Our Team

As Director of the Healthy Materials Lab, Alison leverages her practice-based experience as an architect and her knowledge and experience as a long-term academic leader to confront one of the more serious and often overlooked environmental challenges of our time: the health of the built environment. How do we make profound and long-term changes to everyday design practice to create truly healthy buildings, especially for those in the most need of affordable housing? HML creates resources, educational programming, and prototypical innovative housing models for a new post-petroleum world. Alison is co-Principal Investigator of the Healthy Affordable Materials Project (HAMP). The Project is a long-term coalition of four organizations that work together to remove harmful chemicals from the built environment. She is also the recipient of multiple grants that support the work of the Lab.

Alison’s work draws from the long tradition at The New School University’s commitment to promoting community-based sustainability, social engagement, and environmental justice, especially in her teaching in architectural design studios at Parsons. She lectures widely disseminating current thinking within the field of material health.

Alison Mears and Jonsara Ruth were awarded the 2022 Women in Architecture Innovation Award from Architectural Record and co edited the 2023 publication “Material Health: Design Frontiers”.

Jonsara Ruth is co-founder and Design Director of Healthy Materials Lab (HML) at Parsons School of Design, where she is an Associate Professor and Founding Director of the MFA Interior Design program. At HML, Jonsara brings creative leadership to the ambitious goal of improving the health of underserved communities through the transformation of design and material practices. Drawing from over a decade as a designer in the furniture and interiors industries, Jonsara brings her understanding of manufacturing, supply chains, labor practices, and a penchant for democratic design to her roles at HML and Parsons. She draws from her artistic practice to creatively lead, motivate change, and inspire new methods for making and imagining futures.

She founded Salty Labs, a design collective, to experiment and implement ideas of circularity with healthy, low-carbon materials and strategies, working closely with local artisans to design interiors, furniture, and experiences. With Q Collection Junior, she designed the world's first Greenguard Certified crib for children. Her work is seen internationally in numerous publications, exhibitions, and people’s homes. Jonsara’s lifelong creative goal is to serve society and culture through her work.

Jonsara graduated with a Master of Architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA in Industrial Design from Rhode Island School of Design, and currently serves on the board of the Sustainable Furnishings Council.

Together with Alison Mears, Jonsara was awarded the 2022 Women in Architecture Innovation Award.

Ahalia Persaud is a Brooklyn-native and daughter of Guyanese immigrants. A first-generation college student, she received a BA in Sociology and Arts Administration from Simmons College, Boston, MA. During her time in undergrad, she was a community organizer for underrepresented populations and continues to advocate for social justice.

Prior to the Lab, Ahalia worked for Parsons’ School of Design Strategies and Brooklyn Public Library. Currently, she is a board member of Global Action Project (G.A.P.), a youth media justice organization focused on amplifying stories of low-income, immigrant, TGNC and LGBQ youth. She is a new homeowner in East New York, Brooklyn and is excited for the opportunity to work with HML and learn all about healthy materials.

Catherine is a trained artist, designer, and educator. She has 12 years experience in designing and project managing healthier and sustainable interiors. Her current focus is on developing processes to enable change and strengthen a sustainable and regenerative built environment. As an educator she teaches classes on materials and guides the development of methodologies to eliminate toxics and reduce environmental impacts. Her practice focuses on renovation, re-use, and repair of existing structures; implementing core design and construction techniques to build healthier, affordable and sustainable built environments.

Leila D Behjat has worked globally in the fields of architecture, interior, and lighting design on both residential and commercial projects, developing expertise in material ecology and renovation with healthier building materials. In her previous role as Senior Researcher in Material, Design, and Practice she curated publicly available collections of healthier, low-embodied construction products and methods and consulted on projects to achieve healthier, sustainable, and more circular spaces. In an ever-evolving industry, she is currently furthering her education with the German Sustainable Building Council DGNB and is actively engaged in community building, and learning about creating vibrant and thriving neighborhoods. Leila holds a Diplom-Ingenieur (Masters) in Architecture from Hafencity Universität, Germany, and was also a 2022 Maintainers Movement Fellow.  

Luam Melake is an interdisciplinary artist with a background in architecture and design. Her craft-based studio work is centered on material experimentation, using furniture design and the process of weaving as a means of exploring the emotional potential of materials from the built environment.

Luam received her BA in Architecture through UC Berkeley’s Interdisciplinary Field Studies Department and has held diverse positions within the art and design fields. She has worked in architectural libraries, including William Stout Architectural Books, was a research assistant at the Calder Foundation and managed design gallery Demisch Danant, before specializing in materials research. Luam was a designer specialized in materials sourcing at Studio Sofield and produced creative content for Material Bank before joining the Healthy Materials Lab team as Senior Researcher.

Cristina is an architect and urbanist, and works as a consultant and designer in Latin America, North America and Africa. She is passionate about the built environment, health and education and brings this dedication to her teaching in architecture, urban ecologies, urban design, and information design at Parsons. Cristina’s research explores intersections between physical space, social behavior, and urban policy. At the Lab, she advocates for the betterment of people’s lives, health and well being through the built world, with a focus on people living in affordable housing. 

She received her architecture degrees from Barnard College and the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, followed by a Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies at Parsons. She received a PhD in public and urban policy at The New School.

Noellia has over 15 years of experience in International Development and Non-Profit Program Management. As part of the founding team of a woman-led humanitarian organization, she has produced over 60 conflict resolution, community engagement, and youth empowerment programs in 17 nations in collaboration with United Nations agencies, the US Institute for Peace, the US State Department, and diverse community networks. A seasoned program director, she brings a global lens to organizations to support multidimensional stakeholder and funding partnerships, inclusive conversational capacity, and community activations with social impact. Through her Brooklyn-based consulting practice, Noellia assists local non-profits to actualize mission-driven work and collaborations that incorporate creative, lifestyle, and holistic wellness platforms. She holds an MPA from the Wagner School of Public Service at NYU and a BA in political science from Haverford College.

Ghizlaine is an interior designer, artist, and marketing communications consultant. Prior to earning her Master's degree in Interior Design from Parsons School of Design, she held inbound marketing, email management, and customer success roles in the tech industry, putting her Bachelor's degree in Marketing and Educational Media to work.

Her interest in how interiors can influence emotional, mental, and physical states encouraged her to pivot from a career in business to one in design. This is attributed to Ghizlaine's personal experience of having fled Algeria's Civil War in the 1990s and witnessing her family's assimilation to American culture, an experience rooted in the physicality of their surroundings.

At the Lab, Ghizlaine works to amplify the need for healthy materials in the built environment. This intersects with her interest in how trauma-informed principles can transform interior spaces into environments that promote healing and safety - afterall, healing spaces must also be healthy.

Jess Thies is a designer and material researcher who believes the future will be grown. She is passionate about using circular design and biofabricated material innovation to drive us to a more regenerative future. Her materials based design practice combines science research, speculative design, trend forward textiles and living systems. She studied at Parsons School of Design for her MFA in Industrial Design where her thesis research focused on the intersections of design and synthetic biology. She previously studied at Central Saint Martins in London for a Postgraduate Certificate in Material Futures. Prior, she worked as a Textile Designer and Project Manager for Lori Weitzner in NYC. Her undergraduate degree is a BS in Textile Design from Jefferson. 

Stan is a Master of Architecture candidate at the Parsons School of Constructed Environments. He earned his B.A. at the University of Vermont, where he studied French, art history, and global studies. Situating a place within overlapping contexts and interrogating their histories are central to Stan’s evolving studies and practice. Considering the outcomes of such dynamics while interrogating the intersection of architecture and landscape architecture is fascinating work, but Stan views such an approach as crucial to confronting and overcoming the social environmental challenges of today and tomorrow.

As a Research Assistant, Stan is interested in exploring the cultivation and economies of bio-based materials. Additionally, he is interested in a focus on material research as a means to develop a practice that operates at various scales while maintaining a high sensitivity towards human and planetary health.

Angela is a designer and researcher of the constructed environment.  She is passionate about architecture as a collective tool that can foster relationships between humans and Nature, while creating places that reflect the unique conditions of their natural environment. 

Angela joined Healthy Materials Lab in August of 2022 after gaining experience with commercial interiors and workplace design.  She has contributed to multiple projects with the Lab, including the design and documentation of Indigenous Hemplime Housing in White Earth, Minnesota.  She has also helped with the creation of resources and presentations for lectures about material health and embodied carbon.  In grad school, Angela was a teaching assistant for the Parsons undergraduate architecture capstone studio, where she assisted students in developing design concepts and drawings.   Research, teaching, and writing are all essential components of her evolving practice.  

Angela has a Bachelor of Arts in interior design from Kent State University, and a Master of Architecture from Parsons School of Design.  Angela’s MArch thesis, “Toward a Buoyant City,” is an ongoing project that explores the potential of coastal architecture when water is acknowledged as the principal design agent.  

