Facilitators Trainers and Consultants

Commercial Aquaponics with Applied Permaculture Design - Aug, 2010

Chris Byrne

Chris Byrne is a sustainability consultant bringing technologies to market and make operations more efficient and effective through the perspective of “Green Business” and Whole Systems Design. Chris received a GreenMBA in Sustainable Enterprise (“Green Business Development”) from the Institute for Ecological Entrepreneurship at New College of California in May 2005. Over the course of his studies and experience he has has become well versed in ecological technologies (including their adoption challenges) and business development strategies, including approaches to finance, marketing, and leadership for sustainability. Aware of impending resource supply challenges and their drivers, specifically in terms of energy, food and carbon, Chris uses strategic risk calculations into new whole systems and true cost business models. Chris Byrne's work has been further edified with masters coursework in Holistic studies at JFK University (prior to transfer to the GreenMBA), certification by the Cascadia Permaculture Institute as a Permaculture Design Consultant and Instructor, and self-study and participation in the 2006 Integral Sustainability Conference at Integral Institute. Chris has also completed a Small Farm course at the Oregon State University Extension Center, studied Garden Management and Micro-Farming workshops with John Jeavons, and most recently attended 2008 MacArthur Fellow Will Allen and Growing Power’s “From the Ground Up” workshop in February 2010 focusing on Compost and Vermiculture, Aquaponics, and Micro and Field Green Marketing and operations. Chris has consulted with a diverse group of clients, and has a personal interest and focus on bio-regional food production and distribution (including alternative currency strategies and design).

Big Bend Hot Springs Permaculture Design Course - Aug 2010

Kay Cafasso

Kay Cafasso is a permaculture designer, teacher, natural builder, and gardener, inspired by the ability to sustain healthy and regenerative systems in landscapes, dwellings and communities with lessons learned from nature. She received her permaculture design certification through Naropa University in 2001 and has since been in involved in permaculture courses and projects all over the country. Kay holds certifications in solar home design and natural building construction from the Solar Energy International, and is a seasonal earth plasterer of straw bale homes. She has experienced community life at the Isle of Erraid in Scotland, has helped to start up a member owned Co-op Powers, and is often found teaching ancient Celtic dances to children and adults. Kay offers courses in permaculture design through Greenfield Community College and with the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute.

Big Bend Hot Springs Permaculture Design Course - Aug 2010

Marcela Castillo

Marcela Castillo, aka Lotus Fairy Marcela, was born in Honduras and came to California to find her path in yoga. She has been studying yoga since 1998, starting at the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco. She continued her studies and personal sadhana (practice) in 2004 in Lago Atitlan, Guatemala and in 2005 in Ibiza, Spain. In 2006 she returned to San Francisco with the focused intention to study yoga and find her teachers, which would help her blossom into her unique heart-centered vinyasa style. Marcela studied various styles of yoga and with many well-known teachers, such as: Ashtanga Yoga with Clayton Horton, Para Yoga with Rod Stryker, Yin Yoga with Sarah Powers and Christy Brown, Anusara/Vinyasa and Buddhism with James Higgins, and Pre-natal and Post-natal Yoga with Jane Austin. And it wasn't until she met her main teachers of inspiration, Jasmine Tarkeshi and Dana Flynn at the Laughing Lotus School of Yoga in San Francisco, that she finally felt like she found a hOMe through which she could explore the deeper realms of the subtle body with poetic mystic twists. She is devoted to teaching to her friends and family, at private events, and festivals, where the wisdom and beauty bliss of yoga is transmuted through devotion and not through the status-quo of monetary exchange. Her inspirations are collected from her personal and travel experiences in life, yogic texts, plant wisdom, heart-centered practices, and Earth devotion. Marcela lives at Big Bend Hot Springs with her partner, Seabrook Leaf. She dreams of an intentional community that lives respectfully and with reverence to the Earth, of Art and Yoga and Plant Wisdom as a way to expand our consciousness towards oneness, and of forming her own family in unity with the wild wilderness of her surroundings.

ChoQosh Auh’Ho’Oh

ChoQosh Auh’Ho’Oh was named by the Seneca and Chumash elders. She is herself an elder of Coastal Native Indian descent. She is a giver of spiritual tools, divine and practical, and a messenger of ancient prophecies and sacred stories. ChoQosh taught for the Cross Cultural Communications program at University California Berkeley for 19 years, and classes in the great teepee at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, California. Having lived in the Canadian wilderness for many years, she passes on the knowledge of how to harvest the wild for food and medicine. She is the teacher of the moving prayer “The Dance of Life”, which will be offered in her workshop. ChoQosh was host for KAZU-FM’s award winning radio program Songs For The Earth/ Mending The Sacred Hoop (1985-1990). In 1990, at the invitation of the Maori King Hukapa Mateau of Aotearoa/ New Zealand she was asked to come to share her knowledge and sacred stories. It was there she received the name “Te Wahini O Nga Ho O E Wah- Woman Of The Four Directions Who Call The People To Action”. Sky Eagle, the Chumash elder, caller her one of the great teachers of these times. She teaches a primary course in Wisdom of the Elders. Her words have been published in many books, including Ceremonial Circle, The Feminine Face of God and the magazine Women of Power. ChoQosh will bring to us the Blanket of Hope*, its knowledge, comfort and challenge.

Big Bend Hot Springs Permaculture Design Course - Aug 2010

Kyle Collins

Harkening from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Kyle moved to California in search of training in sustainable agriculture and permaculture. He received his Permaculture Design Certificate from the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center (www.oaec.org) in 2007 and has been teaching workshops and a high school class in permaculture design since then. Kyle's love of fungi grew out of the exploration and personal development of his college years. Kyle has studied and worked with fungi sa an Environmental Educator, Permaculturalist, and Farmer. Kyle now has seven years experience of working with and growing organic culinary and medicinal mushrooms at home. He has taught workshops in mushroom cultivation and mycological restoration in Sonoma and Mendocino Countie for two years. His programs fuse together the wisdom of permaculture principles with hands-on experiential techniques for the home cultivation of mushroom.

Transform Your Lawn Into a Food Forest! - Berkeley Nov, 09

Mushrooms, Soil Building, & Mycoremediation - March, 09

Gordon Davidson

Gordon Davidson is President and co-founder of The Center for Visionary Leadership and co-author of Spiritual Politics (Foreword by the Dalai Lama) and Builders of the Dawn. Gordon served as the Executive Director of the Social Investment Forum and The Center for Environmentally Responsible Economies, and he is a Fellow of the World Business Academy and the Findhorn Foundation. He consults with many organizations, and offers personal coaching for leaders.

