Rooted in the lived experience of preparing for and moving through a firestorm, this presentation by Leigh Adams and Shawn Maestretti, co-founders of Studio Petrichor of Altadena, CA, is about our relationship with land, fire, community and the futures we are actively shaping. Through vivid storytelling, ecological insight and practical design strategies, they will challenge conventional, fear-based approaches to fire and resilience and will invite us to reimagine landscapes not as liabilities to manage, but as living systems that can support safety, regeneration and long-term stewardship. True resilience begins not just in the land, but in how we choose to live with it.

Speakers’ bios:

Leigh and Shawn are regenerative designers, teachers and co-founders of Studio Petrichor and Poly/Ana, two intertwined platforms that invite communities into relationship with land through ecological literacy, fire resilience and poetic restoration. They offer talks and workshops that are equally soulful and practical—braiding systems thinking, ancestral memory and design justice into every conversation. Both have lived through wildfire loss and chose to stay, listen and begin again—through soil. Their partnership blends feminine and masculine approaches, professional design and community healing, technical fluency and story-driven insight. Leigh and Shawn offer more than knowledge—they guide people into deeper connection with land, memory, and belonging.