This is the first in what we hope will be a series of interviews with MSRS alumni. Doug Kent was one of the first graduates of the MSRS program.
When did you graduate from CRS and what was your thesis topic?
Graduated in spring 2006. The thesis is titled "The Average Residential Landscape: a tool for determining four attributes of an average residential landscape with Southern California." The tool was part of getting my degree, whereas getting the composition of an average landscape was really about my writing. I've used that average landscape a lot.
Were you one of the first MSRS graduates or *the* first?
Ha - funny you should ask. Jonah Swick submitted his thesis 20 minutes before I, but I was the first onstage to get my degree. We're both competitive and love to banter each other about who was the first.
What have you been up to since you got your MSRS?
Loads of stuff: Finished my fourth book for the Surfrider Foundation, called Ocean Friendly Gardening: A how-to gardening guide to help restore our coast and ocean. I started teaching at CRS, Pomona College, and Saddleback College. And there for a while my business was going gang-busters, but this economy has really sucked the wind out of it. I still do a lot of volunteer work, mostly aimed at trying to get the water we save to go to the environment instead of new growth, which is where it is currently going.
Any advice for current RS students?
I'd advise getting good at the numbers, no matter what your specialty is. Numbers compel people to act. With numbers environmentalism becomes less of a moral and religious movement, and more of a rational and smart choice, which ultimately will appeal to more people, especially in these difficult times. Also, enjoy CRS; it is wonderfully beautiful and unique, with sublime lessons hidden in all kinds of nooks and crannies. I'm still letting it teach me.
