Our Team
Peter MacDonagh, FASLA, Director of Design + Science, LEED AP, CSLA, ISA, RHS
Who am I? I’m the senior principal in Kestrel, a cofounder in 1990. I work with a team of aces.
What do I do at Kestrel? I advocate for high-quality green infrastructure (plants, soil and water) to provide ecological services (cooling, resilience, water quality, clean-air, health) within and outside Kestrel. I work on technical rigor and quality control for soils, stormwater and plants.
Why I Do This: I built my first terrarium when I was 9. I knew then, that working with plants would make me happy, and I’m lucky enough to have had lots of people’s help. Research has consistently shown we have a high level of certainty that Green Infrastructure can solve 90% of our environmental problems. This is too good an idea to not apply at scale today. I work for my daughters now, and failure is not an option.
Fun Facts: I’m an Irish grown boy, so land and laughing is important. My family patiently tolerates me botanizing in the parking lot, rather than going into the stores. My dogs love me. I love traveling in European and American cities.
Nathalie Shanstrom, PLA, Sustainable Landscape Architect, LEED AP
What I Do at Kestrel: Sustainable landscape architecture design services; stormwater consulting; natural areas restoration planning
Why I Do This: Out of a strong desire to combine stewardship and aesthetics to create healthy, invigorating, meaningful connections between people and their environment.
Fun Facts: When I am not at Kestrel, I like to spend time with my husband, Blaine, and our son, Lukas, who seems to enjoy the outdoors, birds, and picking homegrown tomatoes and raspberries as much as I do. I also love to garden, design gardens (yes, even in my spare time), hike (aka botanize and watch birds), read, and cross country ski.