Katie is a recent graduate of the BFA Architectural Design program at Parsons School of Design and the BA Environmental Studies program at Eugene Lang School of Liberal Arts. While studying the relationships between the natural and built environments, it became glaringly clear to them that practices within constructed environments must shift how they work to be more considerate of what is already present. Their undergraduate thesis, which linked Environmental Studies and design, worked to engage this directly, examining possible multidisciplinary approaches to the architectural design process with the hope of generating work that is more in tune with the interconnected needs of social and environmental ecosystems.

Katie’s architectural work aims to continue this pursuit, listening carefully to who and what is
around, asking: can architecture be both beautiful and useful, in conversation with the
community, ecology, climate, and ephemera that comprise the place it exists within?

Ahmad Abbasi is a product design engineer and maker from Jordan. His practice is
rooted in research and thinking-through-making. He utilizes hand sketching, 3D
modeling, and state-of-the-art digital fabrication techniques to create functional and
manufacturable forms.

Through his five years of experience in fabrication laboratories and incubators, Abbasi has accelerated over 50 products from ideas to physical prototypes. His design research focuses on material selection and optimizing user experience, aiming to innovate in both form and function.

Abbasi holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology and is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Transdisciplinary
Design at Parsons School of Design. His thesis explores Design for Remanufacturing of Household Electronics. As a material research assistant at the Healthy Materials Lab, Abbasi is refining his expertise in material assessment, further supporting his thesis and professional practice.

Khadeine Ali is pursuing an MFA in Interior Design at Parsons School of Design. She holds a BFA in Interior Design from Savannah College of Art and Design and a Master's in Sustainable Business from the University of Miami. Khadeine is deeply committed to creating spaces grounded in social and environmental responsibility, honoring peoples' histories and the vernacular. Her portfolio includes cruise ship, themed entertainment, and commercial design sectors.

Driven by a fervent curiosity to transcend traditional boundaries, Khadeine aspires to work on multiscalar ecosystems, aiming to contribute significantly to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and environmental footprints. Her current research focuses on the innovative design of circular biomaterials.

Khadeine is deeply passionate about material health and is excited about the potential of research to inform design practices, creating greater opportunities to enhance the circularity and resilience of our built environments.

Laraib Ali is a land steward, designer, and material researcher based on Lenape Lands (NYC) pursuing a Masters in Interior design at Parsons, with a BS in Environmental Science and Anthropology from SUNY New Paltz. Drawing inspiration from indigenous resourcefulness and land practices, her work emphasizes the importance of the built environment reflecting the residents and the surrounding natural environment, focusing on waste regeneration and material life cycles.

Laraib is a passionate individual with a multifaceted love for spatial design, sustainability & the intersection of health + education. She is dedicated to creating spaces that look beautiful and enhance the well-being of those who inhabit them and around them. Her commitment to ethical sustainability motivates her to explore innovative ways to minimize environmental impact while considering efficiency & longevity in design projects. She deeply recognizes the importance of incorporating health and educational elements into her work, believing that environments have the power to inspire, educate, and promote well-being in the living environments. 

Nij is a MS in Strategic Design and Management candidate at Parsons School of
Design Strategies. With a Bachelor's degree in Architecture from India, he has built a
solid foundation in traditional design and brings the same to his work. He has previously collaborated with interdisciplinary teams in contemporary art and design studios across India and Spain.
 

A hands-on approach fuels his curiosity and excitement for design which inspires him to explore and optimize innovative materials for maximum efficiency. With the motive to make a lasting impact, Nij aims to continue to expand his design skills through sustainable means.
 

Strategic design has given him a unique arena to explore how design influences the
world beyond tangible objects. By focusing on material innovation, Nij seeks to create designs that are further enhanced by the quality of materials used and how they are employed.

Nia is currently pursuing her Master of Architecture (M.Arch) at Parsons School of Design. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Architectural Design, her academic journey sparked a deep commitment to social justice, particularly in the realm of urban housing reform. Raised between New York City and the Hudson Valley, Nia's background has shaped her vision of using design to empower underserved neighborhoods, fostering self-sufficiency and resilience.

Nia’s background includes multi-disciplinary design, including filmmaking, sculpture making, and music production.

She is also an active member of the National Organization of Minority Architects Students and the American Institute of Architecture Students.

Kaitlin Teng is a young artist from Queens, New York, and is currently a first-year undergraduate student at the Parsons School of Design. They previously attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Arts and Performing Arts in New York City where they majored in Fine Arts. They were extremely involved in Key Club for all four years of high school, an international community service club, as part of their design & outreach committee. In this position, they helped manage the club’s social media account as well as create posters and graphics to raise awareness and advertise various current issues. Their current areas of interest include illustration, graphic design, and visual storytelling. They hope to pursue a career related to outreach, technology, and design. By being part of the Healthy Materials Lab, they are looking forward to educating themselves on the topic of sustainable housing and getting involved in the community.

Weniz Wills is an MFA Interior Design candidate at Parsons School of Design, where her expertise in sustainable design and architectural practice converges. With a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from RV College of Architecture, Bangalore, and a diverse portfolio shaped by internships at Studio AK and Studio Parallel in New York, Weniz brings a comprehensive understanding of both residential and retail environments. At Studio AK, she specialized in material selection and the performance qualities of fabrics and textiles, while her role at Studio Parallel focused on retail projects, enhancing her proficiency in space design and
execution.
As a Teaching Assistant at Parsons, Weniz supports research into circular design and material health, striving to integrate innovative, eco-friendly solutions into her practice. Her commitment to advancing sustainable design is matched by her goal to impact the built environment positively, ensuring it is both functional and environmentally responsible.

Ana is Chair of the Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management graduate program and an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice at the Milano School. She also serves as the Associate Director for the Tishman Environment & Design Center (TEDC) at The New School.

Ana's research and professional practice focuses on environmental and climate justice. She works directly with impacted communities and coalitions to support the advancement of community led, critical and systemic alternatives to achieve environmental justice.

Ana completed her Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. She received her Master’s degree from Brown University in Environmental Studies and has an undergraduate degree in Environmental & Evolutionary Biology as well as Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College.

tishmancenter.org

Kate Daly is Managing Director at Closed Loop Partners, an impact investment firm, and leads their advisory services arm, the Center for the Circular Economy. The Center is a hub for circular business acceleration, investment, and research in packaging, food, the built environment, electronics and apparel & textiles. Kate previously served as Senior Vice President at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where she oversaw industry-facing initiatives in sectors including advanced manufacturing, smart cities, cleantech, fashion, tech, and media. Prior to NYCEDC Kate served as the Executive Director of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission.

closedlooppartners.com/the-center

Joanna Frank is the President & CEO of the Center for Active Design, where she advances design and development practices to foster healthy and engaged communities. The Center for Active Design is the operator for Fitwel, a unique building certification that positively impacts occupant health and productivity through an integrated approach to workplace design and operations. Prior to launching the Center, Ms. Frank worked for the City of New York, where her positions included Director of Active Design and Director of the NYC FRESH program.

Before working for the City, Ms. Frank was a Partner at Bright City Development, LLC where she was responsible for the development of mixed-use residential buildings using sustainable design criteria. Ms. Frank is a member of the American Heart Association Workplace Health Steering Committee, as well as the Urban Land Institute's Affordable/Workforce Housing Council.

Maida P. Galvez, MD, MPH, FAAP is a pediatrician and Professor in the Departments of Environmental Medicine & Public Health and Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where she is Founding Director of the New York State Children’s Environmental Health Center —the first state-wide, publicly funded model for children’s environmental health clinical services in the United States. She also serves as Director of the Region 2 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, a US Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Disease Control serving New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. Dr. Galvez works to translate emerging research into programs and policies that prevent and reduce environmental exposures for children, their families, and their communities.

mountsinai.org/maida-p-galvez

Rolf is a Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and Founding Director of the Biodesign Institute’s Center for Environmental Security and the Biodesign CES Mass Spectrometry Facility at Arizona State University, where he also holds affiliate appointments in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering and the Barrett Honors College. He has 20 years of experience in environmental monitoring, human health assessment, and sustainability science. Rolf has authored 150 peer-reviewed articles, reports, and patents, a book on emerging contaminants, as well as 300+ presentations at national and international symposia. Rolf was a co-founding member of the Center for Water and Health at Johns Hopkins University, where he maintains an adjunct faculty appointment in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. Rolf received his M.S. in Biology from the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil/Environmental Engineering from the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining academia, he was a postdoc and project engineer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he directed a team engaged in groundwater and soil remediation. Rolf has been invited repeatedly to brief the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Academies, and U.S. Congress on emerging contaminants and sustainability issues.

Seandra is a well-respected thought leader, innovative strategist, and trusted authority who not only conceptualizes unique methods for developing strategies and building bridges across issues, sectors, demographics, and communities, but also offers facilitation and guidance for implementation of such methodologies. Seandra was raised in GA, where she was baptized at Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, and went on to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science at Spelman College.