Big Bend Hot Springs Permaculture Design Course - Aug 2010

Brock Doleman

Brock Dolman is nationally recognized as a leading permaculture educator and innovative design consultant. He is a co-founder of both the Sowing Circle LLC intentional community and the widely acclaimed Occidental Arts and Ecology Center. He has been working in the fields of horticulture, biology, landscape design and installation for over 20 years. As a specialized generalist he has extensive experience in irrigation, uplands & riparian watershed management, natural building, wildlife biology, native plant botany, organic agriculture, perennial polyculture, sustainable forestry, seed saving, wildlands biodiversity preservation, school garden teacher training and school garden installation, alternative energy systems, consensus community and participatory social organizing methodologies. Brock is pragmatically active in the social and political application of permaculture prinicples for regenerative cultural transformation. By vote of the Occidental community he was given the "2001 Environmental Achievement Award" by the Occidental Chamber of Commerce. He is a co-founder of the Dutch Bill Creek Watershed Group, West County Watershed Network & the Town Hall Coalition. He acts as an advisor to the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District on riparian conservation easements and advises the Sonoma Land Trust on various restoration & education issues. He was co-founder and a leading negotiator on the historic Sonoma County Glassy-winged Sharpshooter Task Force agreement which disallows forced spraying and promotes the choice of organic control strategies. This agreement is now being used by the California Department of Agriculture as the boiler plate for communities in all other counties to be involved in participatory democracy against toxic vineyard chemicals. Brock has spoken at numerous major conferences such as Bioneers, EcoFarm & GreenPrints. He has been on national radio programs, published nationally distributed articles on permaculture and widely lectures at local universities, colleges, environmental forums, civic clubs, and public political meetings.

Commercial Aquaponics with Applied Permaculture Design - Aug, 2010

Bay Area Regional Permaculture Convergence

Peggy Dylan

Founder of SUNDOOR

A pioneer in motivational and leadership trainings since 1976, Peggy's work and insight catapulted the firewalk to national attention as a leading edge tool for human development in 1982. She continues to be a premier authority on this dynamic process. Publications have called her a practical mystic as she combines spiritual insight with down to earth and practical tools.

Through SUNDOOR she and her SUNDOOR Masters and SUNDOOR Trainers offer a diverse array of seminars to enhance the experience and expression of living, including firewalking. She has shared the stage with such New Age luminaries as Deepak Chopra, but is also well-known in the corporate field where she frequently teaches at high-stake companies, including American Express and Microsoft.

Featured on CNN, international television broadcasts in the U.S. and Europe and in numerous publications internationally, Peggy travels the globe to present her own unique and consistently effective techniques for personal achievement. Her audiences include business professionals, doctors, therapists and lay people in Europe, Asia and both North and South America. An inspirational and motivating speaker, Peggy has the uncanny ability to allow participants to grasp a new paradigm, a new way of thinking and being, which propels them into personal and professional success and a deep sense of joy and satisfaction in being alive.

Upcoming:

Sundoor Initiation - Nov, 2011

Sundoor Firewalk Instructor Certification - Dec, 2011

Sundoor Initiation - Nov, 2010

Sundoor Firewalk Instructor Certification - Dec, 2010

Hannah Apricot Eckberg

Finding creative solutions to our environmental problems and helping share them with others has long been a goal of Hannah Eckberg. Raised on a coastal ranch in California that was threatened by oil development, her environmental work started when she was still in cloth dippers. At the age of 19, she became president of what is recognized as America's first Grass-Roots environmental organization, Get Oil Out!. Through a number of different organizations, Hannah has worked to promote renewable energy and sustainable alternatives such as industrial hemp. Inspired by the principles of permaculture, she started a production company to spread the word of such promising design systems and creative solutions. Recently, Hannah has spent several months in Hawaii studying the sustainable food production method of Aquaponics. Seeing this as a real key to urban, rural, and disaster area food production, Hannah is excited to share this knowledge with others in order to help empower them to take food production into their own hands.

Commercial Aquaponics with Applied Permaculture Design - Aug, 2010

Big Bend Hot Springs Permaculture Design Course - Aug 2010

Dina Falconi

Dina Falconi is an herbalist with a strong focus on food activism and nutritional healing. She is the author of Earthly Bodies & Heavenly Hair, owner of Falcon Formulations, a natural body care product business, co-creator of Earthly Extracts, a line of medicinal tinctures, and a founding member of the Northeast Herbal Association. Dina is Chapter Leader for the Hudson Valley Weston A. Price Foundation and on the steering committee of Slow Food - Hudson Valley Convivium. An avid gardener and wildcrafter, Dina is passionate about permaculture and has completed the Permaculture Design Certificate Course. She offers workshops and consultations throughout the northeast.

Previous: Forest Garden Immersion Course April 23-26 2009

Laura Fox

Laura Fox serves our awakening community as a marketing consultant and energetic activist, sharing Reality Creation Technolgies and Visionary Stewardship Training globally. An author, visionary, Thai massage practitioner, and energy healer, Laura holds space for community activation and the fullest expression of our highest human potential. Through many years of diligent spiritual study and intention for being of service, Laura has developed the Anchor The Dream Experience and teaches it worldwide. Director of The Advisory Board for the Raw Spirit Festival, Laura hosts The Raw Spirit Show on Sedona Talk Radio. A raw vegan for 7 years, Laura has a website called Raw Inspirations and offers high vibrational inspiration for the Raw Vegan lifestyle including instruction, blogs and newsletters. She has also developed and practices two healing modalities: Core Star Activation and Manna Touch. Laura's personal mission is to be a conduit of true divine love for the awakening and healing of the heart of the world, and to activate the highest consciousness through the production of conscious music.

Living Mandala at 30th Annual Harmony Festival
Aloha ‘Aina Holistic Permaculture Design Course 08

Mai Frank

Mai lives in western MA and grew up in CT, near NYC. She attended Hampshire College where she created and completed her degree in permaculture design and community storytelling. This past summer, she interned at Woodsong Farm where she contributed to the design and implementation of CSA-infrastructure and 8 acres of forest gardens. She has also interned at Smith Botanic Gardens where she practiced foundational horticulture and botany skills. Recently, Mai began work with her mentor at Dynamic Ecological Designs, where she uses a permaculture process to design residential lots with forest gardens. She’s excited to serve as a second-time co-teacher for this course, where she’ll focus on empowering participants with many of the fundamental tools and skills necessary for identifying, eating and cultivating key plants for the Hudson Valley. When she’s not forest-gardening, Mai mentors teens at two naturalist programs in southern VT, where she focuses on work with girls. She’s passionate about partner acrobatics, dancing and singing, map-making, herbal medicine, fermentation, cooking and fiber-arts.

Previous: Forest Garden Immersion Course April 23-26 2009

Kirk Gadzia

Kirk Gadzia owns and operates Resource Management Services, LLC, a training and consulting firm located in Bernalillo, NM. Kirk has extensive international experience in consulting with many large ranching and agricultural operations throughout the United States and overseas.

The focus of his work is a holistic approach to agriculture and life, whereby land, animals, crops, wildlife and other resources are planned into the operation and financial picture. The model for making this work is mimicking natural systems and balancing life style with long and short term goal.

Kirk also provides customized training and consulting to a wide variety of public and private business and conservation organizations. Kirk is co-author of the National Academy of Science 1994 publication entitled Rangeland Health, and is working to improve rangeland health monitoring techniques in a wide variety of environments. Kirk has presented talks at the No-till on the Plains Annual Conference in 2003 and 2004, 11th AAPRESID Argentinean No-till Farmers Association Rosario, Argentina in 2003, and The South Dakota No-till Annual Conference in 2007.

