PEOPLE
Mac Carbonell
Principal, Design Director
Several of the oldest trees on record grow on the grounds of Mac's childhood home, a historic farm & farmhouse situated at the bend of Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania. All that was there nurtured his lifelong passion for, and evolving relationship with Nature.
Raised by a family of architects and horticulturists, he gained a deep appreciation for the arts and botany in his early life.
He received a BA in Photography at Yale and an MFA at the School of Visual Arts.
As principal, Mac is Verdant's creative leader, consistently exploring and reinventing the thread between art, landscape and horticultural relationships, while relentlessly pushing the boundaries of conventional norms. Mac initiates and guides the creative process of each project, driven by an aesthetic of strict form and spatial planning and a refined framework highlighting the transportative qualities of plants in the landscape.
Joshua Gerber
Project Manager
As Project Manager at Verdant, Joshua combines his background in architecture and historic buildings with his passion for green spaces. He has spent time designing and realizing projects for clients ranging from large state universities to bespoke cottages in the Hudson Valley.
After graduating with degrees in French and Art History from Colby College, Joshua went on to complete the professional Master’s program in Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Joshua applies an analytical and inquisitive approach to every project, often drawing in his wide range of experiences and interests. He first practiced as a licensed architect in Salt Lake City, and now in New York City, having joined the Verdant team in early 2018.
Inga Nielsen
Senior Project Manager
Raised in the North of Germany, Inga spend her formative years in France, Belgium and England, before eventually making the move over the big pond into "the new world" in 2006. Inga has been the design lead and project manager for a substantial array of high end residential and commercial projects within the architecture industry in New York City and the North-East before succumbing to her passion for landscapes and plants and joining Verdant in 2014.
During her time in Brussels, she received her Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design at the Ecole Superieure des Arts Plastiques. She received her second degree in Interior and Spatial Design at London’s Chelsea College of Art and Design. In 2014, she obtained a Certificate in Horticulture at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.
As a Senior Project Manager, Inga is responsible for coordinating and steering Verdant’s projects towards completion while assuring a strong balance between the strategic and creative realization of each project.
Sarah Follett
Horticultural Operations Manager
After working in advertising, television and film production in New York and Los Angeles for almost 20 years, Sarah changed careers to pursue her passion for gardening, horticulture and landscape design. A native New Yorker, during her childhood Sarah made frequent visits to the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden and Wave Hill that instilled an early fascination with plants, animals and the natural world. Beginning her practical training at NYBG and Wave Hill, Sarah continued her exploration of horticulture working at a specialty and rare plant nursery and then with a prominent landscape designing and maintaining large private estates on the east end of Long Island. Upon her return to Brooklyn, Sarah was drawn to the more intimate scale of urban gardens and their deeper connection to the interior spaces functioning as dynamic living extensions of the architecture.
Marissa Ringel
Installation
Marissa's perspective on ecology and the built environment comes from living her life between Nova Scotia and New York City. She graduated from the University of California Santa Cruz with honors in Anthropology (B.A.) and History of Art and Visual Culture (B.A.). Marissa is a certified permaculturist and is co/founder of Solace Natural Design.
Gabriel Gourd
Installation
Gabriel is a seasoned builder with more than 10 years of construction experience. Classical elements and ancient concepts inspire and inform his work; his operational philosophy centers around making creative use of raw materials (clay, straw, wood, sand, stone) and reclaimed/up-cycled building supplies. Gabriel is co/founder of Solace Natural Design.
Richard Weir
Installation
Richard has a substantial background in gardening, having trained and worked for many years in London before arriving in New York.