Seandra has, during the course of her career in strategic consulting, program creation and implementation, worked with SEIU as Lead Organizer and Program Manager, Sierra Club as Program Manager and SACE as the Director of Diversity and Community Partnerships, to name a few. Seandra maintains a deep passion for engaging people in policy and works to establish the frameworks from which non-profit organizations, special interest groups, politicians, and the electorate can analyze and actively participate in energy, climate and environmental justice issues.

Susan S. Szenasy is Director of Design Innovation and former Editor-in-Chief of Metropolis, and has led the magazine through decades of landmark design journalism while achieving domestic and international recognition.

Internationally recognized as an authority on sustainability and design, Susan sits on the boards of the Fashion Institute of Technology's Interior Design department and the Center for Architecture Advisory, and has served one term on the Landscape Architecture Foundation board and two terms on the Council for Interior Design Accreditation board. She has been honored with two IIDA Presidential Commendations, and was the 2008 recipient of the ASID Patrons Prize and Presidential Commendation, as well as the SARA/NY medallion of honor. Along with METROPOLIS Publisher Horace Havemeyer III, Susan was a 2007 recipient of the Civitas August Heckscher Award for Community Service and Excellence, and in 2011 she won the Gene Burd Urban Journalism Award. Susan is an honorary member of the ASLA and NYC AIA, and named a Senior Fellow by the Design Futures Council in 2011.

Susan holds an MA in Modern European History from Rutgers University, and honorary doctorates from Kendall College of Art and Design, the Art Center College of Design, and the Pacific Northwest College of Art. She lives in New York's East Village in a small loft designed by Harry Allen, where she moved after 9/11 to reduce her ecological footprint.

Joel Towers became The New School’s tenth president on August 1, 2024. An architect by training, an educator at heart, and a passionate advocate for design-based solutions to climate change, he has served at The New School for more than 20 years, including a decade as executive dean of Parsons School of Design. In that role and others, he has strengthened the university’s capacities in education, research, and creative practice integrating design, policy, and collaborative approaches to advancing social and ecological resilience. He is also University Professor of Architecture and Sustainable Design.

President Towers joined Parsons in 2004 as a member of the full-time faculty and the school’s first director of Sustainable Design and Urban Ecology. In 2006, he was named associate provost for Environmental Studies and founded the university’s Tishman Environment and Design Center, which promotes the integration of bold design, policy, and social justice approaches to environmental issues. From 2007 to 2009, he served as the founding dean of the School of Design Strategies and as associate dean of Parsons.

President Towers was named executive dean of Parsons in 2009 and served in that role until 2019. During that time, Parsons completed major curricular reforms, launched new graduate and undergraduate programs, expanded its full-time faculty, and opened an integrated 26,000-square-foot cross-disciplinary facility called the Making Center. President Towers led and supported initiatives to expand the school’s research capabilities and reach. Under his leadership, Parsons consistently ranked as the top school for art and design in the United States, a position it holds today.

Throughout President Towers’ career, he has focused on sustainability, resilience, and the development of policy and design-based solutions to climate change and the construction of healthful environments. Before joining The New School, he worked with William McDonough Architects, where he directed projects that helped codify that firm’s environmental thinking. In 1992, he co-founded Sislian Rothstein and Towers Architects (SR+T). Over 18 years, SR+T completed a number of award-winning projects and served as a testing ground for the integration of research, scholarship, and creative practice. In 2019, President Towers was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to serve as co-chair of The New York City Panel on Climate Change.

President Towers received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation.

Andrew Bernheimer is a Brooklyn-based architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture at the Parsons School of Design. Bernheimer leads an eponymous firm responsible for a wide variety of residential, civic, and cultural projects, including new multi-unit affordable housing developments across the five boroughs as well as award-winning private residences in the northeast region. He recently edited “Timber in the City”, a book featuring innovative practices in wood construction published by ORO Editions. Bernheimer sits on the Advisory Board of the Institute for Public Architecture, is the Co-Chair of the Van Alen Institute’s Program Council, is a fellow in the Forum for Urban Design, and is a member of the Architectural League of New York.

David Leven is a partner at LEVENBETTS, an award winning New York City based architecture practice, and an Associate Professor at Parsons School of Constructed Environments. David holds a Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University, a Master of Architecture degree from Yale University and attended the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies. LEVENBETTS was founded by David with Stella Betts in 1997 and focuses on projects at all scales of urban design, public buildings, houses and housing, workspaces, exhibitions and furniture. The office employs a variety of methods to arrive at innovative solutions that involve incisive observation, interrogate programmatic and site givens and approach building systems as creative opportunities. LEVENBETTS has won several NYC AIA awards (2011, 2008, 2005, 2004, 2003), the Architectural League’s Young Architects Forum and Emerging Voices Awards (2009), Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard (2007) award, I.D. Annual Design Review Award (2004) and been exhibited widely. The work of LEVENBETTS has been published in various design magazines and books, and Princeton Architectural Press published a monograph on the firm’s work in 2008, called Pattern Recognition. David has lectured widely and has an been invited jurors at Columbia, Yale, Princeton, Harvard and University of Pennsylvania.  

David has served on advisory panels at the Architectural League of New York, committees at the New School, and holds architectural registration in New York and New Jersey.

Heechan Kim is an object maker and an educator. He is from Seoul, South Korea and holds a BFA in Metal Art/ Jewelry from Seoul National University and an MFA in Furniture Design from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester NY.

His work explores materialities and traditional making process in contemporary context. He challenges the boundaries of functional objects and non-functional objects. Researching object making in history, he is finding new meanings and possibilities in making.
Currently, he is teaching a model making class in the Product Design program and a sculpture class in the Fine Art program.

Helen Quinn is a stylist, designer, and artist living in New York City. She has been an editor and prop stylist for television, magazines, and catalogs. Her experience with color, texture, and interiors has led her to design textiles as well as paint lines. She has taught Color Lab and has led workshops at Parsons/The New School for the Aftertaste series and for Michelle Obama's "Reach Higher" initiative at the White House. Silkscreening, drawing with gouache and more recently, ceramics are her media of choice.

Lucille Tenazas is a graphic designer and educator. She is the Henry Wolf Professor of Communication Design at Parsons School of Design where she is the Associate Dean in the School of Art, Media and Technology. Originally from Manila, the Philippines, she has taught and practiced in the United States since 1979, a trajectory that included living in San Francisco, New York and Rome, Italy. Her clients include Neue Galerie Museum for German and Austrian Art, Asia Society New York, Princeton Architectural Press, San Francisco International Airport and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Lucille was the national president of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), from 1996-98. In 2013, she was awarded the AIGA Medal, recognized for lifetime achievement in design. She received the National Design Award for Communication Design given by the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum in 2002. She has lectured and taught extensively here and abroad and has participated in numerous juries and design panels. She studied at California College of the Arts and received her MFA in Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art.

Abby worked with Healthy Materials Lab since its launch in May 2015. Abby oversaw HML's communication strategy, and manages the day-to-day operations of the Lab. She holds a MS in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from The New School (2017) and a BA in Pan-African Studies and Political Science from Drew University (2009).

Abby’s passion for social and environmental justice was sparked during a high school semester abroad in Cape Town, South Africa and has been fostered by her travel, education, and activism ever since. Her graduate research focused on waste reduction strategies in the commercial textile industry, and she is excited to incorporate that work at HML.

Addie Kramer is a graduate of the Parsons MFA Interior Design program. She has a long-held fascination with the impact of built environments on human wellbeing, and has grown increasingly passionate about the need for healthy constructed environments since beginning the program. Prior to moving to New York, Addie completed her BA in Art and Design at the University of Michigan, where she focused on fiber arts and completed a thesis project on the intersection of soft materials and childbirth.

Aidan grew up in Seattle and currently lives in New York City where he is an undergraduate architectural design student. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, has developed a deep love for the great outdoors. The geology, ecology and cultural traditions of the region have all influenced his beliefs about design and underscored in particular the profound meaning behind materials.

Working at the Healthy Materials Library, he is excited to learn more about new products and methods that are transforming design industries. He is interested in small scale design build projects, disaster relief interventions, and off the grid living. He loves the design process and all its challenges and insights.

Alie was born and raised in Portland, OR. She attended The University of Montana in Missoula where she received a bachelor’s in radio/television journalism. After graduating, she moved to Austin, TX where she worked as a graphic designer in the music industry. During this time, she became an avid cyclist and started working in transportation advocacy. This advocacy work led her to The New School to pursue an MS in Design and Urban Ecologies. Alie's thesis work focuses on uncovering the embodied experience of agency using feminist mapping techniques and podcasting.