Holistic Management Course - Sept 2011

Nassim Haramein

Founder & Director of The Resonance Project

Nassim has spent his lifetime researching planetary and hyperdimensional physics, bridging the the worlds of physics, cosmology, archaeology, chemistry, biology, philosophy and religion with his comprehensive investigation into the fundamental wheel-works of nature. His investigation of the geometry of hyperspace combines quantum physics and cosmological understandings of universal forces with a new solution to Einstein field equations, unifying physics and integrating other sciences into a cohesive whole. Through his knowledge of quantum and relativistic physics and his study of ancient texts, Nassim has decoded the Kabalistic Tree of Life, the Flower of Life and many other symbols and artifacts. Nassim leads people along a fascinating discussion geared to a layman's understanding of the fundamental nature of the universe and creation that includes black holes, gravitational forces, dimensions, and the very structure of space itself – all of which are integral parts of his Unified Field Theory. If you are not yet familiar with Nassim Haramein’s exciting work, prepare yourself for an exhilarating odyssey into hyperspace and beyond.

Previous: Aloha ‘Aina Holistic Permaculture Design Course 08

Bruce Horowitz

Founder and Director of The Sun Kitchen and R.I.P.E.

Bruce Horowitz, a.k.a. "Chef Sprout," is a certified composting educator, permaculture designer, and master raw foods chef dedicated to the global proliferation of sustainable cuisine. Bruce has ten years experience as a live-food culinary artist and instructor combined with a passion for connecting the Raw Food Movement with a deeper ecological understanding, making him one of with the most versatile raw-food chefs in the Pacific Northwest. Bruce is the owner and executive chef of The Sun Kitchen - a live-food catering company and festival concession, a lead retreat chef for Nature’s First Law and Dancing Butterfly Enterprises, and a certified Permaculture Teacher. When not teaching individuals and chefs to lovingly create live-food and to plant organic gardens at Living Light Culinary Arts Institute in Fort Bragg California and PCC Cooks in Seattle, Bruce teaches at the The Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland. Author of the forthcoming book, The Raw Revolution: Healing the Planet One Bite at a Time, Bruce is a regular contributor to Raw Inspirations e-zine. Bruce’s latest project, R.I.P.E. is gearing up to collaborate with others to present a series of Sustainable Living Retreats around the world.

Previous:
Aloha ‘Aina Holistic Permaculture Design Course 08
Raw Permaculture Hands-On Practicum

Dr. Elaine Ingham

Dr. Ingham is President and Director of Research at Soil Foodweb Inc., a small business that grew out of her Oregon State University research program. Her research is on: What organisms are present in the soil and on the foliage of your plants, which organisms benefit which types of plants, which organisms harm plants, how can these organisms be managed to grow plants with the least expensive inputs into the system while maintaining soil fertility. Elaine started her academic career at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN graduating in 1974 with a double major, cum laude, in Biology and Chemistry. Elaine earned her Master of Science in Microbiology in 1977 at Texas A & M University and her doctorate degree from Colorado State University in 1981. Elaine's doctorate is in Microbiology with an emphasis on soil. Elaine was offered Post-doctoral Fellowship, along with her husband Russ (who also has a doctorate from Colorado State University in Zoology, emphasizing nematology), at the Natural Resource Ecology Lab at Colorado State University. In 1985, Elaine accepted a Research Associate Fellowship at the University of Georgia.

Dr. Elaine Ingham is an energetic, easy-to-understand speaker who explains what life in the soil is all about. Behind this "user-friendly" approach lies a wealth of knowledge gained from years of intensive research into the organisms which make up the soil food web. Elaine not only understands the soil food web, she has knowledge on how to ensure a healthy food web to promote plant growth and reduce reliance on inorganic chemicals. While truly an academic, Elaine is also passionate about sharing her knowledge and research findings with those at the grass roots level of working with soils. That includes not just farmers who grow crops, but also those who graze cattle, sheep and other livestock, fruit and vegetable growers, greens keepers, parks and gardens workers, nursery operators - in fact anyone who grows things, even if it's just plain old lawn grass. Elaine offers a way forward for sustainable farming. A way of improving the soils we work with now and a way to keep soils in this healthier state without damaging any other eco-system. Attendance at Elaine's courses is always very high with a broad cross section of people taking advantage of her knowledge sharing. It is exciting that a speaker with such a depth of knowledge and dynamic presentation style, who is respected the world over as a leader in research of the soil food web is sharing this information with us.

Christopher Kuntzsch

Christopher is co-founder and co-director of the Ecology of Leadership programs at RDI. Dedicating his service path to leadership and personal development projects for the last 7 years, he supports conscious change-makers in getting in touch with, nurturing, and germinating the seeds of possibility they hold within. Through personal coaching, consulting, and facilitation he has helped hundreds of eco-social activists and entrepreneurs, sustainability professionals, non-profit leaders, managers, C-level executives, artists, and healers get in touch with their purpose, vision, and leadership potential through a synergy of self-awareness, personal practice, skill development, and engagement with the natural world. Christopher’s background includes dual bachelors degrees – in Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies - from the University of California, Santa Cruz, 5 years of intensive coaching and facilitation as director of coaching services at Steve Dudley Associates (http://www.stevedudleyassociates.com/), certification in permaculture design from the Regenerative Design Institute (http://www.regenerativedesign.org/), trainer certification with the Center for Leadership Studies (http://www.situational.com/), the co-active coaching fundamentals from the Coaches Training Institute (http://www.thecoaches.com/), completion of the 1-year Interchange counseling development program, the residential program at Wilderness Awareness School (http://www.wildernessawareness.org/), and studies at Tom Brown, Jr.’s Tracker School http://www.trackerschool.com/).

Upcoming:

Ecology of Leadership

Brad Lancaster

Brad Lancaster is the author of the best-selling, and award-winning books Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 1: Guiding Principles to Welcome Rain Into Your Life and Landscape and Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 2: Water-Harvesting Earthworks, and creator of the information-packed website www.HarvestingRainwater.com. Living on an eighth of an acre (0.05 ha) in downtown Tucson, Arizona, where rainfall is less than 12 inches (304 mm) annually, Brad practices what he preaches by harvesting over 100,000 gallons (379,000 liters) of rainwater a year.

Brad Lancaster is a permaculture teacher, designer, consultant and co-founder of Desert Harvesters (DesertHarvesters.org). Brad has taught programs for the ECOSA Institute, Columbia University, University of Arizona, Prescott College, Audubon Expeditions, and many others. He has helped design integrated water harvesting and permaculture systems for homeowners and gardeners, including the Tucson Audubon Simpson Farm restoration site, the award-winning Milagro and Stone Curves co-housing projects.

Brad and his brother Rodd have created an oasis in the desert by directing this harvested rainwater not off their property and into storm drains, but instead incorporating it into living air conditioners of food-bearing shade trees, abundant gardens, and a thriving landscape that includes habitat for wildlife. This living example, dynamic public talks, and countless hands-on workshops have inspired thousands of citizens and numerous businesses in Tucson and around the country to harvest water and sustainably grow their local resources.

