The Wildscape Design Team
Cara Montague, MS
Cara Montague has a master’s of science in Ecological Design from the Conway School of Landscape Design, and ran her own successful gardening business, The Artful Digger, for 5 years prior to returning to grad school. She was drawn to the Conway School for its focus on real client projects, its commitment to meaningful communication and its approach to design rooted in rigorous site analysis and ecological considerations. She has also studied landscape design and plants through Vermont Technical College and the University of Vermont, and holds a B.A. in Dance from Oberlin College. While living in New York City she co-coordinated the Hollenback Community Garden in Brooklyn for six years, while teaching creative movement and physical education to young children and performing as a modern dancer. Before Vermont and New York City, she lived in Den Haag, the Netherlands, Oakland, CA, and Oberlin, OH, and grew up in Baltimore.
Rowan Cignoni, MS
Rowan received his master’s of science in Landscape Design from the Conway School of Landscape Design, holds a BS in Environmental Science and GIS, and studied ecological design and permaculture at the Yestermorrow Design/Build School. His background includes program directorship in a wide range of outdoor programming, from wilderness therapy and river guiding to public parks and recreation program administration. More recently, he has managed projects in residential renewable energy generation and storage for an international renewable energy and transportation company, while volunteering as a permaculture garden and landscape designer through the grassroots community organization, Burlington Permaculture. He grew up in the hilltowns of western Massachusetts and has been living in Vermont for nearly a decade. When he’s not in the studio or the garden, you can find Rowan in the Green Mountains hunting for wild edible mushrooms, mountain biking, snowboarding, or exploring with his fiancée and their dog, Ollie.