Essay by JRS Junior Designer Emiley Switzer-Martell Featured in Ground Quarterly

Posted January 20, 2026

In “Inherited Ground: Generational Memory and the Landscape of Sudbury,” featured in Issue 70 of Ground: Landscape Architect Quarterly, JRS Junior Designer Emiley Switzer-Martell examines processes of repair, attentiveness to land, and placekeeping in the aftermath of environmental degradation in her home city of Sudbury, Ontario.

Drawing on her thesis research at the University of Toronto, the essay reflects on environmental recovery and the role of memory in shaping future stewardship. As Switzer-Martell writes, “…to plant a tree in scorched soil was not just environmental, it was a quiet wager on the future that life could return even where it had been erased.” Weaving together personal and environmental histories, the piece argues that understanding the past is an essential part of placekeeing and restoration.

Ground is the official publication of the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA). Read the full issue online here: https://issuu.com/oalagroundmagazine/docs/ground-69_70_-_chirp_and_placekeeping?fr=xKAE9_zU1NQ