Shannon recently joined the Invercargill City Council as a Policy Planner within their Resource Management team. Shannon is a Registered Landscape Architect and Urban Designer with 12 years of experience in planning and design in Western Canada. She moved to New Zealand last year to join her kiwi partner on his high-country sheep station in Western Southland. 

Shannon completed both her degrees (Bachelor of Environmental Design and Master of Landscape Architecture) at the University of Manitoba.  In between her degrees she started her career as a planner with the Government of Alberta, later followed by a decade with HTFC Planning & Design. As a Senior Landscape Architect at HTFC Shannon worked on a variety of scales, from master planning to small, artistic interventions. No two days were the same – it is what she loves about the field of landscape architecture. Before moving, recent projects included the Winnipeg Folk Festival Redevelopment and Canada’s Diversity Gardens. Shannon was also an active volunteer within her local design community - she sat on the City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings & Resources Committee, the City of Winnipeg Urban Design Advisory Council, and mentored at-risk youth within an urban agriculture program.

Her first task within her new position is the drafting of Invercargill’s Heritage Strategy.  Similar to other New Zealand cities at the moment, Invercargill is attempting to develop methods to balance the potential loss of heritage resources with the demands of new development.

Shannon is slowly adjusting to her new commute; she now has a 1-hour drive into Invercargill from the station versus her previous Canadian commute of a 30-minute bike ride along a riverfront. She has found the design community within the South very supportive and has appreciated their warm welcome, particularly considering her rural locale. Shannon looks forward to sharing our profession and its value with the people of Southland.