Brad's engaging style and entertaining and informative speaking and teaching are in demand resulting in interviews with National Public Radio, New Dimensions, and Natural Home and Garden, along with presentations and workshops for the Bioneers Convergence, the Green Festival, the Texas Natural Building Colloqium, the New Mexico Xeriscape Conference, Organic Farming Conferences, and more.

Big Bend Hot Springs Permaculture Design Course - Aug 2010

Greg Landua

Eco-Village Training Center Program Coordinator

Greg Landua has studied marine and terrestrial ecology and evolutionary biology in the Galapagos Islands, translated for Amazonian rainforest guides, fought wildfires in the wilderness of Alaska, and studied the nuances of ecology and ethics. Greg has B.S. in Environmental Science and Ethics from Oregon State University, and is receiving a graduate diploma in Organizing Learning for Ecosocial Regeneration from Gaia University. He is currently the Program Coordinator for the Ecovillage Training Center on The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee. He is an active permaculture and ecovillage design educator, founding partner of the Nemawashi Partnership, and core member of the Living Mandala Design Collective. Along with teaching and practicing permaculture, Greg is an active bioregional organizer and NextGEN fellow helping to craft avenues and pathways for intergenerational dialog and collaboration in the shared enterprise of earth regeneration. Greg is also a member of the coordination team for the 10th Continental Bioregional Congress, and author of the blog Gaia Emerging which explores regenerative solutions for the well being of our planet.

Financial Permaculture & Green Business Summit 2008

Advanced Permaculture Design Practicum at the Farm

Earthworks for Water Catchment, Erosion Control & Clear Cut Remediation

Forest Gardening & Orchard Remediation

Andy Langford

Co-founder and President
Gaia University

Andy brought Permaculture to the UK in 1986 and initiated the Permaculture Association of Britain, as well as the Permaculture Diploma WorkNet upon which the design of Gaia University is based. He has been active in the European permaculture and ecovillage networks, is a member of the European Permaculture Council and has served on the European Council of the Global Ecovillage Network.

Gaia University Orientation U.S. Virgin Islands - Dec 2009

Gaia University Orientation, Regenerative Design Institute - June, 2008

Financial Permaculture & Green Business Summit 2008
Gaia University Orientation, Regenerative Design Institute - June, 2008

Gaia University Orientation, Thriviability Institute

Jay Ma

Jay Ma is a permaculture designer, facilitator, natural builder, and community organizer committed to cultural healing through Peacemaker Principles. He received his first permaculture design certification through Naropa University in 2001, a B.A. through New College of California in Culture, Ecology, and Sustainable Community with a concentration in Eco-Dwelling & Natural Building. Jay is a graduate of the pioneering two-year training intensive in Regenerative Design & Nature Awareness. Jay has facilitated educational programs, retreats, workshops, and events as well as community land development projects with organizations including the Regenerative Design Institute, the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Gaia University, Omega Institute, Harmony Festival, and others. Jay is co-founder and director of programs and development of Living Mandala, and works with other regenerative educators and institutions organizing educational courses, workshops, and events for ecological and social regeneration in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. He is currently an associate with Gaia University in Organized Learning for Eco-Social Regeneration. Jay is also a certified Permaculture Teacher, a Fire Walk Instructor through Sundoor International, and is passionate about renewing Rites of Passage experiential programs for people of all ages.

Upcoming:

Art of Mentoring - Aug 2011

VISION: August 2011

Weekend Permaculture Design Certification Course - Spring, 2011

Commercial Aquaponics with Applied Permaculture Design - Aug, 2010

Peacemaking and Permaculture: Permaculture Design Certification Course

Big Bend Hot Springs Permaculture Design Course - Aug 2010

Earth Activist Training Jan 2010

Transform Your Lawn Into a Food Forest! - Berkeley Nov, 09

VISION: The Dance of Nature, Soul & Spirit: July 25 - Aug 1, 09

Mushrooms, Soil Building, & Mycoremediation - March, 09

Earth Activist Training Jan 2009

Earthen Building Weekend Workshop

Financial Permaculture & Green Business Summit

Living Mandala at 30th Annual Harmony Festival

Gaia University Orientation, Regenerative Design Institute - June, 08
Aloha ‘Aina Holistic Permaculture Design Course 08
Raw Permaculture Hands-On Practicum

Mia Rose Maltz

RITES Project Founder

Mia Rose Maltz is a co-founder and Executive Director of the RITES Project and has lived in west Sonoma County for nine years. Mia has been learning about mycology, mushroom cultivation and mycorestoration for twelve years and has taken several classes with Paul Stamets, founder of Fungi Perfecti. She was certified in Permaculture Design in 1999 at OAEC. In 2003, she was certified to teach Permaculture at the Diamond Light Center in Oakland. Mia is a Fellow of the Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy and she enjoys teaching about Permaculture, mycorestoration, and bioremediation. She attended Colgate University, completed her B.A. in Culture, Ecology, and Sustainability from New College of California in 2000. Mia is currently pursuing her Masters of Science degree in Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Studies at Sonoma State University.

Ecuadorian Political Ecology, Oil Pollution, and Mycoremediation - Dec 15 - Jan 15, 2010

Saga Mata

Sage Mata is a permaculture designer, educator, natural builder, and community organizer – inspired by the harmonious and regenerative patterns of healthy ecosystems. She began her studies and practices of organic gardening and Permaculture while receiving her BA in Ecopsychology at U.C. Santa Cruz. She received her Permaculture design certification in 2004 and completed a Permaculture Teacher’s Training Course at the Bullock’s Homestead, WA.

Sage has led natural building projects in Vancouver Island and various projects in CA – with her newest passion in building cob ovens! She worked as a natural building site leader at O.U.R Ecovillage (www.ourecovillage.org) and co-manager of the bountiful gardens at GingerHill farm/retreat center on the Big Island of Hawai’i (www.gingerhillfarm.com). Sage has worked for several organizations, such as the Homeless Garden Project (www.homelessgardenproject.org) and the Garden Path Project of Berkeley Youth Alternatives (www.byaonline.org/heat). Sage is also passionate about our inner ecology and about relationships in our communities – and is a practitioner and and facilitator of Compassionate Communication, World Cafes, Kriya Yoga, and Holistic Nutrition. Sage is a Programs Facilitator for Living Mandala and has been organizing, facilitating and teaching Permaculture design courses, natural building workshops, and food forest gardening workshops since 2004. Sage also currently does regenerative landscape and natural building consulting in Sonoma County, CA.

Commercial Aquaponics with Applied Permaculture Design - Aug, 2010

Big Bend Hot Springs Permaculture Design Course - Aug 2010

Mud, Magic, and Manifestation: Introduction to the Natural Building & Magic For Woman

Earth Activist Training Jan 2010

Transform Your Lawn Into a Food Forest! - Berkeley Nov, 09

Mud, Magic, and Manifestation: Introduction to the Natural Building & Magic For Woman

Earth Activist Training Jan 2009

Earthen Building Weekend Workshop

Financial Permaculture & Green Business Summit 2008

Mehrunisa Malik

With a Pakistani origin, Mehru has been living in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last twenty years. She studied international economics in college and then moved her educational focus towards Sustainable Sciences and Permaculture. Using the ecologically sound and holistic approach to design, Mehru has been involved with several permaculture courses and projects over the last few years. She has learned under some fine educators including: Benjamin Fahrer, Katherine Steele, Brock Dolman at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, and internationally recognized Geoff and Nadia Lawton. Mehru is now coordinating international permaculture work in India and Pakistan.

