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CBE Summer Picks & Plans

CBE Staff pose together during graduation ceremony
Posted on July 9, 2025
Post categories: Architecture Construction Management Faculty Landscape Architecture Real Estate Urban Design & Planning

Summer at CBE is a time to pause, recharge, and reconnect—with ourselves, each other, and the world around us. We asked faculty and staff to share what’s bringing them joy this season, from new hobbies and travel plans to books that inspire and songs that keep them moving. Their answers offer a glimpse into the thoughtful, creative, and wholehearted community that makes CBE such a vibrant place year-round.

What’s bringing you joy this summer? We’d love to see how you’re recharging, exploring, and connecting during these warmer months. Share your summer reads, travels, hobbies, and moments on instagram, and don’t forget to tag us @uwbuiltenvironments with #CBEsummer so we can inspire each other!

Bernadette Bascom | Assistant Director of Advancement

  • Reading & Watching — Sunrise on the Reaping, MARIARCH, Pee-wee as Himself, White Lotus
  • Listening & Walking — Fun, upbeat podcasts like Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, Good Hang, and Handsome; walking at Hamlin Park — “has it all, forests, fields, and playgrounds.”
  • Plans & Events — Exploring Seattle in short outings with her 4-month-old; supporting Seattle Public Theater’s summer programs.
  • Hobbies — Introducing solid foods to her son Wilson — “Our dogs are excited for the mess. Also, hoping for more sleep.”

Alex Blair | Multimedia Content Specialist

  • Reading & Watching — Visual Thinking by Temple Grandin — “Highly recommend for visual thinkers”; Hacks on HBO Max
  • Listening & Walking — Kali Uchis tracks — “Angels All Around Me” and “Call Me”

Brittany Faulkner | Assistant to the Dean

  • Reading & Watching — Ninth Street Women, color theory refreshers, Miss Austen, and other literary dramas
  • Listening & Walking — Spotify-driven folk and global sounds (Isakov, Hazlett, Ali Farka Touré); walking at Maxwelton Beach
  • Plans & Events — Trips to San Juan Island and Coeur d’Alene for a friend’s art show
  • Hobbies — Returning to open water swimming — “At least bobbing around in my wetsuit again.”

Kristy Cheung | Assistant Director of Advancement Services

  • Reading & Watching — Rewatching Ted Lasso
  • Walking — Gnome Trail: “Very family-friendly!”
  • Plans & Events — Family trip to California theme parks: 10 days, 5 stops!

Carrie Sturts Dossick | Associate Dean for Research

  • Reading & Watching — Notes from a Small Island, Descendants, Dumb Birds series, Star Trek, Nobody Wants This — “Irreverent and hilarious.”
  • Listening & Walking — Music and comedy with Milky Chance, Hozier, and Kathleen Madigan; walking at Olympic Sculpture Garden & Myrtle Edwards Park — “Ocean in the city.”
  • Plans & Events — Visiting Norway, Denmark, and India; hiking the Ozette Triangle
  • Hobbies — Gardening with new raised beds — “Lots of veggies going!”

Bethany Hamamoto | Director of Intercultural Engagement

  • Reading & Watching — Shrinking (Apple TV)
  • Plans & Events — Family visits to L.A. and the Bay Area to see Ruth Asawa art; attending the Obon Festival
  • Hobbies — Getting back into sewing

Kate Landis | Urban@UW Program Manager

  • Reading & Watching — Cooking through Bress ‘n’ Nyam and Smoke, Roots, Mountain, Harvest
  • Listening & Walking — “Obsessed” with Dream Wife, Ribbon Skirt, and Beaches; walking the Discovery Park Loop Trail
  • Plans & Events — Attending Folklife Festival; accepted into La MaMa Playwriting Program in Italy
  • Hobbies — Practicing Italian

Savannah Ledgerwood | Director of Development

  • Reading & Watching — Rewatching Freaks & Geeks — “Loving it.”
  • Listening & Walking — Really into Nation of Language; walking at Gas Works Park
  • Plans & Events — Campervan carpentry project and her sister’s wedding
  • Hobbies — Training to volunteer for the 24-Hour Crisis Line with Crisis Connections — “Looking forward to summer training and connecting with this important nonprofit.”

Monique McClure | Grant Manager

  • Reading & Watching — Hood Feminism, Be a Revolution, Black Disability Politics, Star Trek, The Rookie, Quantico
  • Listening & Walking — BirdNote podcasts; walking the Big Four Ice Caves loop — “Great for bird photography and a picnic.”
  • Plans & Events — Road-tripping across WA, OR, BC, and NorCal; attending Seattle Obon
  • Hobbies — Learning watercolor painting and block printing

Jack O’Neill | Building Services

  • Reading & Watching — Sailing from Sarantium — “Informative but irritatingly chatty.”
  • Listening — Voices of Music and mariachi rehearsals on YouTube
  • Plans & Events — Two early music workshops with the SF Early Music Society

Babs Pinette | Director of Marketing & Communications

  • Reading & Watching — In the Shadow of Man, Why We Swim, Ocean with Attenborough, Along Came Polly, The Traitors UK
  • Listening & Walking — Good Hang and The Good Whale podcasts; walking along the Whale Trail
  • Plans & Events — Volunteering with SeaLife Response and traveling to Greece

Kelly Skye | Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications

  • Reading — The Sounds of Life — “Machine learning meets eco-acoustics to decipher the languages of other species. So cool!”
  • Listening — “Coast” by Gone Gone Beyond & Moontricks
  • Hobbies — Learning to sail and getting scuba certified — “I love the Salish Sea and want to connect with all its dimensions.”

Shanna Sukol | Architecture Manager

  • Reading & Watching — Starter Villain, The Women, The Brothers Karamazov, Dark Winds, Resident Alien
  • Walking — Seward Park and Long Beach boardwalk
  • Plans & Events — Birthday at the Long Beach Kite Festival; Weird Al concert
  • Hobbies — Returning to painting (acrylic and watercolor) and beading sea urchin jellyfish ornaments — “They catch the light beautifully.”

Ashlar Trystan | CBE-IT

  • Listening — Tango and Tigran Hamasyan
  • Plans & Events — Buying a house and taking Fridays off for rest

Amy Wagenfeld | Affiliate Associate Professor

  • Reading & Watching — One for the Road, Shrinking (Apple TV) — “Thoroughly enjoying it.”
  • Walking — Carkeek Park
  • Plans & Events — Taking the Master Food Safety Advisor Program
  • Hobbies — Canning and preserving — “Safely!”

Jess Zimbabwe | Adjunct Instructor, UDP

  • Reading & Watching — Careless People, Hacks, Dark Winds — “Pithy and funny… already hating her coworkers.”
  • Listening — Rachel Chinouriri — “23:42”
  • Plans & Events — Lucy Dacus concert and visiting Saint John’s Abbey (designed by Marcel Breuer)

Wherever summer takes you, we hope it’s filled with moments that restore and inspire. Don’t forget to share your adventures with us on Instagram @uwbuiltenvironments using #CBEsummer!