Biography

I am a scholar, practitioner, and teacher of sustainable, ecological design and development. My focus is on regenerative development and design. I work with communities at all scales to co-create continually higher levels of health and vitality.  
  
As a scholar-practitioner, my work involves examining how socio-ecological (i.e., living) systems can be designed, planned, and developed to be optimally healthy for all life and to catalyze vitality across scales. My research and practice address two themes:

1. How and to what extent regenerative development and design frameworks and processes work to shift people's thinking and consciousness to understand, experience, and manifest the connectedness amongst all life in a system;
2. How and to what extent regenerative development and design outcomes shift living systems towards increasing systemic health and vitality.

Within these two themes, I examine what common success factors, challenges, and approaches to overcome challenges are. I use mixed-method qualitative and quantitative approaches to create transferable, actionable knowledge bridging the knowledge-action gap in sustainability, design, planning, and development. I have created the Regenerative Community Development Framework to guide regenerative processes at a variety of scales. The Framework includes an RCD Process Tool, Integral Perceiving Tool, and RCD Evaluation Tool. Used together, my research indicates that the Framework can facilitate shifts in thinking and development and design outcomes to be more holistic and regenerative. I am Principal and co-founder at Koru Collaborative, a regenerative development
and design (design-build) consulting firm. This role builds on my 20+ years of experience and expertise in the fields of sustainability consulting, green and natural building, landscape design, restoration ecology, invasion biology, and holistic health coaching. At Koru, we bring together integrative, experienced teams of practitioners and communities to intentionally co-create thriving living systems at all scales. I am also Chief Executive Officer of Regenerative Living Institute, a non-profit devoted to co-creating regenerative communities from the scale of neighborhoods to regions. I envision a world in which a holistic paradigm guides decisions and relationships to manifest a thriving, abundant, healthy, and beautiful reality for all life. Indeed, this is already being done on small scales all over the world, with many initiatives exploring how it can be done on large scales. Making connections between these efforts and supporting more such efforts on larger scales (e.g., cities and regions) will be key moving forward.

Teaching Assistant Experience

• Biology
• Ecology

Research Assistant Experience

• Molecular Biology - DNA isolation and sequencing
• Community Ecology - nutrient cycling and food web relationships
• Conservation Biology - habitat conservation plan creation

Education

• PhD, Sustainability, Arizona State University, 2019
• MS, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 2002
• BS, Biology and Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, 1998
• Prescribed Burn Certificate
• Certified Holistic Health Coach, Institute for Integrative Nutrition
• Wetland Delineation Certificate

Expertise

• socio-ecological systems
• ecological design
• ecological planning
• ecological development
• ecosystem health
• health/well-being
• future scenarios/strategic planning
• urbanization/planning
• social/behavioral change

External Links

• CV