Wes Ryals was a 2011-2013 Wormsloe Fellow in the College of Environment and Design.Wes holds a BS in history from Georgia Southern University. Following his passion for the environment, he returned to school in 2007 to pursue a degree from the University of Georgia in landscape architecture—an integrative profession, which synthesizes knowledge from a variety of fields and disciplines.Wes’s studies in landscape architecture have allowed him to draw upon his experiences in historical research, environmental science, education, and recreation:prior to returning to UGA, Wes served as a backcountry hiking instructor for the High Rocks camp for boys in Brevard, North Carolina, and a special education instructor in Macon, Georgia.
Wes’s involvement with Wormsloe stems from an initial 2009 master-planning workshop, which spurred his interest in continuing with the property to explore landscape planning and design issues. His work with Wormsloe has earned state and national recognition from the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Wes also has been actively involved in the Cultural Landscape Laboratory (CLL) in the College of Environment and Design, where his work has fostered a convergence of past experience with history and landscape architecture to examine the interwoven layers of ecology, cultural history, and historical land use practices through the lens of environmental history. He has also contributed to many of the geographic information system (GIS) data layers for existing features, boundaries, and significant vegetation that will be pertinent to assessing the historical integrity of Wormsloe. Wes’s thesis research focuses on exploring the affordances of digital technologies for augmenting visitor experiences and aiding in cultural heritage interpretation. Wormsloe will serve as a principal case study in this exploration.