Allison is a second year student in the Creative Writing MFA program at The New School for non-fiction. She has a BA in Philosophy, Language and Science from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico (2011). She is currently working on her thesis; a collection of essays about the ways people interact with nature and their social/cultural constructs. Outside of her work at The New School, Allison teaches Vinyasa yoga and meditation in Brooklyn, New York where she has come to further understand the essential role inhabiting a healthy environment plays for our physical and spiritual wellbeing.

Summer 2015

Amanda completed her MFA in Interior Design at Parsons The New School for Design in May 2015. Her thesis work aimed to deepen the relationship between people and physical space. Prior to beginning her education at Parsons she worked in several financial analysis roles, most recently as a Credit Analyst for Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. in St. Louis, MO and a Treasury Services Financial Analyst for JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Chicago, IL. She has a BSBA from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Spring 2016 - present

Amy holds a BFA in Integrated Design.

Aneri Shah is a designer and an artist interested in reducing carbon footprints through the development of textiles that could be efficiently and sustainably produced on a large manufacturing scale and affordable.

She is currently in her final year of the MFA Textiles program at Parsons where she is focusing on circular production and recycling of yarns and fabrics. She is working on producing textiles with the least use of water starting from hand-spinning her own yarn. She has done her B.Des in Fashion from the National Institute of Fashion Technology in India, where she has continuously worked on publishing documents to uplift and contemporize the indigenous crafts of her Indian heritage.

Angela is a designer and researcher of the constructed environment.  She is passionate about architecture as a collective tool that can foster relationships between humans and Nature, while creating places that reflect the unique conditions of their natural environment. 

Angela joined Healthy Materials Lab in August of 2022 after gaining experience with commercial interiors and workplace design.  She has contributed to multiple projects with the Lab, including the design and documentation of Indigenous Hemplime Housing in White Earth, Minnesota.  She has also helped with the creation of resources and presentations for lectures about material health and embodied carbon.  In grad school, Angela was a teaching assistant for the Parsons undergraduate architecture capstone studio, where she assisted students in developing design concepts and drawings.   Research, teaching, and writing are all essential components of her evolving practice.  

Angela has a Bachelor of Arts in interior design from Kent State University, and a Master of Architecture from Parsons School of Design.  Angela’s MArch thesis, “Toward a Buoyant City,” is an ongoing project that explores the potential of coastal architecture when water is acknowledged as the principal design agent.  

Anna is a 1st year graduate student in the MFA Fashion Design and Society Program at Parsons. She obtained her Honors Bachelors of Science in Apparel Design at Oregon State University. Within this program she worked part time as an Assistant Costume Designer for the University Theatre, and growing her love for crafts. Her designs have placed in the Fashion For All Competition in 2020 and gotten the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists Textile and Design Scholarship. Now in New York, she aspires to work with interdisciplinary designers and communities to solve problems concerning sustainability and social justice on a ground level. Anna is working towards creating a collaborative studio to teach people how to extend the life of their wardrobe and revive traditional sewing crafts. In her current design practice, she is experimenting with natural dyes and healing forms to target mental health needs.

Summer 2015

Aran is a designer, strategist, and urban practitioner with a Master’s of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies from Parsons School of Design. She is passionate about exploring the health impacts of our environments and creating greater awareness around environmental health. 

Aran also has an MFA in graphic design and a certificate in sustainable design from UC Berkeley. While living in San Francisco, Aran worked with architect and ecological design pioneer Sim Van der Ryn to research the relationship between health and building for his book Design for an Empathic World, published by Island Press in 2013. In addition to the Healthy Materials Lab, Aran’s current work focuses on the intersection of climate change, urbanism, and health. 

Ashley is a first-year graduate student in the Interior Design program at Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments. She earned her BA from the University of North Carolina where she majored in American Studies with an emphasis on Folklore and Historic Preservation. Before coming to Parsons, Ashley worked both as a Design Consultant and a Sales Rep for Sherwin-Williams, specializing in renovation and restoration in both residential and commercial properties.
Her work is continually influenced by her desire to explore the complex relationship between people and their environments, and experimenting with the perceived notions of what makes a “good” or “healthy” space for living, working, and playing.

August is a recent graduate from the Product Design & Interdisciplinary Science programs at the New School. Their educational focus is understanding health inequalities facing LGBT+, disabled and additional marginalized communities through sustainable, inclusive design and materiality. As a post-graduate researcher, they hope to continue exploring how to design healthier, equitable futures through their consulting work for socially sustainable aimed non-profits and B-Corps. Their work around community organizing has received GLSEN & PFLAG scholarships. 

Austin is a second-year Parson’s School of Design MFA Design & Technology student, video director, and editor.

Prior to coming to Parsons, Austin worked for VICE Media as a lead editor. Now, he is a freelance director working with brands such as Hilma and Dig Inn, shedding light on sustainable alternatives in food and wellness.

In his work and studies, Austin is focused on telling stories that will lead to a healthier future. He also is interested in how the materiality of technology can become more sustainable through design and storytelling.

Ava is a lifelong Brooklynite who grew up surrounded by the construction industry and is currently living in an active construction site. She’s both terrified and fascinated by all the Lab has begun to teach her about healthy building materials.

Before coming to Healthy Materials Lab Ava worked as an Administrative Coordinator at the Tenement Museum. A writer and storyteller, Ava is excited to work on narrative projects with the Lab, such as the upcoming podcast. She developed, coordinated, and wrote scripts for the Tenement Museum’s podcast, How to Be American, and she was also a production assistant on Dean & Deluca’s podcast, Prince Street. Her writing has been published in Little Patuxent Review, Literary Orphans, Soundings East, River River, and Santa Fe Writers Project.

Breanna Chin is a multidisciplinary designer interested in the intersection between the natural and built environment. She is currently in her fifth year pursuing a BA in Environmental Studies and a BFA in Product Design. Her work aspires to be thoughtful and considerate of available materials and its impact on people and the planet. Some of her work includes the use of reclaimed materials and various material explorations through the use of traditional crafting techniques. 

Breanna joined HML to take part in researching now and upcoming materials that can serve as alternatives to the harmful materials that are currently being used in the industry. She is excited to see more people becoming interested in having conscious designs that take into consideration the entire life cycle of a product. Her goal is to spread awareness about the possibilities and opportunities new healthy materials can have for the future of the planet.

Burgess is a media developer and urbanist from Macon, Georgia. He has a bachelor’s degree in Media Studies from Mercer University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism and a master’s degree in Theories of Urban Practice from Parsons School of Design at The New School. His background is in public radio and engagement focused journalism. As the Community Manager for Internews’ Listening Post Collective, he developed innovative journalism projects across the country aimed at better addressing the information needs of underserved communities. Now, as a researcher and podcast producer at the Lab, he uses storytelling to make material health accessible and relevant to a general audience. Through Trace Material, the Lab’s podcast, he seeks to uncover the ways the materials we surround ourselves with have shaped our culture, health, and environment.

Carey is a first-year graduate student in the Interior Design program at Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments. She earned her BA from the University of California Davis where she majored in Design and minored in Architecture History with a special emphasis on counterculture architecture. Prior to coming to Parsons, Carey worked for the non-profit Women in Animation as a project manager and helped support their efforts to bring greater equity to the animation industry. She also served as a research assistant on the book Zero Net Energy Case Study Homes: Volume 1.

In her work and studies, Carey’s focus is on individual and environmental well being. She is interested in the role of nostalgia and phenomenology in design, historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and creating spaces that foster human creativity while reducing our impact on the planet.

Christa Avampato is a writer, biomimicry scientist, and business leader based in New York City. She is thrilled to join the Healthy Materials Lab as a Researcher in strategic communications to combine her areas of expertise with her research on alternative materials to replace fossil fuel-based plastics. You can follow her never-ending curiosity on Twitter at @christanyc.

Christian Smirnow has received his BA and MA in Textile / Surface Design at weißensee Art Academy Berlin (Germany) with a specialization in innovation for constructed textiles / weaving. He is interested in the meaning of innovation for fashion and textiles, as cultural tools that communicate ecological and societal change. In his design studio SmirnowStudios, he creates “Textiles in Context” - textile-based conceptual designs that are academically well-informed, aesthetically appealing and socially relevant.Christian is currently a German Fulbright student in MFA Transdisciplinary Design (class of 2017) at the School of Design Strategies at Parsons School of Design (New York City). His focus lies on the sociological and sustainable responsibility of Design and designers on a systemic scale. Christian believes in Design as a leadership model for innovation and change and he aims to truly impact the future of strategic design development for organizations and communities. As part of a group of five designers, he recently won one the New Challenge innovation competition with “GoodFill”.
He has worked as the branding director of the student-led Transdisciplinary Design Conference VergeNYC. In Summer 2016, he is a fellow at Parsons Healthy Materials Lab, and he will be holding a teaching assistant position for “Innovation” in the Strategic Design and Management Program at Parsons in Fall 2016. He is also a recipient of the DESIS Design Fellowship 2016/17.

