Living Routes faculty are skilled and highly-experienced
educators and group leaders with Master's or Ph.D level qualifications.
With broad inter-disciplinary academic expertise, our faculty possess
a strong sense of integrity and commitment to sustainability, community
development, and experiential education. Faculty live and travel
with students to facilitate a positive community-building and mentoring
process and to ensure the safety, health, and well-being of all
participants.
Andrea Vecchione
Ph.D. (ABD), Asian Comparative Religions, California Institute of Integral Studies
M.A., Education, Mills College
B.S., Environmental Science, University of Rhode Island
Andrea Vecchione's love of nature and science began in Brazil and in the
Pacific Northwest conducting wildlife surveys of rare and endangered animals.
When she realized that human encroachment was the basis for most habitat
destruction, her quest for sustainability led her to a path of organic farming,
permaculture and teaching; bringing both nature into schools, and students out
of the traditional classroom. Her master's thesis focused on how organic
gardens can create a greater sense of community in public schools. Her thirteen
years of teaching has afforded her experience with students from grade school
through graduate programs, from a curriculum of environmental science to
Permaculture and systems theory. After repeated trips to India, including
working with Living Routes, she is completing her Ph.D. dissertation on the
topic of, "Sacred Groves and Traditional Environmental Knowledge"
fusing both environmental ethics, and spirituality.
Ethan Hirsch-Tauber
M.S. Environmental Education, Audubon Expedition Institute/Lesley University
B.A., Environmental Studies, New College of Florida
Ethan Hirsch-Tauber spent five years working in the field of green building and
energy efficiency through a non-profit in Atlanta and then leveraging US
government efficiency initiatives with a consulting company in Washington DC.
In 2007, he returned to graduate school to focus on experiential and
community-based environmental education. Hirsch-Tauber joined Living Routes in
2008 and continues to teach and be a teacher-trainer for the Auroville program.
He has developed a strong passion for transformative, ecological, and integral
education. More recently, he has begun visiting ecovillages around the world to
explore the different ways that communities are approaching the present
sustainability challenges humanity faces. His core goal as an educator is to
inspire students on their personal journeys to create positive social and
environmental change.
Mark Millstone Naveh
M.Sc., South Bank University in London; Honours (MA equiv.), James Cook University of North Queensland; B.Sc., University of Sydney
Born in England, Mark grew up in Australia, and graduated with degrees in Ecology and Education for Sustainability. A resident of Kibbutz Lotan since 1989, he is the principal guide at the Center for Creative Ecology and is responsible for the Center’s educational programming.
Michael Livni
MD, University of British Columbia
Born in Vienna, Michael grew up in Vancouver B.C. and graduated with a specialization in Social Psychiatry. Livni served as coordinator for the Israeli Reform Youth Movement and has worked in various agricultural and economic fields. Since 1986, he has lived on Kibbutz Lotan, where he has been instrumental in establishing a widely successful program of educational ecology and eco-tourism.
Leah Zigmond
M.S., Environmental Science and Management, Duquesne University
BA, Biology, Chatham University
Leah has been a Lotan resident for 8 years and works at Lotan’s Center for Creative Ecology overseeing new developments in the ‘Eco-Kef’ ecology park as well as creating environmental education programs for visitors of all ages. She also manages the Kibbutz 1/2 acre vegetable garden and teaches classes on plant biology and sustainable desert gardening. Zigmond has also worked for the Southern Arava Research and Development Station, overseeing various field experiments. With a backgound in both market gardening and agricultural research Zigmond’s particular passions include sustainable irrigation practices and community supprorted agriculture.
Daniel Burstyn
M.A., Jewish Studies, Hebrew College Boston
Since 1990, Burstyn has made his home as a member of Kibbutz Lotan in Israel's Arava Desert. Daniel holds a Master's Degree in Jewish Studies through Boston's Hebrew College, where his research focus was on Judaism and the Environment, and is currently pursuing Rabbinical studies through Aleph, the alliance for Jewish Renewal. He also holds a certificate in Permaculture.
On the kibbutz, Daniel has worked in the kitchen, early childhood daycare, and landscaping. He does his toranuyot (rotational work) milking the cows. He spent much of the last decade as editor of the news magazine of the Eilot Regional Council.