Previous: South India Permaculture Tour 2009

Corinne McLaughlin

Corinne McLaughlin is co-author of The Practical Visionary, Spiritual Politics, and Builders of the Dawn and is co-founder of The Center for Visionary Leadership in California and North Carolina. She coordinated a national task force for President Clinton’s Council on Sustainable Development and is a Fellow of The World Business Academy and the Findhorn Foundation. She is also a co-founder of Sirius Community, a spiritual/environmental center in Massachusetts, and she taught politics at American University.

Big Bend Hot Springs Permaculture Design Course - Aug 2010

Max Meyers

Maximillian Meyers is an Ecological Designer, Permaculture Teacher, Commercial Aquaponic System Designer/Installer, Rainwater and Greywater System specialist, Farmer and the Executive Director of the Mendocino Ecological Learning Center - a nonprofit educational organization and ecological reserve offering green job training and sustainable living skills to the public free of charge. In addition to the work at MELC, Max provides Ecological design services to the public, organizations and schools through his businesses Osiris Designs and NorCal Aquaponics. He is passionate about all things related to a more just and sustainable world. He has been studying, practicing and teaching Permaculture and Ecological Design for 13 years. Since graduating from College with a B.A. degree in Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Communities, Max has become a certified Permaculture designer/teacher, water systems specialist and working professional. He has been fortunate enough to study with people like Bill Mollison, Geoff Lawton, Sepp Holzer, Tom Ward, Jude Hobbs, John Valenzuela, Penny Livingston, and many others in places like the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and Hawaii. Some of his fields of study and practice include: Natural Building, Organic Farming, Integrated Rainwater Harvesting, Alternative Transportation, Mushroom Cultivation, Sustainable Forestry, Beekeeping, Animal Husbandry, Renewable Energy, Biogas Production and use, Greywater Systems design and installation, Vermiculture, seed saving and many other sustainable technologies, methods and skills. He has experience teaching Permaculture, Natural Building, Cob Construction, Renewable Energy, Organic Farming, Beekeeping and others. His work has been featured in the best selling book Gaia’s Garden, radio and television programs. Max’s most recent project is a large scale Aquaculture Farm in Costa Rica that he is transforming into a large scale Commercial Aquaponics Farm, Research Institute, and Educational Center called Finca Neptuno.

Upcoming:

Aquaponics & Permaculture: 10 Day Intensive in Eco-Paradise - Dec 2011

Commercial Aquaponics with Applied Permaculture Design - May, 2011

Weekend Permaculture Design Certification Course - Spring, 2011

Aquaponics & Permaculture: 10 Day Intensive in Eco-Paradise - Dec 2010

Commercial Aquaponics with Applied Permaculture Design - Aug, 2010

Big Bend Hot Springs Permaculture Design Course - Aug 2010

Julie “Bird” Moore

Julie "Bird" Moore is an Oregon farm born self-evolutionary and true voice of compassion and humor working on multi-faceted levels tending inner and outer gardens as an interpersonal counselor and visionary consultant. Leading by example she has gained extensive experience on her action-learning life path including: Metaphysical Advisor, Peer to Peer Counselor, Workshop Facilitator, Theatrical and Musical Performer/Edutainer" (Educational Entertainer), Visionary Networker, Business Manager, Multi Media Documentarian, and Professional Chef. Julie’s studies and interests have included: Public Presentation and Relations, Group Facilitation, Education, Micro-mimicry, Sustainability, Psycho-cybernetics, Psychology, Quantum Theory, Bio- Dynamics, and Interpersonal Communications to name a few. One of Julie’s most notable accomplishments is co-founding, managing, and teaching at a Mystery School which focused on the study and practice of Mysticism, Earth-based Consciousness, Magic, & Metaphysics. By invoking magical awareness, conscious evolution and free creative expression, Julie brings an inspirational toolset strategically weaving artists, leaders, thinkers, and activists to support the emerging culture and world building projects.

Living Mandala at 30th Annual Harmony Festival

Earth Activist Training Jan 2012

Erik Ohlsen

Erik Ohlsen is a Permaculture designer, teacher, community organizer, and activist. He is the director and owner of Permaculture Earth Artisans - a Permaculture design and installation business in Sebastopol, California. Erik has extensive field experience in water harvesting/storm water management, Food Forests, perennial polyculture, erosion control systems, market gardens/farms, ponds, integrated Pest management, sustainable forestry, irrigation systems, grey water/bioremediation, use of and influence to microclimates, urban agriculture, community gardens, watershed restoration, operating heavy machinery, and facilitating crews. Erik has taught courses in Permaculture and related subjects throughout the US, Canada, and the UK. He currently teaches with the Earth Activist Training, the Regenerative Design Institute and guest teaches with The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center. Internationally, Erik has worked on campaigns for global Justice. He has founded numerous non-profits over the years. The following are organizations Erik has co-founded or founded: Planting Earth Activation - PA, an organization dedicated to planting community gardens, growing and saving heirloom and open pollinated seed, and educating the community about sustainable agriculture. PA planted over hundred gardens in under three years. The RITES Project (Return Intentions Toward Ecological Sustainability) - this organization has initiated gardens and eco-literacy programs in schools. The RITES project also organizes Permaculture and bioremediation courses locally and abroad. The Green Bloc -this group of Permaculture Activists organize solution oriented actions at the WTO, G8, FTAA, and Biotech meetings. Adopt-an-Activist - An organization dedicated to fundraising for activists, to enable full time stints for people dedicated to this work.

Upcoming:

Earth Activist Training Jan 2009

Jenny Pell

Former tree planter, helicopter pilot, carpenter, and yurt builder, Jenny manages many of the Permaculture Now! projects. Based out of Seattle, WA Jenny works in Washington State, Portland, Central America, Hawaii, and Europe organizing design courses, recruiting students, managing business details, consulting communities, fundraising for scholarships, curriculum development, nursery projects, and much more. Her presence, experience, teaching style, slideshows, presentations and example inform, inspire, and empower people with the skills to make changes that help move us towards a more sustainable and thriveable future. Jenny’s skill set’s and experience are too rich to describe. She is a brilliant, amazing, and truly inspiring person affecting people and the planet in a powerful way wherever she goes.

Upcoming:

Aloha ‘Aina Holistic Permaculture Design Course 2012

Benneth Phelps

Benneth is a vegetable farmer and Permaculturalist in Massachusetts. She manages Enterprise Farm CSA, where she focuses on year-round growing and collaborations between East Coast farms to supply customers year-round with edibles from their foodshed. She is co-founder of the Western Massachusetts Permaculture Guild, and served as program coordinator for the 4th Annual North East Permaculture Convergence in 2008. She holds a Masters in Land Use and Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts. She is excited about her role as coordinator for the outdoor learning, forest garden care and planting portion of the course!

