Jeffrey woke to a love of landscape experiences in childhood, building forts in Midwestern pastures and woodlands. Summer employment detasseling corn in expansive fields at dawn deepened his sense of scale, while an undergraduate degree in Religious Studies introduced him to ideas of sacred space. Later, guiding donors through the awe-inspiring western landscapes preserved by The Nature Conservancy of California, he saw firsthand how land and ecology shapes human connection.

He went on to earn a Master of Landscape Architecture from UC Berkeley, where his connection to landscape merged with an appreciation for contemporary art and architecture. There he developed a particular interest in the clarity of human interventions within natural settings. Drawn equally to cities and nature—though not the car culture in between—he moved to New York City in 2007 and has called it home ever since.

Jeffrey has gained an intuitive knowledge of plants through hands-on experimentation: first in urban gardens in San Francisco’s Mission District and Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill, and now alongside his partner and son on an ecological landscape in the Hudson Valley. Their aspirations include establishing a small nursery for native trees.