Gill Emslie
Diploma (M.A. equiv.) in Process Oriented Psychology, School of Process Oriented Psychology
Portland, OR, and London UK; Certificate in Holotropic Breathwork, School of Holotropic Breathwork, CA
Gill has extensive experience as an international trainer and facilitator, drawing on her training in transpersonal psychology, as a consultant to organizations and communities, and as a psychotherapist. She delivers trainings in group dynamics and conflict facilitation, social design, personal development, staff training, supervision, and developing the relationship between individual purpose and its application in the workplace and the world. Gill currently works within the corporate and voluntary sectors both in Europe and Latin America, as well as teaching in a variety of educational program.
Melissa Godbeer
B.MSc, M.MSc University of Metaphysics, California
Melissa is passionate about Living Education and personal sustainability, and teaches on a range of themes from green mind programming to pro-peace activism. She has been an educator with the Findhorn College since 2005 where her key area of interest is the beneficial communal effects of right-livelihood. With a diverse history originating in Zimbabwe, Africa, Melissa dynamically draws on over 10 years of team leadership and group facilitation experience, and utilizes advanced facilitation technology as a means to reach her audience. While maintaining an authentic level of compassion to support and mentor students through the academic demands of the rigorous Findhorn Community Semester program, Melissa’s capacity to demystify the seriousness of sustainable education brings relief to the learning community.
Deborah Jay-Lewin (2/10)
Diploma in Drama and Movement in Therapy; Accredited teacher with Gabrielle Roths' Moving Centre, New York; ITEC Diploma Holistic Massage
Deborah has over 20 years experience of introducing dance into different environments, and opening up movement possibilities in new and previously unexplored ways. Initially certified as a Sesame Movement and Drama Therapist working in Special Needs environments, she went on to train as a Holistic Massage practitioner. Having danced with Gabrielle Roth since 1989, she was accredited by the Moving Centre, New York in 1994 to teach the Waves® level of the work. In January 2007, she completed the training to teach Heartbeat®, the emotional maps of this dance practice. Deborah teaches 5Rhythms in the Findhorn Community in Scotland, which has been her primary home since 1986. This will be her ninth semester as Lead Faculty for the Findhorn Foundation College on the module ‘Exploring Self & Community through the Arts.’ When not teaching and parenting her two children (17 & 12) in Findhorn, she travels and teaches throughout Europe and Asia. She recently worked with 90 teenagers and 20 teachers in Thailand introducing 5Rhythms into their alternative learning curriculum.
Lesley Quilty
Diploma (M.A. equiv.) Physical Theater, Diploma Mythodrama Artist Presenter
Lesley is a group facilitator, coach and mentor, theatre artist, arts consultant, and mother. She is a long-term Findhorn Foundation Community member with a wealth of experience facilitating individuals and groups in the fields of personal, professional, and artistic development. She trained as a physical theater artist and clown at Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theater in northern California. She has worked in professional theater as a performer, director, teacher, and producer in North America and the UK for over 20 years. As a "Clown Consultant," Lesley participates in environmental, educational, and social activist conferences and events, and as a "Clown Doctor" she supports sick children and their families through the process of illness in Scottish hospitals. Lesley is also a coach and lead presenter of cutting-edge leadership development programs for Olivier Mythodrama Associates.
Alexander Lindsay Walker
BA in Geography, University of Leeds; M.Phil. in Town and Regional Planning, University of Glasgow
After 10 years of working within the Findhorn Foundation in finance and organizational management, Alex became a self-employed consultant in 1991. His work involves advising numerous community groups and business organizations in the UK on the subjects of community ownership, renewable energy, low-carbon lifestyles and affordable housing. He is also involved in management and financial planning for SMEs which are involved in sustainable development projects of a diverse nature, and sustainability research for larger organizations. Alex is currently chairman of Development Trusts Association Scotland and a member of the Rural Development Council, which advises Richard Lochhead MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment.
