Michael Veracka
Professor, Urban Horticulture & Design | Farmingdale State College
Farmingdale, NY, UNITED STATES
Professor Veracka is a licensed landscape architect, and creator of the college’s Sustainable Garden.
Biography
Michael Veracka is an Associate Professor within the Department of Urban Horticulture & Design at Farmingdale State College. Since joining Farmingdale in September 2006, Michael’s teaching projects demonstrate how everyday students, working together, can help solve our global environmental problems, while simultaneously making the Farmingdale campus and our local communities a better place. Michael's courses engage his students in multiple opportunities to practice skills learned in real-world settings, preparing students to enter the work force or graduate school equipped for success. Michael’s teaching philosophy is centered on the premise that knowledge and skills learned in the classroom are enriched when applied in a hands-on, real-world environment outside the classroom. Within his classes applied-learning opportunities abound.
Media
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Areas of Expertise (4)
Landscape Design
Plants and Trees
Landscape Preservation
Landscape Construction
Industry Expertise (3)
Design
Education/Learning
Landscaping
Accomplishments (1)
Micro-credential Development: Sustainable Horticulture (professional)
Authored and spearheaded the development of a Horticulture Department four-course sequence for the establishment of a micro-credential in Sustainable Horticulture. The micro-credential in Sustainable Horticulture provides enrolled students – future landscape professionals - the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, expertise and commitment to the profession, and society at large.
Education (2)
Providence College : BA, English
Rhode Island School of Design: Masters, Landscape Architecture 1993
Links (6)
Event Appearances (6)
Expert witness, Court Case Concerning Monopodial Running Bamboo
Court Case Suffolk County Court, Long Island, NY
“Designing Landscapes with NYC’s the High Line in Mind.”
Lecture for the Sands Point Garden Club Sands Point, NY
“Re-imagining Your Landscape.”
Sundays in the Garden Distinguished Speaker Series of Clark Botanic Garden Clark Botanic Garden, Albertson, NY
“Bamboo in Northeastern Landscapes - a Walking Tour.”
The North Shore Land Alliance and Humes Japanese Stroll Garden Mill Neck, NY
“The Louisa Clark Spencer Moonlight Garden.”
Fiftieth Anniversary Garden Gala of Clark Botanic Garden, Clark Botanic Garden, Albertson, NY
“A Bamboo Identification Workshop.”
New York Natural Heritage Program North Shore Land Alliance, at the Humes Japanese Stroll Garden, Mill Neck, NY
Media Appearances (2)
The Registry - Michael Veracka
The American Registry tv
2011-10-01
The Registry of Professional Excellence is the world's most complete database of top professionals. When a professional is publicly recognized, American Registry flags it, authenticates both the award and the honoree and adds them to The Registry. This distinction is issued by a highly regarded publication using relevant evaluation criteria, likely including quantitative metrics along with evaluations by trade experts, analysts, professional peers or clients. Of the tens of millions of North American professionals, fewer than one percent are ever recognized in the press and selected for inclusion in The American Registry of Professional Excellence. Michael Veracka has achieved a hard-earned recognition.
An Interview with Michael Veracka, Chairman of the Department of Urban Horticulture & Design at Farmingdale State College
iEatGreen online
2014-04-08
This week, my guest on the Progressive Radio Network is Michael Veracka, an Assistant Professor and Chairman of the Department of Urban Horticulture and Design at Farmingdale State College. Along with his students, he designed in 2011, a one half acre Sustainable Garden on the campus grounds.
Research Focus (1)
The Sustainable Garden
Creation and implementation of the Sustainable Garden, a design for a one-half acre parcel within the Department of Urban Horticulture & Design Teaching Gardens, focusing on contemporary strategies and practices relating to responsible resource use, conservation and innovation, product development and food production. In 2013 SUNY designated this garden one of “Six Big Ideas, With Unlimited Potential,” highlighting the garden as an example of the Power of SUNY.
Published Articles (1)
Delivering better water quality: Rethinking storm water management
IEEE
2013-03-22
Traditional storm water management practices have historically been designed around a drainage system's ability to quickly convey a storm's peak flow by using detention structures to detain and release runoff at rates that did not exceed predevelopment peak flow rates. Within such practices downstream property is supposed to be protected from storm water flooding by controlling the rate of runoff discharged to streams and water bodies, but often fails to address runoff quality or runoff volume. Increasingly of concern and under scrutiny is what happens when rain water hits ground surfaces. This paper will examine how water quality and run off damage is best controlled and most economically achieved if storm water management starts at the point that water contacts the earth. Specific water harvesting strategies suitable as retrofit elements for existing commercial buildings and adjacent landscapes will be investigated. Case study examples from the Farmingdale State College campus will depict how surface runoff from roofs and parking lots can be harnessed for groundwater recharge and withdrawal - irrigation and ornamental features.
Courses (1)
Landscape Construction Detailing
Expand your knowledge about construction detailing for residential hardscapes such as walks, patios, terraces steps, and walls. Through lectures, drawing exercises, and field trips to construction sites, we will examine the relationships of landscape materials to building techniques and the con- struction process. Prerequisite: Drafting or equivalent.
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