Gulf Coast native Dale Speetjens co-founded Shipshape Urban Farms with his wife Angela in the spring of 2017. After high school he joined the US military and served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Following his serve he earned a BS in Environmental Design, a Masters of Landscape Architecture, and a Masters of Community Planning for Auburn University. In 2015 the couple moved back to Mobile for Dale to take a Project Manager position with the Mayor’s Innovation Team. During his time with the Innovation Team he conducted geospatial analysis and helped develop the blight index. A year later he began teaching in Auburn University’s Masters of Landscape Architecture program. Additionally, Dale was a visiting professor at the 2016 Galapagos International Architecture Studio. There he worked with a diverse team of students, practitioners, and professors from around the world to explore the current and future development of the islands. His research interest include; blue urbanism, geospatial design, environmental and social justice, food systems, resilience design, and national park design.