Ousmane Aly Pame
Ph.D., English, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
In addition to directing the Global Ecovillage Network's EcoYoff Living & Learning Center, Pame is a professor in the Department of English at Cheikh Anta Diop University, where he has been teaching translation and English civilization and literature for the past five years. He has also taught French language and Senegalese literature in the Department of French at Exeter University (United Kingdom) and business English at Suffolk University's Dakar Campus, and at CESAG, a West African sub-regional Management School. He has significant experience coordinating study abroad programs for U.S. students in Dakar, and is the local director for Living Routes' Senegal programs.
Lamine Kane
M.S., Community Development and Education, University of Manchester, UK.
Mr. Mouhamadou Lamine Kane has served since 2000 as a study abroad instructor in the sociology of International Development in Senegal for American University programs offered by the University of Minnesota through the West African Research Council in Dakar and by the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) for a large number of American universities. Following his studies in Manchester, where he also taught French at Moss-side College, he served as a research fellow in African social anthropology and history at the Vervuren Museum and in the language department of Université Libre in Brussels, Belgium. From 1993 to 1995, he was UNICEF Dakar’s program officer for Education, working with the formal, informal, and remedial education sectors in Senegal. His has worked as an expert consultant in many countries for Ministries, UN Agencies, and NGOs and is the author of a recent paper on poverty reduction through education for the international conference in South Africa on "Education and Sustainable Development".
Oumar Diene
Ph.D., in Urban end Environmental Planning, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
Dr. Diene is the program manager of the Living and Learning Center and of the Living Routes Program in Senegal. He also serves as the Secretary General of the Global Ecovillage Network, Senegal (GENSEN), and has worked extensively in development projects in areas including permaculture, ecotourism, and renewable energies. Dr. Diene teaches the Research and Action Research methods classes which are a part of the Independent Study and Service Learning courses and which enable Living Routes' Senegalese and U.S.students to work and learn effectively in host villages. He draws on a background of engagement and leadership in community development activities since his earliest student years in Yoff, Dakar.
Marian Zeitlin
Ph.D., International Nutrition Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Professor Marian Zeitlin, is the Director of the EcoYoff Living & Learning Center, cofounder and Vice President of GEN Senegal and founder of the EcoYoff Sustainable Community Development Programs provided by Living Routes. She will be present during half the program and will participate in sessions on action research and international program design and in nutrition, health and early child development. Before relocating to Senegal in 1996, she taught social science research methods and international program design for 17 years at the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. She currently remains a visiting professor at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, a courtesy professor at Cornell University’s Division of Nutritional Sciences and a Visiting Fellow at Cornell’s Institute for African Development. Between 1971 and 2004 she also authored several books and consulted and directed projects in 25 countries sponsored by U.S.A.I.D., the World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO, FAO, the Ford Foundation and Save the Children, among other agencies, before expanding her focus from nutrition, child development and food security to holistic ecological communities.
Brooke McKean
MSc, Development Management, London School of Economics, UK
In addition to teaching with the program, Ms. McKean has conducted anthropological research in Tanzania and Sierra Leone. She also has experience developing and overseeing consultancy projects in media, participatory evaluation programs, and other organizational development in Kenya and Senegal. In coordination with Oumar Diene, she teaches the Independent Study and Service Learning courses, providing theoretical background and supporting students in developing participatory projects in villages.
Min Ameen
MBA, Manchester Business School, Manchester, UK.: BS Mechanical
Engineering, Vikram University, India. Min lives in Auroville, is actively
engaged with the Sadhana community and works on issues relating to
environment and sustainability on the local and national level. In addition
to working at Auroville’s Center for Scientific Research (CSR), he is
involved with projects throughout India ranging from carbon offsetting,
sustainable development, influencing government policy and rural
empowerment through renewable energy and awareness. Min is currently
working with the Ministry of Renewable Energy in India to develop favorable
policies that will accelerate solar water heater distribution throughout
the country. He is also in the process of creating an Eco-Exhibition in
Auroville, for up to 500,000 visitors a year, that will improve awareness
about sustainability and developing a program to deploy solar energy
solutions for lighting and pumping water in deprived regions of India.