Claudia is an undergraduate student in the Schools of Public Engagement and works on HML educational materials. Her areas of interest include public space, community engagement, temporary environments and sound studies.

A former Habitat ReStore volunteer, DIY renovator, and 596 Acres intern, she has always been interested in how our spaces affect our well-being. She sees information on healthier materials, practices and products as an opportunity for better community stewardship and resident empowerment.

Summer 2015 - Fall 2015

Originally from San Clemente, California, Cory Saul has been living in New York for just over a year, and he is still overwhelmed. After graduating from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego with a BA in Writing, he spent a year living in rural Oregon, so life in the big city is a bit different from what he's used to.

Though he has a professional background in journalism, he is enrolled in The New School's MFA Creative Writing program as a writer of fiction. A lover of all things geeky, his current project is a sci-fi novel about queer superheroes. His other interests include cooking, tennis, sustainability, and cats.

An aspiring urbanist-artist-designer, Dani studied Architecture and Urban Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Her time at Samaj Pragati Sahayog, a non-governmental organization, was formative in furthering design thinking and grappling with the definition of ‘empowerment’, liberation, resource distribution, etc.; this opportunity allowed for engagement in thoughtful, intentional design processes that considered sustainability, accessibility, and waste with a talented team of designers & local producers. Through a constant rooting/unrooting process, she finds herself continuously drawn to the complex nature of urban environments (Mexico City, Houston, Philly, NYC), and hopes to further delve into environmental justice, combating climate grief, resiliency, collective vs. individual healing and expression.

Danni is a master design student currently studying at the MFA Transdisciplinary Design at Parsons School of Design. She comes from the background of visual communication and currently works at the intersection of design-led research, digital design, and humanities. As a multidisciplinary designer, Danni is passionate about going beyond design and understanding complex systems behind human interactions. Through her research and study at Parsons, Danni hopes to bring a sense of warmth and human touch to everyday experience through human-centered products, services, and digital design.

Summer 2016 - present

Darcy Bender is a designer, maker, and researcher based in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Her work aims to understand how systems affect people at multiple scales and communicates their relationships through maps, guided tours, print media, workshops, exhibitions, and data visualizations. She studied architecture at University of Oregon and recently graduated from the Design and Urban Ecologies program at Parsons where she designed projects addressing systems of affordable housing, community participation, mass incarceration, climate change, and waste infrastructure. She has experience working in city government, affordable housing construction, retail display, and museum education. 

Summer 2015 - present

Fall 2015 - present

With extensive study in the natural sciences, Diedre Brown is passionate about comprehending the 'anatomy and physiology' of all things. To her, the world is a minefield of potential research and analysis topics, and she finds pure delectation in the interconnectivity of diverse materials, subjects, and philosophies.

As a graduate architecture student at Parsons, Diedre applies biochemical models and the integration of living organisms to address issues in the built environment.

Dinky is a graduate student at Parsons School of Design in the Strategic Design and Management program. She received her Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design, from India with a minor in Public Spaces. She has interdisciplinary experience earned at a number of purpose-driven organizations. Dinky was previously a Design Innovator and Researcher, focusing on circular business strategies, furniture, interior design, and research in recycled packaging, food, the built environment, accessories, and textiles.

She is passionate about upcycling and recycling materials, likes to think and act in cycles, and is motivated by in-depth research and hands-on experience. Her passion for circular design and sustainable practices drives her to be a design doer, where her thrifty abilities create distinctive yet functional products. This spurred her to join HML in order to further her studies and advance her areas of specialization. Her recent work investigates re-use, repurpose, and building usable spaces and stories that contradict traditional space design standards.

Summer 2015 - present

Drew is a director and designer who is happy to be working as the videographer for the Healthy Affordable Materials Project.  His training is in theatrical directing, telling stories and crafting narratives throughout the NYC downtown theater scene.  He has worked extensively in film as well, both as an independent documentary filmmaker and as a cameraman for Works and Process at The Guggenheim Museum.  There he has filmed on-stage and behind the scenes for productions of the Metropolitan Opera, The New York City Ballet, The Juilliard School, Playwrights Horizons, and the Santa Fe Opera as well as special art projects for Carrie Mae Weems, Christopher Wool, and Richard Hell.  Now as a Master's candidate in Design and Urban Ecologies at Parsons, Drew is exercising his storytelling to visualize the progress of social and environmental justice projects in the urban context.

Elinor Salomon is a designer, artist and researcher based in Amsterdam. Elinor is currently pursuing her MA at The Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague, at the Non-Linear Narrative Program. She wrote her thesis on narratives of expansions: resources, ethics and body politics in the new space race; Her current research deals with spectacular visual evidence - how the contamination of the skies interferes with civilians and the astronautical research community. Her experience as a designer includes working with cultural institutions, art academies, independent creatives and sustainable retail initiatives.

Eric Hu received his Bachelor of Fine Arts for Architectural Design from Parsons School of Design in 2021. He was awarded the Sustainable Visions Award for his Senior Capstone project, which also won the Healthy Material Lab’s Role Model 2021 Competition. He has a keen interest in architecture, history, sustainability, urban design, and healthy materiality, and is inspired to solve problems through design to build a healthier and more equitable world.

Eve is a designer, researcher, and communications strategist. She holds a BFA in Product Design from Parsons School of Design and was the recipient of the 2018 Parsons Product Design Sustainable Vision Award. She is currently completing her MA in Strategic Design and Management; also at Parsons School of Design. Her work in professional & educational settings has focused on the intersection of design, environmental justice, and communication strategy.

Felicity is a Creative Writing MFA Candidate at The New School. She is also the Editor for The Inquisitive Eater and the Digital Strategist for Barbershop Books. Along with the websites for Healthy Materials Lab and Barbershop Books, her writing has been published on The New School Blog and Enchantress Magazine, where she was also an editor. Felicity enjoys writing in all forms. Along with writing articles, she also writes short stories and conducts interviews. She is currently working on a novel and a screenplay.

Gabriel Lee is a multidisciplinary designer and artist. In their graphic design practice, they focus on storytelling for social change, complementing stories with data visualization to clearly communicate messages and create impact. Their art explores transgender identity and relationality, alienation, and the subjectivity, strangeness, and beauty of embodiment through organic forms, monstrousness, and expressive fragments of the body. They try to operate with rigor and delight in every detail of their work.

Gabriel is a Design and Technology MFA candidate at Parsons School of Design and received their BA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Spring 2015 - present

Born to an Armenian family in Beirut Lebanon, Gamar received her BS in Landscape Design and Ecosystem Management from the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 2005. She also taught landscape design studios at AUB and EARTH University Costa Rica from 2007 through 2009. In 2008, Gamar co-founded Atelier Hamra with Maha Issa; a landscape architecture office in Beirut. She is currently continuing her MS in Urban Design at AUB, and an MS in Design and Urban Ecologies at Parsons School of Design in New York City. Gamar is also pursuing a parallel passion as a Jazz singer. 

Grant works at the intersection of Design and Science. Growing up in New York, Grant felt man’s dominance over nature. Contrastingly, his years in British Columbia’s forests, revealed nature’s power over the built world. These contrasting living experiences have catalyzed Grant’s mission of harmonizing the industrial and natural worlds.

Courses with the Biomimicry Institute inspired Grant’s practice of emulating survival adaptations in nature for our human design challenges. Attending the Parsons School of Design shifted Grant’s sustainable design approach from integrating nature with purely mechanical applications into products that engage meaningful behaviors.

As a board member of the New York’s chapter of the Industrial Designers of America, Grant advocates for the cross disciplinary future of design. He is pursuing a design and science cross pollination as a New Lab @ Science Sandbox Fellow of the Simons Foundation.

Hana is entering her second year in the MFA Interior Design program at Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments. Hana has a professional background in the film world, working at Canadian documentary film production company Mercury Films Inc., and the Toronto International Film Festival. Her research on documentaries like Anthropocene: The Human Epoch left her contemplating our built environment’s impact on the planet, and inspired her to return to school. In her design education, Hana is focusing on exploring issues of health and wellbeing, sustainability and urban justice through the interior space. She has joined HML to continue researching healthier, sustainable and affordable materials to help reduce our negative impact on the planet and build a more equitable future.

Ijeoma S. Nwatu a marketer turned freelance writer and editor. She’s worked in various marketing and communications roles for startups, nonprofits, and local government. Her contributions to the Healthy Materials Lab lie at the intersections of media, social justice, and community. When she’s not eating Nigerian rice and stew, she’s taking a walk, reading, or watching a documentary.

Originally from Westchester, NY, Irshaad is a second-year graduate student in the Master’s of Architecture program at Parsons School of Design. She received her Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Kent State University in August of 2015 and remained in the area to work with a firm designing affordable housing for the following two years. She has specific interests in the organic environment's influence on architecture, as well as the ways in which cultures and cultural diversity can impact architectural design. Irshaad aims to contribute to the thoughtful intentionality that becomes healthy and affordable living environments.

