{"id":6,"name":"Mike Houck","url":"http:\/\/www.urbangreenspaces.org","description":"Mike Houck, Director, Urban Greenspaces Institute\r\n\r\nEducation: BS in Zoology from Iowa State University (1969); Master of Science in Teaching, Biology, with an emphasis in plant ecology and plant physiology, from Portland State University (1972). Loeb Fellow, Harvard Graduate School of Design, 2003.\r\n\r\nEmployment: Audubon Society of Portland\u2019s Urban Naturalist 1982-2019.  A founding member of the Coalition For A Livable Future (CLF) in 1994.  The Coalition was a 60-member non-profit coalition working for a socially just and ecologically sustainable Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region. \r\n\r\nWork History: Mike founded and has been Director of the Urban Greenspaces Institute since 1999. UGI\u2019s mission is to ensure that parks, regional trail systems, greenways and greenspaces are integrated with the built environment in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region; and to work to promote urban greenspace efforts nationally and internationally. Its motto is In Livable Cities is Preservation of the Wild.\u201d The motto reflects UGI\u2019s philosophy that it is only through creating cities that are livable and loveable that it will be possible to protect ecologically significant landscapes outside urban areas. To be livable and loveable cities must provide access to nature where people live, work and play.\r\n\r\nMike has served on regional and local agency committees to provide policy and technical input into land use, park and nature-based recreational programs.  He served on the city of Portland\u2019s Parks Board and spent 11 years on the city\u2019s Planning and Sustainability Commission. Mike co-edited Wild in the City, a Guide to Portland\u2019s Natural Areas, a guide to the natural history of the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region (Oregon Historical Society Press, 2000); Wild in the City, Exploring The Intertwine (Oregon State University Press, 20110; The Routledge Handbook of Urban Ecology, Routledge Press, 2011.  \r\n\r\nHonors\r\nChevron Corporation national conservation award for the Metropolitan Wildlife Refuge System project, May 199O.\r\n\r\nOregon chapter, American Society of Landscape Architects \"Conservation of The Urban Landscape\" award, September 199O.\r\n\r\nAmerican Planning Association, Oregon Chapter 1991 award for contributions to Oregon's land use planning program in the urban environment.  \r\n\r\nGeorge Russill Community Service Award, through the Oregon Community Foundation, 1991.\r\n \r\nNational Wetlands Conservation Award, Environmental Law Institute, Washington, D. C., 1994.\r\n\r\nDesignated as a \"Giraffe\" by The Giraffe Project, awarded to \"Giraffes\" who stick their necks out in community-oriented work, July 18, 1995.\r\n\r\nSelected as a Loeb Fellow at Harvard\u2019s Graduate School of Design, 2003.\r\n\r\nFrances K. Hutchinson Medal, Garden Club of America 2010.","link":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/author\/mikehouck\/","slug":"mikehouck","avatar_urls":{"24":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-24x24.jpg","48":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar.jpg","96":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-96x96.jpg"},"meta":[],"simple_local_avatar":{"full":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar.jpg","96":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-96x96.jpg","40":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-40x40.jpg","32":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-32x32.jpg","80":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-80x80.jpg","64":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-64x64.jpg","16":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-16x16.jpg","68":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-68x68.jpg","60":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-60x60.jpg","50":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-50x50.jpg","160":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-160x160.jpg","25":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-25x25.jpg","24":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-24x24.jpg","100":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-100x100.jpg","74":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar-74x74.jpg","128":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar.jpg","120":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar.jpg","200":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar.jpg","150":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar.jpg","30":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar.jpg","125":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar.jpg","48":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar.jpg","250":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar.jpg","192":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/MikeHouck_avatar.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users"}]}}