Tara Mirel
M.S. Community Development with a focus in Public Participation, University of California
B.A., Sociology and Cultural Studies, University of Pittsburgh
Mirel works as a senior consultant for the International Institute for Facilitation and Change in Cuernevaca, Mexico, providing facilitation services, consulting, and training to international organizations and governments. She has also facilitated community and international development with several organizations including working with indigenous communities in Panama through the Peace Corps and negotiating human rights policy at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Switzerland.
Giovanni Ciarlo
MA, Sustainable Communities and Socially Responsible Businesses, Goddard College
B.A. Education. University of Connecticut
Founding member of Huehuecoyotl and President of the Global Ecovillage Network, Ciarlo's consulting, teaching and facilitation work emphasizes team building, group decision making, diversity, deep democracy, environmental and social responsibility. He is an experienced Spanish language teacher and a world-traveled musician and performer working for educational reform and sustainable living through the arts. Ciarlo is multilingual and multicultural.
Frédérique Apffel-Marglin
Ph.D., Anthropology Brandeis University
Frédérique Apffel-Marglin, PhD. is Professor Emerita, Dept. of
Anthropology at Smith College. She founded the non profit organization
Sachamama Center in 2009 which she directs. She was born in France and raised
in Tangier, Morocco. She came to the US to do her University studies. She has
spent years in India and Peru working with indigenous peoples and with farmers
and campesinos. She was a research associate at the World Institute for
Development Economics (WIDER) in Helsinki, a part of the United Nations
University, for several years in the 1980's and early 1990's. Along
with the Harvard economist Stephen A. Marglin, she has directed several
research projects questioning the dominance of the modern paradigm of
knowledge. She has authored as well as edited eleven books, three of them
resulting from the work at WIDER: Dominating Knowledge:
Development, Culture and Resistance, and
Decolonizing Knowledge: From Development to
Dialogue, both with Oxford Clarendon and both co-edited with S.A.
Marglin; the 3rd book out of the WIDER work is Who Will
Save the Forests? co-edited with Tariq Banuri.
In 1993 she decided for political and moral reasons that she could no longer
engage in classical anthropological fieldwork and ever since then has been
invited to collaborate with activist/intellectual groups in Peru and Bolivia
and with one of them, PRATEC, has published The Spirit of
Regeneration: Andean Culture Confronting Western Notions of Development.
Her latest book is Rhythms of Life: Enacting the World with
The Goddesses of Orissa (2008, Oxford Delhi). She has another book based
on her work in Peru entitled Subversive Spiritualities and
Science: Beyond Anthropocentrism,
http://www.smith.edu/anthro/faculty_apffel-marglin.php
Gillian Goslinga
Ph.D., History of Consciousness Program, University of California,
Santa Cruz
M.A., Visual Anthropology, University of Southern California
B.A., Anthropology and Comparative Religions, Smith College
Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Wesleyan University, Goslinga is
interested in the poetics and politics of incommensurable knowledges and has
worked in South India on so-called "virgin birth" beliefs (the
attribution of reproductive agency to gods and goddesses) and in Peru and the
U.S. on shamanic traditions of healing self and community. She is attentive to
the post-colonial charge of inter-cultural spaces where understandings of what
it means to "be in right relationship with" come to matter ethically,
politically and ecologically. She has served as the Academic Director of the
South Indian Term Abroad (SITA) in Madurai, Tamilnadu, and participated in
Living Routes' Peru program in 2007. Goslinga is also an ethnographic
filmmaker, with three films to her credit (see www.der.org) and an avid horsewoman.
Additionally, a wide range of guests from national and community organizations as well as Quechua-Lamista elders offer lectures and seminars.
Ousmane Aly Pame
Ph.D., English, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
In addition to directing the Global Ecovillage Network's EcoYoff Living & Learning Center, Pame is a professor in the Department of English at Cheikh Anta Diop University, where he has been teaching translation and English civilization and literature for the past five years. He has also taught French language and Senegalese literature in the Department of French at Exeter University (United Kingdom) and business English at Suffolk University's Dakar Campus, and at CESAG, a West African sub-regional Management School. He has significant experience coordinating study abroad programs for U.S. students in Dakar, and is the local director for Living Routes' Senegal programs.