Previous: Forest Garden Immersion Course April 23-26 2009

Dyami Nason-Regan

Dyami has been passionately pursuing permaculture for the last year and a half. Born and raised in Ulster County, Dyami attended Empire State College where she designed and completed her degree in Natured-Based Mentoring. Her solid foundation in working with children in nature serves as a springboard for her growth as a permaculture designer. Following the completion of her permaculture design course she incepted and created a youth-run community garden in the village of Ellenville. She is most interested in pursuing this work because of her passion for feeding people with food grown locally and with care for local ecosystems. Wellness of the Earth and people inspire her work in the world.

Previous: Forest Garden Immersion Course April 23-26 2009

Ethan Roland

Founder & Director AppleSeed Permaculture

Ethan is a permaculture designer, teacher, and researcher based in the Connecticut and Hudson river valleys. He studies and practices regenerative design in all corners of the world, from the wild apple forests of Kazakhstan to the tropical monsoon ecosystems of Thailand. Ethan builds resilience for local and global communities through the ecological design & development firm AppleSeed Permaculture, and helps to organize the Northeastern Permaculture Network. He holds an M.S. in Collaborative Eco-Social Design from Gaia University, and is currently working for the university in Organizational Development and to grow the Bachelor's program.

Ethan is a joyfully dedicated plant geek, and works closely with Dave Jacke, Eric Toensmeier, and Jonathan Bates on the Board of the Apios Institute to further the art and science of Edible Forest Gardens. He has planted forest gardens all over the northeast, and is eager to share is passion and experience with developing these incredible ecosystems of abundance.

Gaia University Orientation, Regenerative Design Institute - June, 2008

Forest Garden Immersion Course April 23-26 2009

Financial Permaculture & Green Business Summit

Maria Ros

Maria is a Wardrobe and Set designer, Bioenergetics and Body Psichotherapist, and Permaculture Designer having studied in Bolivia and the United States. She has studied some Permaculture specialties in France and México. She is the Mexican representative of The Latin-American Institute of Permaculture, She is the Director of Ecodanza TM,President of Ecoaldea Gratitud A.C.and co-director of Casa Sanarte. Her main interest is to get Human beings and Nature´s needs together in order to create new ways of looking at Natural sanctuaries and human settlements, that´s why, She has been marring permaculture and human development and developing educational programs for all ages for the last 15 years, and for the last 6 years, the Yucatán peninsula has been the place in which She has been creating permacultural and emotional-developed communities...

First Permaculture Design Certification of the Caribbean - Nov-Dec, 09

Devin Slavin

Devin Slavin is a permaculture designer, eduator, and founder of Abundance In Balance & the Grow Food Party Crew - - a model and movement for growing food and building community resilience through front and backyard parties. He has been intensively studying and applying permaculture in a wide variety of situations - from farming to teaching to landscape design and building. Devin has a BA in Culture, Ecology, and Sustainable Community with concentration in Ecological Agriculture through New College of California and has studied and worked with the Regenerative Design Institute for over two years. Devin specializes in high-end property design and mentoring both adults and youth in Permaculture and Nature Connection.

Transform Your Lawn Into a Food Forest! - Berkeley Nov, 09

Steve Sakala

Steve served as volunteer, employee and eventually, co-director at the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology where he lived and worked in a demonstration home with sustainable, thriving systems. In West Africa, Steve spent four years working with local villages to identify areas of need around food security, and began introducing solutions like agroforestry and other organic agriculture demonstrations. For the past several years he has been working as an environmental consultant on a wide range of projects involving permaculture, green building, alternative energy, urban sustainability, sustainable disaster relief, and green economy. Steve is currently working with community groups and organizations on the Island of Hawaii, leading land cultivation, self-sufficiency and preparedness plans at an 18-acre research park. Steve's priorities lie in his desire to help communities design and implement beyond sustainable systems into thriving social, environmental, cultural, and economic models.

Previous: Aloha ‘Aina Holistic Permaculture Design Course 08

Joel Salatin

Joel Salatin, 50, is a fulltime farmer in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. A third generation

alternative farmer, he returned to the farm fulltime in 1982 and continued refining and adding to his parents’ ideas. The farm services more than 1,500 families, 10 retail outlets, and 30 restaurants through on-farm sales and metropolitan buying clubs with salad bar beef, pastured poultry, eggmobile eggs, pigaerator pork, forage-based rabbits, pastured turkey and forestry products using relationship marketing. He holds a BA degree in English and writes extensively in

magazines such as STOCKMAN GRASS FARMER, ACRES USA, and AMERICAN AGRICULTURALIST. The family’s farm, Polyface Inc. (“The Farm of Many Faces”) has been featured in SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, GOURMET and countless other radio, television and print media. Profiled on the Lives of the 21st Century series with Peter Jennings on ABC World News, his after- broadcast chat room fielded more hits than any other segment to date. It achieved iconic status as the grass farm featured in the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA by food writer guru Michael Pollan.

A sought-after conference speaker, he addresses a wide range of issues, from “creating

the farm your children will want” to “making a white collar salary from a pleasant life in the

country.” A wordsmith, he describes his occupation as “mob-stocking herbivorous solar

conversion lignified carbon sequestration fertilization.” His humorous and conviction-based speeches are akin to theatrical performances, often receiving standing ovations. Joes has authored six books, four of them how-to types:

• PASTURED POULTRY PROFITS: Net $25,000 in 6 months on 20 Acres, SALAD BAR BEEF.

• SALAD BAR BEEF, YOU CAN FARM: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Start and Succeed in a Farming Enterprise.

• FAMILY FRIENDLY FARMING: A Multi-Generational Home-Based Business Testament.

• HOLY COWS AND HOG HEAVEN: The Food Buyer’s Guide to Farm Friendly Food,

is an attempt to bring producers and patrons together in mutual understanding and appreciation.

• EVERYTHING I WANT TO DO IS ILLEGAL: War stories from the local food front.

• YOU CAN FARM: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start and Succeed in a Farming Business.

His speaking and writing reflect dirt-under-the-fingernails experience punctuated with mischievous humor. He passionately defends small farms, local food systems, and the right to opt out of the conventional food paradigm. His mother Lucille, wife Teresa, daughter Rachel, son Daniel, daughter-in-law Sheri, grandsons Travis and Andrew, and granddaughter Lauryn, work fulltime together on the family farm.

Weekend Permaculture Design Certification Course - Spring, 2011

Dawn Shiner

Primary Course Facilitator

Course facilitator Dawn Shiner lives simply by choice and has guided Permaculture design presentations, workshops and courses at private residences, environmental centers, universities and colleges since 1987. She is the founder of Dancing Green, Inc. and also serves as a Regional Organizer for Gaia University. Dawn holds an MS in Integrative EcoSocial Design with a focus on Permaculture Education from Gaia University.

