Dunnett, Nigel (P.) 1962(?)–

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DUNNETT, Nigel (P.) 1962(?)–

PERSONAL: Born c. 1962, in England. Education: University of Bristol, B.S., 1984; Wye College, London, M.S., 1986; University of Sheffield, Ph.D., 1994.

ADDRESSES: Home—Sheffield, England. Office—Department of Landscape, University of Sheffield, Floor 3, Arts Tower, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 TN, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Landscape and ecological consultant to British Forestry Commission and Game Conservancy, and to private contractors in England, Italy, and the United States, 1986–89; North Carolina State University, Raleigh, fellow in horticulture and landscape architecture, 1989–91; University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England, 1995—began as lecturer, became senior lecturer in landscape design. Creator of public meadows and roof gardens, Sheffield, England; private consultant on landscape design, urban park regeneration, and gardens. Lecturer on ecology and landscape design.

WRITINGS:

Vegetation and Climate: A Thirty-six-Year Study in Road Verges at Bibury, Gloucestershire, University of Sheffield (Sheffield, England), 1995.

(Editor with James Hitchmough) The Dynamic Landscape: Naturalistic Planting in an Urban Context, Spon Press (New York, NY), 2003.

(With Noël Kingsbury) Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls, Timber Press (Portland, OR), 2004.

Contributor to books, including Readers Guide to the Social Sciences and Encyclopedia of Garden and Landscape History. Contributor, J. Benson and M. Roe, editors, Landscape and Sustainability, Spon Press (New York, NY), 2000. Contributor to periodicals, including Garden, Restoration Ecology, Functional Ecology, Garden Design Journal, and Journal of Ecology.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Contributing to The Ecology and Design of Urban Landscape Plantings, for Spon Press, and Aspects of Applied Biology.

SIDELIGHTS: Nigel Dunnett is a landscape architect and college professor who works to create and restore sustainable plant life in urban areas, backyard gardens, and even on the rooftops of buildings. He has participated in projects that return vegetation to former industrial lands and even to acreage that has been chemically contaminated or over-farmed. With Noël Kingsbury, Dunnett is the coauthor of Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls, a work that provides step-by-step instructions for growing gardens on rooftops and in the shingles of homes or smaller structures. In the Garden Design Journal Dunnett wrote that rooftop gardening "can be used to create the kind of dramatic flowering meadows that are often difficult to produce at ground level." He added: "There is perhaps no better signal of environmental intent than the integration of a prominent green roof on a garden building."

In her E magazine review of Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls, Katherine Hartley observed that Dunnett and Kingsbury "illustrate the beauty and practicality of green roofs and façades." Booklist reviewer Alice Joyce cited the work for its "fascinating amount of data" and concluded that the material "will be welcomed by a wide audience." In Bookwatch, a reviewer commended the authors for introducing "an innovative horticultural field," and placed Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls among a group of "excellent gardening references." Edward J. Valauskas in Library Journal called the title a "fact-rich, well-illustrated, and accessible book."