Oumar Diene
Ph.D candidate and M.A., Geography, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
IDiene is the assistant director of both the Living Routes program and the Global Ecovillage Network's EcoYoff Living & Learning Center at Yoff. He is currently completing his doctoral thesis on the impacts of modernization on in the former village Yoff. Diene is the Secretary General of the Global Ecovillage Network, Senegal (GENSEN), and has worked extensively in development projects in areas including permaculture, ecotourism, and renewable energies. Diene leads the Action Research methods classes which enable Living Routes' Senegalese and U.S.students to work and learn effectively in host villages.
Ismael Diallo
M.S. in Geography, Fondation Universitaire Luxembourgeoise (FUL), Belgium
Ismael is completing a combined Ph.D. at the University of Dakar and FUL program in hydrology and natural resource management. Diallo is President of the Global Ecovillage Network - Senegal and is a specialist in community protection and sustainable use of natural resources. Also, he serves as the technical councilor at the Ministry of Scientific Research and Technology.
Max Lindegger
Mech. Eng. Design, Gewerbeschule Luzern, Switzerland
As the creator and director of the Oceania/Asia secretariat of the Global Eco-village Network and primary designer of the Habitat Award winning Crystal Waters Permaculture village, Lindegger is a one of the leaders of the ecovillage movement. Faculty and lecturer in areas such as Environmental Change, Ecology, Sustainability, and Permaculture. Max is also the author of publications such as The Best of Permaculture (Nascimanere) and a frequent contributor to journals such as Simply Living and the International Permaculture Journal. Max was recently awarded the Australian Prime Minister’s Centenary Medal for distinguished achievement in the field of developing sustainable communities.
Steven Whitman
M.A., Environmental Policy and Planning, UMass Amherst; B.A., Marine Affairs, University of Rhode Island
Whitman is a professional focused largely on community and environmental planning issues. He is also adjunct faculty member at Plymouth State University where he teaches courses at the graduate and undergraduate level in environmental planning, community planning, and sustainability. During the past four years, he has been teaching field study courses in sustainability, permaculture, and ecovillage design in Iceland, Scotland, Sweden, Australia, and India. Steve lives in Plymouth, NH, and participates in a wide range of grassroots efforts that promote sustainability.
Lucia Legan
M.Ed. Science and Environmental Education, Deakin University, Australia
Diplomate of the Permaculture Institute of Australia, has worked in community development for more than 15 years with Aboriginal communities, women's groups, young people, and farmers. Since arriving in Brazil, she has
co-founded both IPEC and the Mollison School for Sustainable Studies where she remains as Executive Director. Lucia has authored a nationally selected prize-winning environmental
education guide called "Escola Sustentavel" ["Sustainable Schools"] which is currently in its second edition. She has recently launched a nationwide program, "Habitats na Escola," which empowers students, parents, and teachers with the skills to create sustainable habitats in school.
Hildegard Magdalena Klever Krause
PhD, Sustainable Development of the Humid Tropics, Federal University of Para, Brazil
Hildegard has lived in the Amazon since the age of nine, presonally witnessing the vast and varied impacts generated by humans on the forest. Through psychology, she works to increase awareness and empower people to change their behavior and renew their relationship with nature. Hildegard has a masters in teacher training in public school systems and her Doctorate in public policy and the implementation of environmental education programs. Through Ecocentro IPEC she came into contact with permaculture and social technologies, and currently serves on the teaching and administrative staff there and at University of the State of Goiás in Pirenópolis.
Andre
Jaeger Soares, master’s candidate in environmental
education at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, is a cofounder of Ecocentro IPEC, trilingual teacher, natural builder and
permaculture designer. He founded the Permaculture Institute of Central Queensland in Australia. As national coordinator with the United Nations Development Program, Andre taught more than 2000 people throughout the country in permaculture design. Andre was given the Casa Claudia award for innovative design in natural construction and is acknowledged as one of the 50 most important people in environmental development in Brazil. His leadership in sustainability has attracted a partnership with the Swiss foundation AVINA creating new projects in the area of low impact architecture and social development in South America. In 2005, Andre also worked as an international aid worker in Haiti as a team leader in sustainable development. He is a diplomate of the Permaculture Institute of Australia.