Previous: Heathcote Permaculture Design Course - July 2010

Kat Steele

Kat Steele is a permaculture activist, designer, educator and founder of the Urban Permaculture Guild in Oakland, CA. She facilitates workshops on ecological design, sustainability and permaculture as well as publicly speaks about eco-social design, city repair and the power of placemaking. Trained in Ecovillage Design with the Findhorn Foundation of Scotland, Natural Building with Kleiwerks International, and Permaculture Design with the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, she also holds an MA in Creative Arts from San Francisco State University. She presently serves on the board of a Bay Area nonprofit organization devoted to peace, justice and sustainablity, the NorCal Chapter of Architects, Designers, Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR). In 2006 she became one of a 1,000 Climate Project trainees empowered to present a version of Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth slide presentation. Kat recently moved to Big Sur, CA to lead sustainability initiatives at the Esalen Institute. She is devoted to localization and community resiliency, believing it to be a key strategy towards sustainability and "thriveability.”

Starhawk

Starhawk is a committed global justice activist, organizer, speaker, teacher, and the author or coauthor of ten books. Starhawk is founder of Earth Activist Training, and travels internationally teaching magic, the tools of ritual, and the skills of activism for diverse groups, communities and audiences. Starhawk is perhaps best known as an articulate voice in the revival of earth-based spirituality and Goddess religion. Besides her inspiring, much-read books, she is a cofounder of Reclaiming, an activist branch of modern Pagan religion, and continues to work closely with the Reclaiming community. Her works include The Spiral Dance, long considered the essential text for the Neo-Pagan movement, and the now-classic ecotopian novel, The Fifth Sacred Thing . A personal favorite is award-winning Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising. Starhawk's latest book is The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature. Starhawk's books have been translated into many languages, while her essays are reprinted across the world, and have been included in numerous anthologies. Her writing is influential and has been quoted by many hundreds of other authors, from magazines to trade and academic press. Her books are often used in college curriculums. Starhawk is a veteran of progressive movements with over 30 years of experience and is deeply committed to bringing the techniques and creative power of spirituality to political activism. She co-founded RANT: Root Activists' Network of Trainers, and teaches non-violent direct action trainings for groups throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Palestine, and South America. She is active in the revived American peace movement, and works with Code Pink. Starhawk also works on countless environmental and land use issues, and is a founder and active member of the Cazadero Hills Land Use Council in western Sonoma County.

Starhawk consulted on and contributed to a trio of popular films, the Women's Spirituality series (directed by Donna Read).

Starhawk and Donna Read formed their own film company, Belili Productions. Their first release is "Signs Out of Time" (2004), a documentary on the life of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas, the scholar whose discoveries sparked the Goddess movement. Watch Starhawk’s short videos on Permaculture - Tabor Tilth: Permaculture in the City, and Permaculture Principles at Work. Starhawk and Donna are at work on her next film, an Introduction to Permaculture. Starhawk lives part-time San Francisco, in a collective house with her partner and friends, and part-time in a little hut in the woods in Cazadero, California, where she practices permaculture in her extensive gardens, and writes. For more information on Starhawk’s Schedule Click here.

Upcoming:

Earth Activist Training Jan 2012

Weekend Permaculture Design Certification Course - Spring, 2011

Commercial Aquaponics with Applied Permaculture Design - Aug, 2010

Mud, Magic, and Manifestation: Introduction to the Natural Building & Magic For Woman

Earth Activist Training - Jan, 2010

Mud, Magic, and Manifestation: Introduction to the Natural Building & Magic For Woman

Earth Activist Training - Jan, 2009

Penny Livingston-Stark

Director & Founder Regenerative Design Institute

Penny Livingston-Stark is internationally recognized as a prominent permaculture teacher, designer, and speaker. She is the founder of: Sustainable Living Designs (SLD) - a professional permaculture design/build firm integrating landscapes and structures with water, soil, plants and energy efficiency; The Permaculture Institute of Northern California (PINC) - an educational and research organization promoting sustainable technologies and methodologies; and Regenerative Design Institute (RDI) - a non-profit education program focusing on hands-on skills development. Penny has been working professionally in the land management and development field for 25 years and has extensive experience in all phases of ecologically sound landscape design and construction as well as the use of natural non-toxic building materials. She specializes in site planning & design of resource-rich landscapes, integrating rainwater collection, edible landscaping, pond and water systems, habitat development and watershed restoration for homes, co-housing communities, businesses and diverse-yield perennial farms. Penny is currently on the board of the Solar Living Institute in Hopland, California and has served on the Redwood Empire Chapter of the Green Building Council. She co-created the Ecological Design Program and its curriculum at the San Francisco Institute of Architecture and co-founded the West Marin Grower’s Group, West Marin Farmer’s Market, and the Community Land Trust Association of Marin.

Upcoming:

Regenerative Design & Nature Awarewareness “RDNA”

Peacemaking and Permaculture: Permaculture Design Certification Course

Big Bend Hot Springs Permaculture Design Course - Aug, 2010

Introduction to Permaculture in Maui

Food Forest Agroforestry Workshop in Maui - April 14-18, 2009

Gaia University Orientation, Regenerative Design Institute - June, 2008
Aloha ‘Aina Holistic Permaculture Design Course 08

James Stark

Co-Director - Regenerative Design Institute

James Stark, M.A., F.E.S., is the co-director of the Regenerative Design Institute (RDI). He co-founded and co-directs the Ecology of Leadership program and is a senior trainer in the 3-year, full-time Regenerative Design and Nature Awareness training program, preparing young global community leaders for the “Great Turning” of our era. James has committed his life to exploring how we – ourselves, our communities, and our species – might move as quickly as possible back into harmony with who we are and the natural world. He considers the programs at RDI a nursery for growing visions of the new era, and providing skills and tools to bring the visions to life. For decades, James dedicated himself to community visioning and organizing in West Marin – during which he co-founded the following organizations, among others: * West Marin Growers Group (WMGG), which was created to ensure food security in Marin County. WMGG grew into the 5013c, Marin Organic, which introduced the Marin Organic Food Label and hosts the West Marin Farmers Market.* Waste Free Now, which is committed to West Marin becoming waste free and hosts the innovative annual Recycle Circus including a "Stuff Exchange" for people to redistribute community resources.* KWMR "Watershed Radio", which is a licensed 501c3 community radio station in the tenth year of providing a voice for West Marin residences and heard around the world live through web casting. * CLAM - Community Land Trust Association of Marin, an affordable ecological housing land trust (5013c) created to provide affordable housing in the face of increasing gentrification. James’ years working with visioning led him to an interest in exploring the inner world and to earn a master’s degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica. Like the natural systems and patterns that guide permaculture, his work now is to help others explore the inner patterns that affect how visions become reality. He believes that creating a loving, peaceful inner world provides the soil for the seeds of our world visions to grow.

Upcoming:

Ecology of Leadership

Regenerative Design & Nature Awareness “RDNA”

Ecology of Leadership

Connor Stedman

Connor Stedman inhabits the Connecticut river valley of western Massachusetts as a wildcrafter, agroforester, nature-based educator, and regenerative community developer. He has studied, apprenticed, and taught with nature awareness organizations around North America since 2004, and has been practicing permaculture design and forest gardening since 2006. Currently Connor is in the final year of a B.Sc. in Integrative EcoSocial Design with Gaia University International. He is passionate about mentoring, knowledge of place, and growing networks of community.

