Authors

Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson holds a BS in public policy from Georgia Tech and a Master’s in community planning from the University of Maryland. He works on the Zoning Code Rewrite project, and has been at MNCPPC since 2008. Matt contributes to Greater Greater Washington, and is primarily interested in transportation. He lives in Greenbelt.
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Clare Lise Kelly

Clare Lise Kelly, a historic preservation planner, has a BS in environmental design and analysis from Cornell University and a Masters in historic preservation from the University of Vermont. With over two decades experience studying Montgomery County’s architecture and settlement patterns, Clare is the author of Places from the Past (M-NCPPC, 2001). A native of the Hudson Valley, Clare is a regular at one of her favorite local treasures, the Glen Echo ballroom.
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Claudia Kousoulas

Claudia Kousoulas is a graduate of Boston University and holds a masters in planning from the University of Virginia. She is the co-author of Contemporary Architecture in Washington, D.C. (The Preservation Press, 1995) and is the Planning Department’s Senior Editor. Her forays through cities are often prompted by a search for food.
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Joshua Sloan

Josh Sloan holds a BA in biology from St. Mary’s College of MD and a Master’s of Landscape Architecture from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He’s a certified landscape architect who has worked for 11 years in private practice, four years in public practice. Josh dabbles in plastic and dynamic arts, science, music, philosophy, politics, comics, literature, games, news, social & environmental causes and enjoys being a dad and friend, working hard, working out and doing yoga, news, politics, rock-climbing, and more.
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Scott Whipple

Scott Whipple has a masters in historic preservation from George Washington University and worked at the federal and state levels before becoming the Planning Department’s historic preservation supervisor. Scott is interested in the relationship of historic preservation with sustainability, putting buildings to productive use, and how people experience places.
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Past contributors

Valerie Berton

Valerie Berton, who graduated from Lehigh University as a journalism major, was communications manager for the Planning Department. She’s been a newspaper reporter, magazine editor and public relations person for two decades +. Her expertise is taking others’ expertise and making it readable and compelling.
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Luis Estrada

Architect, born in Puerto Rico. Holds a BA from University of Puerto Rico, and an March from Columbia University in New York City, where he practiced architecture in the private sector until joining the planning department’s Urban Design Division in early 2008. Interested in Architecture, urban life, and the occasional good movie, book, restaurant, or easy (attitude free) conversation.
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Elza Hisel-McCoy

Elza Hisel-McCoy (Assoc. AIA, LEED-AP) is an architect and urban designer with MNCPPC’s Development Review Division, reviewing development proposals in downtown Silver Spring and Bethesda, and White Flint. He lives in Takoma Park and is big into concept.
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Anthony Pins

A native of Montgomery County, Tony worked in the Urban Design Division. He earned his LEED accreditation and graduated with his Masters of Real Estate Development from the University of Maryland.
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