Simi Hoque, UMass Faculty Sponsor
Ph.D. Architecture, UC Berkeley; M. Arch. 1st Professional Degree, Architecture, UC Berkeley
M.S. Civil and Envir. Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University; B.A. Design Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Hoque teaches environmental systems and sustainable design principles. Her research is focused around the application and development of energy efficient buildings. She specializes in energy modeling, resource efficiency, and systems design and is seeking to improve the way buildings use the earth's resources. Simi is the co-founder of Floodspace, a research and design collaborative, whose mission is to develop strategies for improved housing, infrastructure, and livelihood in communities subject to climate change-related flooding.
Kay Cafasso
B.S., Environmental Geosciences, Boston College
Natural Building and Solar Home Design Certification, Solar Energy International
Permaculture Design Certification, Naropa University
Permaculture Instruction Certification, Dynamics Ecological Design
Kay Cafasso is a natural builder, a certified
permaculture design course instructor, and a designer of ecological
landscapes. Kay holds certificates in Solar Home Design and Natural Building
Construction and has many years of experience specializing in earth plasters
and natural finishes for straw bale and other natural buildings. After
documenting ecological design applications in homes and landscapes in arid,
temperate and tropical climates worldwide, Kay founded Sowing Solutions,
offering education and ecological design and consultation services for
homeowners and land stewards. Kay practices what she teaches: thoughtful and
holistic design of landscapes, agriculture, dwellings, and communities.
Mark Krawczyk
B.S., Environmental Studies, University of Vermont
Diploma of Applied Permaculture - British Permaculture Association
Mark is a permaculture designer, traditional
woodworker, natural builder and community organizer who resides in Burlington,
VT. After studying Integral Sustainability with Living Routes in Auroville,
India and earning his degree in Environmental Studies, he compiled A Directory
of Useful Plants of New England - a comprehensvee resource detailing the uses
and ecological characteristics of over 115 useful plants hardy to Zone 5.
Today, he directs Keyline Vermont and Burlington Permaculture and is an active
member of Seven Generations Natural Builders, and EcoSystems Design Inc. Mark's
teaching credits include Edible Forest Gardening, Coppice Forestry and the
Re-vitalization of Urban Landscapes, Lawn to Garden Conversions, Farm Scale
Agroforestry, and Keyline Design and Soil Building. At his nonprofit,
RivenWoodCrafts, he produces chairs, agricultural implements and other useful
objects from raw logs and also works as both a natural building educator and
contractor, specializing in cob, adobe, wattle and daub, light clay, natural
plasters and dry stone construction.
Jono Neiger
M.A., Landscape Design, Conway School of Landscape Design, MA
B.S., Forest Biology, SUNY Syracuse College of Environmental Science and Forestry, NY
Jono has a diverse background in ecology,
environmental research, conservation, restoration, land stewardship, and
landscape design. A permaculture teacher and designer since 1996, he was the
Land Steward and Permaculture Apprenticeship Program Director at Lost Valley
Educational Center in Oregon for 5 years. Jono is a Conservation Biologist with
17 years experience, is founder of Regenerative Design GROUP, a permaculture
design and consultation firm in Leverett, Massachusetts and is a faculty member
at the Conway School of Landscape Design. A sought after speaker at events,
businesses and workshops, Jono's recent presentations include: Moving Towards Sustainability, Questioning the
Invasive Species Paradigm, Urban Permaculture, Northeast Permaculture, and
Natural Building Alternatives: Strawbale, Cob and Living Roofs.
Simi Hoque, UMass Faculty Sponsor
Ph.D. Architecture, UC Berkeley; M.Arch. 1st professional degree, Architecture, UC Berkeley;
M.S. Civil and Env. Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University; B.A. Design Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Hoque teaches environmental systems and sustainable design principles. Her research is focused around the application and development of energy efficient buildings. She specializes in energy modeling, resource efficiency, and systems design and is seeking to improve the way buildings use the earth's resources. Simi is the co-founder of Floodspace, a research and design collaborative, whose mission is to develop strategies for improved housing, infrastructure, and livelihood in communities subject to climate change-related flooding.
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