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.
David McNamara
Ph.D. and M.S., Psychology, The Fielding Institute, Santa Barbara,
CA
David's primary professional interest is the exploration of the
nature and the development of consciousness and self-awareness.
He has studied with various teachers and explored a variety of paths,
from Buddhism to Jungian psychology and from Christian spirituality to
shamanism. He is committed to bringing the results of this kind
of self-awareness into the creation of a more sustainable, meaningful,
and compassionate world. An educator and a published author, David
maintains a practice in clinical psychology.
Jonathan Dawson
M.Phil., Development Economics, Brunel University; M.A., International
Relations, University of Kent, Canterbury
Jonathan is a designer, consultant and manager of volunteer programs
and community-based development projects in the UK and Africa. A
sustainability activist and educator for over 20 years, he is committed
to whole-person education and is currently executive secretary of
GEN-Europe (the Global Ecovillage Network).
Melissa Godbeer
MSc. Metaphysical Science
Melissa's professional experience includes a 5-year period where
she worked and lived in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, directing
a service-oriented non-profit organization. Utilizing the concepts
of right livelihood, sustainability, gender equality, cultural and
spiritual diversity, her key outreach efforts involved the education
of marginalized youth living in cities and informal settlements.
While living at Findhorn, Melissa is researching a PhD in Metaphysical
Science relating to ecovillage community living.
Deborah Jay-Lewin
Diploma in the use of Drama and Movement in Therapy, London Central
College of Drama and Dance; Accredited teacher with Gabrielle Roths'
Moving Centre, New York; ITEC Diploma Holistic Massage
Deborah has worked with diverse groups of learners, using a wide
range of creative media, for almost 20 years. This includes working
as an organisational consultant. Her speciality is in
movement and dance. She has consulted with numerous
organizations, including womens' groups and those supporting people
with special needs. She has been a teacher, trainer and performer
at the Findhorn Community since 1990, where she lives with her husband
and two children in an ecological strawbale house. Deborah is
a guest teacher for the Moving Centre UK and, in 2005, began further
training with Gabrielle Roth in the 'Heartbeat' material - studying
and working with emotional expression through dance.
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, to deliver 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 programs.
Marian Zeitlin
Director of EcoYoff Living & Learning Center and course coordinator;
Ph.D in Nutrition and International Nutrition Planning, MIT; Visiting
Professor Tufts University, and Courtesy Professor, Cornell University
Director of EcoYoff Living & Learning Center and course coordinator,
Marian has served for 15 years as a professor of social science
research methods and international program design at the Tufts University
Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, where she was promoted
to the rank of full professor in 1992. Between 1971 and 2003 she
also consulted and directed projects in 25 countries sponsored by
U.S.A.I.D., the World Bank, UNICEF, FAO, the Ford Foundation and
Save the Children, among other agencies. Shifting her focus to holistic
ecological communities, she offered her first course in human ecology
at Findhorn, Scotland, in 1995. As part of the L&L program she
coordinates and co-teaches sustainable development courses. Her
areas of specialization include action research methods, intercultural
orientation and exploration, and the application of sustainability
indicators at the ecovillage level. She is the first author of books
on Nutrition and Population Growth: the Delicate Balance, Positive
Deviance in Nutrition and Strengthening the Family: Implications
for International Development among many publications and professional
reports.
Henri Lo
Ph.D. Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Nancy,
France
Senior lecturer at the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar's Institute
for Environmental Sciences, Henri heads the Strategy Subcommittee of
Senegal's National Commission on Sustainable Development, where
he is chiefly responsible for developing the country's national
sustainable development strategy. Through his NGO, Gaia, he is engaged
in numerous professional activities in participatory biodiversity
planning and management, poverty alleviation, natural resources
conflict resolution, PRA and monitoring and evaluation of natural
resource management. He is a graduate of University of Wisconsin, Madison's
International Training Course on Land Tenure and Natural Resources
Management in Sub-Saharan Africa in 1990, and remained for two years
as course coordinator. Changing focus to participatory community-based
sustainable development, he completed a postgraduate vocational
studies diploma in participatory approaches to environmental management
and planning, at the Francophone University, Alexandria, Egypt.
He is the author of numerous national strategy papers and reports.
Henri is fluent In English and French.
Ismael Diallo
Ph.D. (ABD) Fondation Universitaire Luxembourgeoise, Belgium/University
of Dakar, Senegal
President of the Senegal Ecovillages Network (GEN Senegal) and Director
of both the environmental research firm, TROPIS, and the NGO, CRESP,
Ismael has designed, managed and evaluated numerous village
and urban environmental and community development projects with
many funding partners, including the UNDP Global Environmental Fund,
the Ministry of Hydrology and Agriculture, the World Bank's Community
Nutrition program, The International Union for Nature Conservation
(UICN), USAID/AFRICARE and UNICEF. He is presently working with
UCAD's Institute of Environmental Sciences to set up a sustainable
community development institute as part of GEN-Senegal. He also
is a faculty member in a month-long course in sustainable development
taught by CRESP for Kalamazoo College and Senegalese students for
the past 4 years, in collaboration with the National Commission
on Sustainable Development.
Bindu Mohanty
Ph.D candidate, California Institute of Integral Studies; M.A., English Lit., University of Kentucky
Bindu, teacher of sustainability studies, English, and integral yoga, is the former Executive of Auroville Village Action Group and editor of both Auroville Today and Axis. She has taught around the world and has authored numerous publications on women’s.environment, Indian culture and yoga.
