2023 Class of Fellows, Sharon Deep-Nelson, Alabama Chapter
Former City Landscape Architect, Hoover, AL
With over twenty-five years of local government service and over ten years of experience in design and land development, Sharon Deep-Nelson has inspired, guided, and significantly influenced landscape architecture in Alabama and adjacent states. Sharon's creative solutions and advocacy for the profession have transformed how engineers, architects, government officials, and developers view landscape architects and best practices for sustainability, land preservation, and conservation. As the first city landscape architect for fast-growing Hoover, Alabama, she developed a program to implement a new Landscape and Tree Conservation Ordinance and set the standard for other cities. She designed and managed a variety of public projects, including planning, development, and management for park renovations, playgrounds, and gateway designs; retrofitting sidewalks in older communities; and promoting accessibility and universal design. Her work protecting and restoring Moss Rock Preserve (MRP), an in-city 250-acre (now 349-acre) nature preserve, resulted in saving an incredible, environmentally diverse preserve of rock outcroppings, waterfalls, rare plant species, and a rare sandstone glade and has been much lauded and appreciated. In 2005, Sharon was tapped to become the state ASLA president and revive the chapter and in short order, she and the then-president of Mississippi ASLA conceived a new annual conference called ""AL&MS ASLA Twin States Conference" to provide high quality, affordable continuing education. Recently retired, Sharon continues to keep landscape architecture in the forefront through volunteering and actively participating on civic commissions and professional and nonprofit boards.
