MSA announced today the hiring of Sarah McDonald, PLA, CLARB, ASLA, as a new principal landscape architect and urban planner in the firm’s Milwaukee office location.

Sarah re-joins MSA with nearly two decades of experience leveraging a multidisciplinary background in urban planning, urban design, and landscape architecture to plan, design, and implement spaces that enhance quality of life. Her professional experience includes leading projects across diverse markets, specializing in community engagement, conducting existing conditions analyses, and creating framework plans and development strategies for communities, downtowns, subareas, parks, open spaces, public and private sites, and river, trail and road corridors. From concept to construction Sarah has managed and led the design and overseen the implementation of complex, multi-disciplinary brownfield waterfront site redevelopment projects, commercial, healthcare, resident and urban sites, streetscapes, plazas and parks.

Most recently, Sarah served eight years as an associate, senior landscape architect, and urban planner at Stantec in the greater Milwaukee area where she led the Chicago-Milwaukee urban planning, urban design, and landscape architecture team. Prior, she served as an associate and project planner at Hitchcock Design Group and nearly four years as a landscape architect and planner in MSA’s Madison location.

Sarah holds a master’s degree of science (MS) in urban and regional planning as well as a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a licensed Professional Landscape Architect in Wisconsin and Illinois, certified through the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB) for reciprocity in all 50 states, and is the Wisconsin Trustee for the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

“I am thrilled to welcome Sarah back to MSA,” comments Mike Statz, chief operating officer. “Her reputation of excellence in the planning and landscape architecture professions and great tenure of experience will enrich our team and help our communities become more dynamic, sustainable places to live, work, and play. I look forward to this next chapter together.”