Perri Lynch
M.F.A., Cranbrook Academy of Art; B.F.A., University of Washington; B.A., The Evergreen State College
Perri is a Seattle-based artist and lecturer at the University of Washington's School of Art and Urban Planning. She is a long-standing academic advisor to UW's Community, Environment, and Planning program and a former program director for their program at Auroville. As an artist and educator, she explores the relationship between human perception and sense of place: How can art raise ecological awareness? Does public art help us form stronger communities? How does art enable us to live healthier lives? Perri has exhibited widely, received international recognition for her live, improvisational audio performances and has completed two permanent public art commissions for the City of Seattle.
Jake Pollack
M.A. Integrative Health Studies, California Institute of Integral Studies; B.A., Religious Studies, Grinnell College
Jake has most recently worked as the Program Coordinator for the Integrative Health Studies program at the California Institute of Integral Studies, lecturing in Fundamentals of Integrative Medicine, Global Health Systems, and Ethics of Healing. he has also worked for the University of Denver's South India Term Abroad program in Madurai. His research includes the 20th century transformations of South Asian traditions of yoga and healing, especially the professionalization of yoga therapy, and the globalization of Siddha medicine and Ayurveda. He has also taught yoga and worked as a yoga therapist for over six years, in various clinical settings including the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UCSF.
Arin Trook
M.A., Educational Psychology, University of California, Berkeley; B.A., Education and Feminist Studies, Stanford University
As an educator, Arin integrates his passion for wild lands and wilderness study, ecological design, systems theory, alternative pedagogy, music and yoga into a quest for healthy cultural change. He is fascinated by the vital role of intentional community and transformative education in this time of social, political and environmental crisis. His personal studies in the evolution of collective consciousness, creative arts expression, and years of guiding in the canyons and mountain landscapes of North America all inform his teaching practice. He has published articles in several journals and is currently working to put his beliefs and concepts of sustainable living into practice through building his own home in Utah
Lucia Legan
Lucy, an M.Ed. candidate in science and environmental education at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, and 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.
Andre Jaeger Soares
Andre, a 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.
Dave Jacke
M.A., Landscape Design, Conway School of Landscape Design, MA; B.A.,
Environmental Studies and Land Use Planning, Simon's Rock College,
MA
A professional ecological landscape designer, land-use planner,
permaculture consultant and educator, Dave's holistic approach
to ecological design integrates the "inner landscape" with social and economic structures, technology and natural resources.
His book, Edible Forest Gardens: A Delicious and Practical Ecology,
was published in 2005 and is already being talked about as the defining
treatise on permaculture in North America. Dave has also authored
numerous articles on sustainable design, most published in the national
trade journal The Permaculture Activist. Dave's portfolio includes
residential design and landscape construction, whole farm planning,
intentional community and co-housing design, ecovillage development
consulting in Turkey, large property site planning, and town and
regional planning. One of his major foci has been wastewater system
design: he designed and built the first constructed wetland for
household wastewater treatment in New England.
Jono Neiger
M.A., Landscape Design, Conway School of Landscape Design, MA;
B.A., Forest Biology, SUNY Syracuse College of Environmental Science
and Forestry, NY
Conservation biologist, permaculture teacher and ecological designer,
Jono is a generalist who uses his diverse educational background
and professional experience to help organizations and individuals
steward their land, become more self-sufficient, and learn how
to interact harmoniously with their local environments. His portfolio
includes riparian restoration with the California Nature Conservancy,
wetland restoration projects with Native Wet Prairie Seed Collection,
curriculum developer and teacher of land management at Lost Valley
Educational Center in Oregon. Jono has been a sought-after
permaculture educator since 1996.
John Gerber (faculty sponsor)
Ph.D., Vegetable Physiology/Agricultural Education/Soil Science,
Cornell University; M.S., Vegetable Physiology, Cornell University;
B.S., Botany, University of Rhode Island
John is University of Massachusetts - Amherst professor of plant
and soil sciences and former dean of the College of Food and Natural
Resources, Executive Director, Consortium for Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education, and former VP of the American Society
of Horticultural Science. He teaches courses in Sustainable Agriculture,
Plants and the Environment, Dialogue on Agricultural Issues, Agricultural
Systems Thinking, and Sustainable Living.
Beatrice Briggs
Ph.D (ABD) History of Religions, University of Chicago Divinity
School; M.A., Religious Studies, University of Chicago; B.A., English,
McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Beatrice is director of the International Institute for Facilitation
and Consensus (IIFAC) in Cuernevaca, Mexico, and author of articles
on decision-making and group facilitation as well as Introduction
to Consensus, a manual used by ecologists and activists around
the world. Beatrice leads courses and workshops throughout the Americas.
She is a member of Ecovillage Huehuecoytol and is fluent in Spanish
and English.
Giovanni Ciarlo
M.A. Linguistics (cand.) Central Connecticut State University;
B.A. Education. University of Connecticut
Giovanni is a founding member of Huehuecoyotl, a board member of
the Global Ecovillage Network since 2003 and council member of
the Ecovillage Network of the Americas since 1999. He is a world-traveled
musician and performer working for educational reform through
the arts. A member of IIFAC and an experienced Spanish language
instructor, Giovanni will lead optional Spanish conversation classes
for the group.
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