Q&A with ECHO’s Landscape Designers

At the National Wildlife Federation’s Early Childhood Health Outdoors (ECHO) initiative, landscape architecture is a major piece of their mission to expand access to nature for young children across the United States. ECHO’s landscape designers work with sites including child care centers, family child care homes, schools, and public spaces to reimagine their outdoor space for nature play and outdoor learning.

ECHO’s team of landscape designers in South Carolina are hard at work, engaging with 20 child care sites across the state as part of the Grow Outdoors South Carolina initiative. Grow Outdoors South Carolina, is a state-funded, 5-year collaboration between the South Carolina Departments of Public Health and Social Services, National Wildlife Federation’s Early Childhood Health Outdoors, the Natural Learning Initiative at North Carolina State University, and multiple early care and education partners.

These partners are focused on providing high-quality, outdoor play spaces for young children across the state.

Take a couple of minutes to meet ECHO’s SC designers and learn more about their passion for landscape architecture through a Q&A!

Meet the ECHO SC landscape design team

Brandon Dupree, PLA, Senior Landscape Design Manager

Growing up playing in the woods, Brandon discovered the lasting benefit nature has on development and well-being. Now leading the Grow Outdoors South Carolina design team, he and his team work across the state creating diverse outdoor play and learning environments that inspire lifelong discovery and a deep-rooted love for nature.

Jenna Happach, Landscape Design Coordinator

Jenna has been a Landscape Design Coordinator for ECHO’s Grow Outdoors South Carolina team since March 2024. She has a strong interdisciplinary background in field ecology, environmental outreach and education, and landscape design. Jenna brings her passion for fostering environmentally functional landscapes that make a meaningful and lasting impact on the intersection of ecology and community development to the ECHO team.

Robin Hartman, Landscape Design Coordinator

Robin is a Landscape Designer and Contractor with 20 years of experience, with a background in Horticulture. As a mom of three, she spent her children’s primary school years teaching preschool to maintain a flexible schedule, which allowed her to balance work and family life.

Currently, Robin is part of the National Wildlife Federation’s ECHO team and the Grow Outdoors South Carolina initiative, where she gets to merge her passion for landscape design with her dedication to enriching children’s lives through nature.

Sarah Hassan, Landscape Design Coordinator

Sarah has been a Landscape Design Coordinator with the ECHO’s Grow Outdoors South Carolina team since January 2024. In this role, Sarah designs outdoor play and learning environments in South Carolina under the Grow Outdoors South Carolina Initiative. Sarah is excited to be working on this project thanks to its focus on community-centered design, empowerment, and engagement.

Q&A with ECHO’s Landscape Design Team

What do you love most about landscape architecture?

Brandon: What I love the most about landscape architecture is seeing an idea translate into an environment for exploration and connection to communities and the natural world. One of the most rewarding parts is seeing people thrive in the space we have created from concept to reality.

Jenna: I love that landscape architecture is a dynamic and diverse field that melds ecology, art, engineering, sociology, horticulture, community, justice, and so much more.  You get to continuously learn and find niches where your specific set of skills are celebrated and shine.

Robin: What I love most about landscape architecture is how the thoughtful organization of outdoor space—through plants, textures, forms, and flow—can deeply influence how a person feels. It’s not just about designing with nature, but about creating experiences: peacefulness, joy, curiosity, even nostalgia. There’s something incredibly powerful about using the natural world to shape emotion and connection in everyday spaces.

Sarah: I think landscape architecture is a powerful profession as it has the capacity to move people emotionally by thoughtful and intentional design choices. A design that is grounded in its surroundings while responding to how people will organically move through a space and interact with its elements is what separates us from engineering. We have an opportunity to not just provide functional solutions to problems, but to address them in a way that is empathetic to human experience.

How do you break barriers through landscape architecture?

Brandon: Through landscape architecture, we design spaces that foster equity and ensure environments reflect the communities they serve. We cultivate stewardship, empowering the next generation to value and develop a lifelong commitment in service to our planet.

Jenna: Having a strong background and education in ecology, I strive to enhance and highlight the ecosystem services within sites, even if it’s not a top priority for the project. We often consider water management and preserving tree canopy, but I try to advocate for strengthening soil health, biodiversity, habitat connectivity, and the land ethic.

Robin: I love breaking barriers in landscape design by looking at spaces from unconventional angles. I believe in respecting best practices while pushing the limits of what’s expected, testing boundaries, and finding new creative ways to challenge the norm. For me, it’s about blending innovation with tradition—rethinking how spaces function and feel, and creating designs that inspire and surprise, all while staying grounded in sound principles.

Sarah: Working with providers it’s important to remain humble and acknowledge that they have a deep knowledge and understanding of what they need based on their experience and that one of the best things that we can do as designers is to simply listen. My job is to design an outdoor play and learning environment that honors their needs and integrates that with solid design principles.

To learn more about ECHO, our landscape designers, and our other team members check out our website and follow us on Facebook and Instagram!