Newsmakers

Berger lands Rome Prize

The Trustees of the American Academy in Rome have named Alan Berger, associate professor of landscape architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, a winner of the 2007-08 Rome Prize Competition. Berger received the Prince Charitable Trusts Rome Prize for his project “Landscape Reclamation and the Pontine Marshes.”

Awardees are provided with a stipend, a study or studio, and room and board for a period of six months to two years. Winners of the competition will take up residence at the American Academy in Rome in September.

Knoll to receive Wollaston Medal

Fisher Professor of Natural History Andrew H. Knoll will receive the 2007 Wollaston Medal from the Geological Society of London on May 2. The society’s highest honor, the medal is awarded “to geologists who have had a significant influence by means of a substantial body of excellent research.” Previous Wollaston medalists include Louis Agassiz and Charles Darwin.

Blackstone Street, Cott awarded LEED Platinum Certification

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently awarded its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum Certification to Harvard’s 46 Blackstone St. building. Adjunct Professor of Urban Design Leland Cott and his firm, Bruner/Cott, led the renovation project, which included a number of green design and construction features that positively impact the broader community.

The Blackstone Street property is the first Harvard building to achieve LEED Platinum Certification — the highest possible certification under USGBC’s rating system — and is only the third platinum project in New England. In addition, Blackstone received the most points of any project in Massachusetts and it is the oldest building to achieve LEED Platinum.