center, and Patagonia. I love Library Ale House; the owner, David, is great and serves great beers.

What environmental non-profits do you support?

I participate a lot with the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council. Heal the Bay is enormously wonderful along with its affiliate, the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, which educates kids. I support the Ballona Creek Taskforce, which is a collection of agencies looking at integrating park, open space, habitat, and water quality issues.

What’s your favorite thing about living in the city?

Living in Venice. I can ride my bike to work, pick up my son and attach his bike to mine and ride to the beach together. And I love being part of a real community, running into old friends. Least favorite: Cars, smog, traffic.

What would you say is the city’s undiscovered or underrated jewel?

Our creeks and rivers. Maybe they’re not undiscovered, but they are neglected. Also, our wild critters and habitats in the urban environment.

Where do you like to take out-of-town visitors?

The beach, and the Venice Canals. Also, the Getty, and the Skirball Museum for its great concerts. I like to take them on rides up and down the blue line and the red line, and to explore all the interesting houses and architecture. I also love going to Silverlake, which is kind of like Venice in the sense of its community spirit. You can ride your bike there, and the Eco-House is there. Plus it’s full of cool bars and restaurants.

What’s your favorite vacation destination?

I just came back from Alaska for the second time in two years. I go to this remote fishing village, with a population of 2000. It’s so simple and laid-back and beautiful—filled with moose and bears. The area houses the largest contiguous wetland in North America. I also love going to the South of France, and to San Diego (with the zoo and the model train museum!).

What’s your favorite weekend outdoor activity?

Camping on the Kern River.

What’s an eco-friendly gift you like to give?

I like to give people things they need, things they can use. Like gourmet foods, wine, and nice olive oil. I like going to Market Gourmet on Abbott Kinney or the French Market Café, both of which have nice treats for presents.

Do you have a favorite environmental book? Movie?

Right now I’m reading “Collapse,” by Jared Diamond, a professor from UCLA. He writes about how civilizations (once huge, thriving communities) have destroyed themselves unknowingly by over-using resources, causing such disasters as climate change and deforestation. I love Al Gore’s movie for all the impact it’s having. My relatives in France and Belgium have seen it, and were shocked by the force it’s created in Europe.

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

A willow. I would like to grow alongside a creek, and be habitat to a huge variety of insects. I’d be resilient, re-sprouting after floods, or tapping deeper into the ground in times of drought.

Describe your path to green: how and when you became eco-conscious.

I think it started as a child, being an outdoor person and enjoying hiking and nature. But, I lived in Hungary for a year and a half, and when I moved back to L.A., I discovered for the first time that we had a river here. My friend rode me by a little spring on the Uni-High campus that I’d never noticed before—it was this completely neglected, amazing resource. That epiphany led me to realize how my building design impacts natural environments, and that I wanted to commit myself to working with landscapes.