Forest Garden Immersion Course April 23-26 2009

Financial Permaculture & Green Business Summit 2008

Tania Strebl

Tanya Strebl is a dynamic permaculture designer and teacher from Australia who has been an adamant practitioner and educator in the movement for a number of years. A detailed description of her teaching experience and projects is quite exceptional. Tanya specializes in tropical permaculture through dynamic hands-on experience, connecting people to the passion of doing the work both within and without with the spirit of life present in Nature. Filled with youthful zest for life and carrying an ancient presence, Tanya embodies ancient wisdom, conveys profound socio-spiritual-ecological insights, and inspires many with the spirit in which which she constantly “walks the talk”. If you have not yet experienced a permaculture practicum with Tanya, prepare yourself for some hands-on, action-learning, spirit-lifting fun and a most profound learning opportunity you will never forget!

Previous:
Raw Permaculture Hands-On Practicum

Heathcote Permaculture Design Course - July 2010

Karen Stupski

Assistent Course Facilitator

Assistant facilitator Karen Stupski has fifteen years of experience with permaculture as a member of Heathcote Community. She currently works as Development Director of the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy, a watershed organization and land trust, and is a Regional Organizer and Advisor for Gaia University. Karen holds a Ph.D. in the history of science, medicine, and technology from Johns Hopkins University.

Samantha Sweetwater

Samantha Sweetwater is a visionary educator, soul coach and priestess. She is the creator of Dancing Freedom, an Embodied Mystery School, and the founder of PeaceBody Ministries. She has led transformational workshop and trainings integrating dance, yoga, soul empowerment, light work and sustainable lifestyle design nationally and in Brazil, Australia, Germany and Japan since 1995. Her guiding questions: How do we bring peace alive as a moment-to-moment reality for all beings? How do we co-create a culture of Embodied Oneness?

Samantha invokes the integral wisdom of body, mind, heart and spirit. She ignites the passion of the soul’s true purpose, and reflects the Beauty Way of Evolutionary Enlightenment - the marriage of Source connection with grounded actions, whole relationships and living communities. In her travels, she has inspired thousands to embrace living tools for radiant health, authentic expression, joyous wholeness, planetary regenesis and awakened heart. Through the Dancing Freedom Embodied Mystery School, Samantha is training a community of facilitators to spread Peace-embodied around the world. She is constantly exploring angles through which the soul level epiphanies of the dancing experience can galvanize the WE in sustaining communities, relationships and actions. She is currently part of the organizing team for State of the World Forum and the Global Transitions Initiative.

VISION: August 2011

MASTERY: Dancing Freedom Facilitator Training - Feb 2011

EMBODIMENT: Dancing Freedom Facilitator Training - Oct, 2010

Big Bend Hot Springs Permaculture Design Course - Aug, 2010

VISION: The Dance of Nature, Soul & Spirit: July 25 - Aug 1, 2009

Eric Toensmeier

Eric Toensmeier is co-author of the book Edible Foret Gardens with Dave Jacke, and has studied and practiced permaculture since 1990. He has spent much of his adult life exploring edible and useful plants of the world and their use in perennial agroecosystems. After co-authoring Edible Forest Gardens, Eric wrote Perennial Vegetables, also published by Chelsea Green. He manages an urban farm project for Nuestras Raices Inc. (www.nuestras-raices.org), which provides immigrants and refugees with access to plots and start-up support on a 30 acre farm. He gives courses and presentations in English, Spanish, and Botanical Latin. Eric is a graduate and former faculty member of the Institute for Social Ecology in Plainfield, VT.

Earth Activist Training - Jan, 2010

Lauren Thomas

Founder & Director Convenient Truths

Lauren Quinn Thomas is a visionary and emerging leader living in Sebastopol, Northern California. Lauren has a Bachelors degree from Sonoma State University in Environmental Studies and Regional Planning, and is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Organizing Learning for EcoSocial Regeneration with Gaia University. She is the founder and CEO of Communecations, an enterprise committed to supporting cooperative communications for a sustainable world. Her background includes community education, planning, fundraising, marketing and sales. Her past accomplishments include being the Los Angeles Regional Campaign Coordinator for CalPIRG in 2001, home-birthing a beautiful baby boy in 2002, organizing a local watershed campaign in 2004, founding the EcoVision Sebastopol coalition in 2006, and supporting strategic development for the Livability Project in 2007. Lauren is a certified permaculture designer with a focus on Invisible Structures, and is most passionate about facilitating cooperation between individuals and institutions committed to evolution and sustainability.

Living Mandala at 30th Annual Harmony Festival

Big Bend Hot Springs Permaculture Design Course - Aug, 2010
Advanced Permaculture Design Practicum at the Farm

Rick Valley

Rick has been practicing Permaculture, Forest Gardening and Sustainable Forestry in the foothills of the Cascades for more than 17 years and carries the expertise of a master nurseryman form one of his previous incarnations as the owner of a nursery business. From an interest in new crops and ethnobotany, Rick began his study in Permaculture starting at a bamboo nursery in 1981. He took his first Permaculture Design Certification course with Bill Mollison in 1986 and began teaching with the first Permaculture Design Certification courses in Canada offered at Linnea Farm, Cortes Island, BC. Rick taught regularly with the Linnea Farm Community for 10 years, co-taught the first permaculture design courses in Canada, Oregon and Belize, and introduced Permaculture to the Lost Valley Ecovillage & Educational Center in Dexter Oregon, where he began teaching in 1990. Rick moved from Portland, OR to the S. Willamette Valley in 1997, and has been the primary land steward and lead permaculture instructor at Lost Valley since 2004. His special interests in Permaculture include hands-on education, tree crops, earthwork for water harvesting, and broadscale design for farms and communities. Rick holds a BA in anthropology from Antioch College, an MA in teaching from Reed College, and a diploma in Permaculture Design in teaching and site implementation from the Permaculture Institute of Australia.

Earthworks for Water Catchment, Erosion Control & Clear Cut Remediation

Forest Gardening & Orchard Remediation

John Valenzuela

John Valenzuela is a horticulturist, consultant, and veteran permaculture educator with experience teaching and consulting a wide range of people including children, students, professionals, owners, renters, institutions, businesses, displaced sugar workers, and more. John has been a lead permaculture design course instructor at the Bullock Family Homestead in Orcas Island Washington for 11 years, and also has experience teaching in Costa Rica and throughout urban and rural California. Living in Hawai'i for 15 years, John has studied and practiced tropical permaculture and taught extensively in the Islands. His special interests are home gardens, plant propagation, rare fruit, food forests, agroforestry, ethnobotany, and native ecosystems. John is now based in his home state of California, where he maintains a small nursery, shares his passion for plants, and teaches at courses across the west coast of the Unites States and beyond.

Weekend Permaculture Design Certification Course - Spring, 2011

Transform Your Lawn Into a Food Forest! - Berkeley Nov, 09

Introduction to Permaculture in Maui

Food Forest Agroforestry Workshop in Maui - April 14-18, 2009