Isabella Krebs is a fourth-year dual-degree student studying Architecture (BFA) and Urban Studies (BA). Her main passions lie in the study of urban ecology and urban systems, and how cities can become more resilient. Growing up abroad, she had the privilege to live and visit many different types of urban environments -- from modern, mega-cities in Asia to historical cities in Europe. Healthier materials, material life cycles, and sustainability remain at the forefront of Isabella’s studies as she dives deeper into these topics.

Prior to her time at the library, Isabella worked for Professor Brian McGrath, assisting him in his research of four villages in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The project explored the meta-city and urban form in Chiang Mai, which is a concept that has also become one of her focal interests. Additionally, she collaborated with a multi-agency research team including the Mayor’s Office of Resiliency, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and NYC Parks and Recreation, that monitors and evaluates the efficiency of urban heat mitigation strategies installed in heat vulnerable neighborhoods in NYC. The project calculated the shade effect of New York City’s street trees to explore the relationship between tree shade and radiant temperature.

Jack Dinning is a designer and research strategist committed to making healthier environments for vulnerable populations, specifically through the elimination of toxic building materials.  As Director of the Donghia Healthier Materials Library, he led educational initiatives aimed at making concepts of material-health and toxicology more approachable to designers, providing frameworks for evaluating materials and their environmental impacts, and advised on architectural strategies for “designing-out” potential hazards. Through collaborations with firms such as LTL Architects and Bernheimer Architecture, his work advocates for the populations most vulnerable to exposures, from young children who are likely at critical stages of development to seniors in affordable housing who may have already faced a lifetime of exposures.

Jack holds a B.A. in Architectural Studies from Middlebury College and a Masters in Architecture from Parsons School of Design.

Summer 2016 - present

Jennifer June is a graduate of Parsons double MFA Interior and Lighting Design program. Before moving to New York she studied Printmaking at the Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland Oregon. Translating her love of surface design she opened a successful interior design business, Hermitage, that specialized in bespoke hand printed wallpaper.  Most recently, her interest in craft and design led her to work on a collaborative project with Donna Karan’s Urban Zen in Haiti connecting Haitian artisans to a central design studio and global marketplace.

Jennifer is excited to join the Healthy Materials Lab where she can continue to pursue her passion in community health and social engagement through the tools of design.

Jonathan is a designer and creative from Houston, Texas. Jonathan’s interest in material science and healthy materials initially developed during while pursuing his undergraduate degree at The University of Houston where he studied Interior Architecture. After graduating in 2015, issues of health and the built environment remained a central motive for Jonathan as a designer, playing a key role in his decision to pursue his M.Arch at the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons in the Fall of 2016. Jonathan’s work as a student and student researcher since joining The Healthy Materials Lab has continued to address and interrogate the human health, planned adaptation, and cross - generational sustainability of the built environment.

An aspiring multidisciplinary designer, Jordan is a second-year graduate student in the Industrial Design program at Parsons School of Constructive Environments. She earned her BFA in Graphic Design and Visual Communications from the University of Florida in 2019. Her curiosity stems from her eagerness to continue learning and challenge existing design ideas.

Jordan’s interests lie in the advancement of technology and its potential applications to current system infrastructures. At present, she interested in learning new strategies that disrupt conventional design thinking in the transportation industry as it relates to healthier practices. Jordan seeks to continue exploring and adopting ways in which we can design healthier equitable futures.

Summer 2016 - present

Julia Borowicz is an urbanist with experience in community planning and non profit social justice work. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto in Urban Studies, Human Geography and Political Science. She has worked with a number of organizations whose constituents include: women who have experienced violence, recent immigrants filing human rights claims and underserved communities and youth. She worked to deliver their mandate, while also addressing these issues through a systemic lens in the form of research and community development. She has recently graduated from the MA Theories of Urban Practice at Parsons, The New School for Design. Her current endeavors as an urbanist are centered on critical design interventions that engage with issues of difference and challenge systemic exclusion of the public in urban processes. Julia is excited to expand her work to include developing and communicating strategies that can transform the building industry for a healthier environment for all. 

Julieta Gaitan is a Colombian textile biodesigner. She stands out in biomaterials, textile printing, and natural dyes. Her practice focuses on sustainability and material exploration, and she is passionate about imperfections found in natural changes and processes. One of her primary motivations is to reduce ecological damage caused by the textile industry. For her undergraduate thesis, she developed Wuasi, a project investigating the potential of microscopic organisms where she dyed fabrics with fungi resulting in unique prints. As a graduate student, she is now exploring bioplastics and how to integrate them into textiles. By being part of the Healthy Materials Lab, she looks forward to expanding her knowledge of sustainable materials and continuing her material exploration looking for alternatives to textile waste and synthetic colorants that harm the environment.

Julieta is a Textile MFA candidate at Parsons School of Design and did her undergraduate in the Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá.

Juliette is a current 2nd year graduate student in the MFA Industrial Design Program. She focuses on the intersection of science and design, with an emphasis on environmental and human health. Juliette holds a bachelor of Biomedical Sciences and a master in Neurosciences from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and is interested in integrating more health research into design practices.

Spring 2015 - present

Larissa graduated from the Architectural Association in Architecture in 2010, and completed a Master’s in Theories of Urban Practice at Parsons School of Design, The New School.

Her passion for housing and sustainable development started in Santiago, Chile where she worked for an emergency housing organization SELAVIP. This was further complemented by participating in an urban research project in Havana, Cuba focussed on a community lead environmental project for long term economic and social development. She then practiced as a Lead Designer for three years in London, at Feilden Fowles Architects, a studio driven by sustainable design practices and primarily working on educational projects. Her latest work has focussed on concepts of belonging and alternative notions of citizenship that engender a more just, representative and participatory democracy. She sees urbanism and development as fields encompassing many interrelated components, each playing a fundamental role in achieving a safe and healthy environment for all those within them. Larissa is excited to further her research and have the opportunity to impact the ecosystem around the building industry through the Healthy Materials Lab.

Lila is a rising senior at Beacon High School, in the Hudson Valley. She plans to major in biology and environmental sciences in college, as helping to create a more sustainable Earth is a priority for her. In 2020, she co-founded a 501(c)3 nonprofit known as Growth for Green which focuses on establishing an amplification of youth voices through social and environmental justice education. Co-founding Growth for Green has allowed her to use her voice for positive change. In fall of 2020, she then interned at StudentPIRGs (Student Public Interest Research Groups), where she worked on the WhenWeAllVote campaign, contacting universities and colleges to increase youth representation in the 2020 elections. As a student still in high school with a very fast moving world around her, Lila has become increasingly interested in the use of sustainable design and the amplification of voices from under-resourced communities.

Summer 2015 - present

Lindsey Dieter is an Alberta native, currently residing in New York City. She was trained as a contemporary-ballet dancer and has performed across Canada and the United States. She holds a bachelor of Kinesiology with a minor in Fine Arts from the University of Calgary and is interested in the intersection of human health and design. 

Lindsey is currently completing a Master of Fine Arts in Interior and Lighting Design at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City. Her latest work focuses on the impact of the built environment on physical movement and human health.

Logan Frances is a fourth-year BAFA student studying Communications Design and Literary Studies (Writing). Her work in both design and writing centers aesthetics, music, and cultural practices as resistance, particularly in Black communities throughout the US. In her time in New York thus far, she has worked for several student groups and independent projects, heading design, creative direction, and research/archiving. Outside of her studies, Logan is interested in multi-disciplinary projects and collaborations, music production, and creating free educational programming.

Kaitlin Teng is a young artist from Queens, New York, and is currently a first-year undergraduate student at the Parsons School of Design. They previously attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Arts and Performing Arts in New York City where they majored in Fine Arts. They were extremely involved in Key Club for all four years of high school, an international community service club, as part of their design & outreach committee. In this position, they helped manage the club’s social media account as well as create posters and graphics to raise awareness and advertise various current issues. Their current areas of interest include illustration, graphic design, and visual storytelling. They hope to pursue a career related to outreach, technology, and design. By being part of the Healthy Materials Lab, they are looking forward to educating themselves on the topic of sustainable housing and getting involved in the community.

Maanasa is a graduate student at Parsons School of Design. She is a formally trained Architect turned Design Strategist. She aims to develop her career at the intersection of public sector innovation, strategic design, and technology. Before joining The New School, Maanasa worked for Indian Institute for Human Settlements(IIHS, Bangalore) as an Architect. One of the projects she worked on, as a part of IIHS, was a Healthcare Infrastructure Guideline Book for the Government of Karnataka, India. Public health centers across the state used the guide-book to design-build Primary Health centers without having to invest in architects or developers for each project eventually helping cut costs. As a design strategist, Manasa's passion lies in creating economically feasible design solutions for the growing problems that cities face.

Summer 2015 - Fall 2015

Marcea graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science, and completed a Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies at Parsons The New School For Design. Originally from the arid desert of Phoenix, Arizona, Marcea moved to New York City in 2013 to pursue research interests surrounding design, digital knowledges, media & culture.

Marcea spends her time as part-time faculty at Eugene Lang Liberal Arts College, The New School, as well as a freelance graphic designer & consultant. With Healthy Materials Lab, Marcea strategizes, designs, and implements communication/outreach and social media campaigns. Her other interests include vegan baking, playing video games, experimenting with her Raspberry Pi, illustrating cartoons, and 3D printing.

Mariana Gonzalez is currently studying the second year of the M.F.A. Transdisciplinary Design program at Parsons School of Design. Her academic background is Innovation and Design Engineering minoring in Operations management, while her professional experience is product engineering, project management, graphic design and interior design.

She is highly interested in exploring the role of designers in environmental and social challenges, and how as designers can create awareness, engagement, and allow consumers and other designers to make ethical and responsible choices by facilitating information in a meaningful way. She particularly enjoys getting to know different cultures, perspectives and also to understand people's motivations, frustrations, needs, and desires.

Fall 2015 - present

Marina is a recent graduate from the MFA Interior and Lighting Design at Parsons. Before moving to New York she lived in São Paulo, Brazil, where she received her bachelor's degree in Cinema, and worked with Production Design for many years.

Marina always had a strong interest on how to combine storytelling and narrative with design. Materials have been performing an important role on her work as one of the main characters that act on the building environment

Currently collaborating with other designers in New York City, Marina is also a research fellow at the Healthy Materials Lab.

Meleah Moore is a writer, editor, and communicator working in Brooklyn, New York. She holds an M.A in Sustainable Development from the University of St Andrews where her studies centered on climate governance and environmental design. Her thesis focused on procedural injustice for citizens dealing with fracking development in her home state of Ohio. Post-graduation, she moved to Kanpur, India to work with a social enterprise up-cycling floral waste into biomaterials using mycelium.

Her interests are at the intersection of environmental health, human well-being, and visual communication. She has produced and filmed a documentary about coffee production as a form of climate adaptation in rural Nepal, worked in photo and design for multiple social impact organizations in South Asia, and led communications for VisionSpring, a global non-profit providing affordable eyeglasses. Outside of work, Meleah is a writer of short fiction and a part-time vegetable farmer.

Michelle Huynh Chu works in strategic communications at Parsons Healthy Materials Lab, after holding research and teaching positions at Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, Columbia University, and the Museum of Modern Art.

Focusing on modernity in the context of architectural and media history, Chu’s research examines the ambiguities of faith and reason, the mediating presence of technology, and the role of design as a process and product. Subjects of her academic writing vary from postwar urban decay & renewal to modern garden design, climate change, and scientific research of the late Victorian-era, particularly its effect on contemporaneous culture.

She holds an MA in Art History from Columbia University, and a BA in History and a BFA in Film from New York University.

Meryl Smith is a New York City based architectural designer and researcher. She began working with the Lab as a Student Research Assistant on projects focusing on the implementation of healthy materials (ie. PA Hemp Home, Material Health Goals for Affordable Housing with Citizen HKS and Elder Housing in White Earth, MN). Now, as a Researcher at the Lab, she is a key member of the architectural team and helps bring designs to life without sacrificing the material health goals of each project. Meryl grew up in Upstate New York, in an affordable and sustainable home designed and built by her parents in 1998, so challenging the norms of architecture and construction in order to make responsible design decisions is something that she deeply believes in. 

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from University of Colorado Denver (‘17) and Master of Architecture from Parsons School of Design (‘21). Prior to grad school, she worked as a designer at architecture firms in Denver, CO which specialized in Healthcare Design and Planning for rural communities.

Miranda is a graduate student in the Interior Design program at Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments. She earned her BA from Hanover College where she majored in psychology and minored in studio art. She became interested in material health after the diagnosis of her grandfather’s cancer that was attributed to chemical exposure in his woodshop. She studied alternative wood stains and finishes and her current work is looking at healthier composite wood products.

In her studies, Miranda is exploring the connection between human behavior and the built environment. She is most interested in ways to promote pro-environmental behaviors through design and to consult with design professionals about healthier and more sustainable practices.

Summer 2015 - Spring 2016

Mochi Liu is a Chinese American designer, artist and craftsman. His aesthetics heavily reference both Eastern and Western cultures. His works range from origami art installation at the White House to design-build pavilion in a New York City park. He is devoted to socially responsible design and helping others explore their own creativity. 

Prior to moving to New York City, Mochi Liu was employed with DiMella Shaffer, an architectural firm in Boston for four years. During this time he participated in various affordable housing, nursing home, senior housing and sustainable campus projects.

Mochi Liu received the Parsons Design Fellowship, launched by Parsons and the Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Foundation in 2015. He worked with the artisans in Haiti and helped to create The Design, Organization, Training Center (D.O.T), a nonprofit organization that bridges Haiti’s traditional artisan techniques with the modernity and design innovation needed to succeed in today’s global marketplace.

He received a Bachelor of Engineering in Urban Planning from Southeast University in 2008 and a Master of Architecture with honors from Parsons School of Design.

Nada is a graduate student at the MS in Strategic Design & Management program at the Parsons School of Design. She is trained as an interior designer and has worked for the global consultancy firm Dar Al-Handasah on a variety of mega-scale projects, including mixed-use developments, hotels, embassies, and areas of worship. Nada is also co-founder of Film My Design (FMD), a Cairo-based startup that highlights the Egyptian design story through film. Through her practice and studies, Nada is working to understand the interdisciplinary nature of design, and how that can be used to positively impact the built environment. In addition, she is particularly interested in the intersection between design and culture; specifically the impact of these two elements on countries, cities, and their resulting design scenes.

Nidhi Pugalia left the best coast and landed in New York to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing at The New School. She's an ardent reader, writer, and puppy lover hoping to leave her literary mark in the world. She's currently working on her first novel.

Healthy Materials Lab has opened a whole new venue of writing for her and a new interest in healthy living. She's passionate about articulating meaningful stories about driven people - and that's exactly what she's found at HML.

Noa is a Masters of Architecture candidate at the Parsons School of Constructed Environments. She received her Bachelor of Arts at Tulane University in New Orleans where she studied studio arts and business marketing. Her undergraduate thesis work investigated materiality, texture and their link to memory. Her history in cross disciplinary interrogation of the materials that make up our built environment inform her current interests as a designer.

In her work at Parsons, Noa has experimented with mycelium as a building material and the potential for various agricultural waste products to serve as substrates for mycelium products. She continues to explore bio-based building materials and techniques in her design practice at a range of scalar explorations.

Noa’s professional experience in the design industry has highlighted the importance of literacy around material health across disciplines, and she’s passionate about continuing to fuse this work with her professional practice.

Olivia is a research assistant for the Lab’s podcast, Trace Material, and a graduate student in the Schools of Public Engagement, where she studies media and documentary. She is particularly interested in social movements, climate change, and how pop culture shifts social narratives. She graduated from Belmont University in 2017 with a BBA in Music Business, and has worked in music streaming strategy & television production. She co-hosts her own weekly climate storytelling podcast, and intends to pursue more creative projects that meld climate justice and entertainment.

Pavithra is a second-year graduate student at the Parsons School of Design. Her focus before arriving in the United States was in Visual Communication. She is a multimedia designer with professional experience in digital marketing, graphic design, photography, and, interactive design. 

Through her studies and work, she explores inclusive and safe digital spaces, digital equality, emerging technology and the relationship between humans and machines through a design process of rigorous research, prototyping, iteration, and collaboration. She aims to investigate and tackle challenges at the convergence of design and technology to create positive social and environmental impact.

Perri is a First Year in Parson's School of Constructed Environment's Interior Design Program and has a dual-major Bachelors in International Business + Film and Media studies. With nearly a decade of experience in big-budget TV production and development, Perri's passion for storytelling has evolved to the world off-screen by designing spaces with the power to tell stories and bring people together. Focused on the health and lifecycles of materials and inspired by nature's method of recycling, Perri aims to create spaces that foster positivity for all entities involved. She's joined HML to help further their efforts in developing a path to healthier living through responsible design.

Currently, Quincy is in the M.Arch and MFA Lighting Design dual degree program at Parsons' Schools of Constructed Environments. With an architectural design background, Quincy obtained his Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies, Certificate of Urban Planning, and Certificate of Cultures and Communities all from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Quincy’s passion in the design field lies within awareness and outreach of the architecture profession (and related fields) to communities of color—specifically youth of color. While attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Quincy joined the student organization, NOMAS (National Organization of Minority Architecture Students), to further empower other students of color in the architecture profession. Then, upon graduating, Quincy furthered this venture by joining the Wisconsin State chapter of NOMA (National Organization of Minority Architects).

In addition to architectural design, Quincy’s interests fall across the whole spectrum of fine arts and utilizes the skills from architectural design thinking, photography, videography, music, and dance in various forms of activism, awareness, and innovation.

Sam Bennett is an ethnographer, maker, and designer with expertise in the fields of space and objects. She believes in slow research that minimally impacts our planet and advocates for human well-being. Currently, her own research focuses on consumerism, accumulation, and repair of objects. You can find her investigating people’s relationships to objects in the domestic space, making with mycelium and discarded materials, repairing meaningful artifacts, and running Clever/Slice, a global space to share in-progress creative work. Past collaborators include DonateNYC, Perkins+Will, SITU, Colony Co-op, and Martha Stewart Living. She received an MFA in Interior Design from Parsons and a BFA in Textile Design and Art History from the University of Kansas. Sam also teaches at Parsons, Pratt Institute, and New Jersey Institute of Technology in the Interior Design and Industrial Design departments. In her free time, she darns and writes letters on one of her five typewriters.

Spring 2015 - Summer 2016

Sara grew up in Brooklyn, New York and completed her BA at McGill University, Montreal, with a major in Anthropology and minor in Cultural Studies. Upon graduation she moved to London, UK where she worked in the fashion and textile industries. As Director of a luxury textile design company based in Central London, she recognized the potential that small scale urban manufacturing has for enriching the city’s economic diversity. Sara returned to New York for a masters degree at Parsons the New School for Design the Theories of Urban Practice. As a native New Yorker, she is dedicated to working towards a future that ensures a vibrant, diverse and sustainable environment for generations to come.  This passion extends to her work at The Healthy Materials Lab researching how healthier environments are possible in the context of affordable housing industry. 

Sarah Burns is an artist and designer who embraces collaborative and humanistic practices. Sarah is deeply interested in the built environment and has explored it through a variety of mediums ranging from dance to experimental on-site constructions. She is the co-founder of an aesthetic collective called TOTALE A/C, the co-founder and co-editor of WOPOZI arts newspaper and the founder of an experimental painting project called Fruit Party Painting Company. She received her MFA in Interior Design from the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons The New School in New York, NY in 2017 after receiving her BFA in Sculpture from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN in 2010. When she isn’t collaborating she writes, makes art and other architectural interventions from an apartment in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. 

Sheetza is a MArch student at Parsons’ School of Construction Environments. She earned her HBA in Architectural Studies specializing in Design, with a Minor in Anthropology from the University of Toronto. Her practice is focused on affordable housing – seeing it as an anchor for social and climate justice. In addition to this design focus, Sheetza is passionate about pushing the industry to be more transparent in sharing expertise. She believes that making holistic collaboration accessible can help shift projects to actively care for and heal the complex and vital realities of structural vulnerabilities.

Professionally, Sheetza has worked in research, development, and design roles at various scales. Most recently, she worked as a designer in Vancouver where she specialized in remote residential projects on the islands and northern regions of British Columbia.

Sheetza joined HML to expand and challenge her academic and professional pursuits. She is excited about the possibilities low-impact and healthy construction practices have on the efficiency, affordability, circularity, and resilience of our critical spaces.

shirin anlen is an award-winning creative technologist and experience designer with a decade of experience collaborating with studios and talents in developing story-driven projects. Her artistic practice involves creative coding, interaction design, drawings, and data research that form the basis for real-life storytelling in emerging technologies. She is motivated to join the lab and create meaningful content that can empower and engage communities.

Shreya is a graduate student in the MFA Interior Design at Parsons School of Design. As a practicing Architect in India, she had the opportunity to collaborate with local craftspeople and designers on historic conservation and adaptive reuse projects, where she nurtured an interest in both traditional and alternative building materials and techniques. For her, this experience highlighted the importance of contextual relevance in determining the optimal material responses, to craft environmentally responsive and resilient structures.

As a detail-oriented and hands-on designer, her MFA journey enabled her to explore closed-loop processes for bio soil remediation through spatial design interventions, where she explored the application of plant-based materials. This immersive exploration deepened her understanding of the intricate interplay between materials, environmental dynamics, and human health impacts. Subjects she aspires to educate herself more about while working and growing as a designer at HML.

Summer is an MFA student in the Interior Design program at Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments. She earned her BA from Barnard College, Columbia University in Urban Studies and Sociology. At Barnard, her thesis research focused on the lived experience and impact of historic neighborhood transition in her native Boston. Summer continues to be fascinated by the influence of the micro and macro built environments on the everyday lives of humans, especially in urban settings, and believes material health is at the core of this reciprocal relationship. At Parsons, Summer is enjoying exploring histories and futures of ornamentation and taste at the intersection of low-impact, accessible design. She is excited to further her design research and advocacy of healthier materials through her work with the Lab.

Susannah is a current 4th year student in the BFA Product Design Program. By bringing a human-centric design approach to material research, Susannah focuses on the lifecycle of products. Through the lense of human health, environmental impact, and economy, she enjoys developing engaging products. In her free time, she makes jewelry and knits - ask about her recent wool-concrete experiments! Susannah works to combine the tactile nature of materials with user experience design.

tina lê was born in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyaang (Montreal) on unceded and contested land to the Kanien’kehá:ka and Anishinaabe Nations. They are double-majoring in Art History-Studio Arts and Philosophy at Concordia University. Their research-creation explores the antinomy of absence and presence, invisible labor, diasporic debt and alternative modes of drawing as extensions of the body through language, fibers and textiles, video, performance, and sound art. Invested in collaborative approaches, their practice delves into personhood, intersubjectivity, agency, and responsibility to investigate what it means to exist in an increasingly fraught and globalized world.

Summer 2016 - present

Thanos Stathopoulos is currently a graduate student in Strategic Design & Management at Parsons School of Design. He holds his undergraduate degree in Architectural Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens as well as a Masters of Philosophy in Architecture & Philosophy. He has a background in management consulting, working with individuals one-on-one to increase their effectiveness and designing new tools, which support clients in producing superior results.

Prior to consulting, Thanos worked for years as an architect in several firms as well as a freelancer focusing on large scale projects and project management. For two seasons, he was the producer and host of his own T.V. program, Urban Landscapes. He is passionate about design, whether it be objects, buildings, projects or systems. His main interest is "design strategy" as a systemic approach for innovation.

Vic is a fifth year dual-degree student studying Fine Arts (BFA) and “Art and the Mind” (BA in Liberal Arts). They have been working with the Donghia healthier Materials Library since the orientation week of their freshman year, which has deeply informed their relationship to materiality within their art practice. Lately, their favorite material is dirt, and one could describe their studio as smelling “earthy.”

Vic also works to support youth making art through Beam and the Art Annex. They volunteer regularly at the Dream House and love putting the chickens to bed at the Bushwick City Farm.

Multidisciplinary designer, artist, and a creative mind. Graduated with MA in Interior design in 2018 in Warsaw, Poland. Currently a first-year graduate student in the Industrial Design program at Parsons School of Constructive Environment. My main focus as a human and as a designer is a sustainability and material innovation. In my creations, I am trying to stay conscious and aware of environmental impact. Bio-materials explorations are not only my passion but also a mission of changing the way in which nowadays people perceive design. As a Fulbright Scholar and the Absolvent of Michaelangelo Foundation "Young Ambassador” program, I would like to bring attention to the craft and the process of production. I have studied, worked, and gather experience by living in Warsaw, Munich, Lisbon, Copenhagen, Venice, Shanghai, and Zhengzhou. It's time for New York. Materials Matter!

Summer 2016 - present

Winnie is a graphic designer, illustrator and design strategist previously based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Design Honours degree from the York University/Sheridan College Joint Program in Design (YSDN), where she was awarded the Dean’s Prize for Excellence along with numerous accolades for her work. Today, she is pursuing an MFA in Transdisciplinary Design at Parsons School of Design in New York City.

Winnie is interested in examining the social boundaries that separate us, and how design can ultimately transform human experiences. She thinks it is important to acknowledge self-reflexivity, and draw meaning and inspiration from one’s cultural, historical and family ties. In joining the team at Healthy Materials Lab, Winnie hopes to explore how visual communication and storytelling can be used to inspire transparency and promote agency in the affordable housing and building industry. 

Summer 2015

Alexandra Venner (Zanny) reigns from the city of Vancouver on the West Coast of Canada.  Her move across the boarder from the West Coast to the East Coast has now placed her to enter her final thesis year in the Master of Science Design and Urban Ecologies Program at Parsons. Her thesis ahead lies in Latin America with an Ecuadorian context on territorial injustices.

Over all, Zanny is motivated by big mountains, people, and the processes of city-making. As a young woman balancing a rich city life with never-ending mountain invitations, Zanny is learning to find a way to let adventure, education and work coalesce and resonate into a single way of seeing and acting in the world. The life she lives, as an elite athlete, urban practitioner, and backcountry traveler, is her launching point.