I became interested in permaculture through my involvement in environmental and social justice activism. After many years in oppositional and reactive politics i began to search for the positive vision i wanted to create, not just articulations of the things i was opposed to.

This led me to the idea of permaculture, intentional communities and the ecovillage movement. I did an internship at Earthaven ecovillage in North Carolina for six months in the field of natural building. Once i figured out that 'natural building' is more of an owner-builder movement than it is a trade, i moved back to Maine and began my professional career in the conventional building trades. This allowed me to buy a homestead.

I finished my PDC in late 2008 and it was a paradigm-shifting experience for me. I am in the process now of implementing my design for my homestead here in Maine. I am also involved in building the permaculture 'brand' in Maine and the greater New England region. I am building a network of permaculture activist and enthusiasts in the Midcoast region of Maine and doing consultations and designs for clients in this area. My intention is to develop dirt time doing consultations and designs, and doing the physical work of installing permaculture systems. My intention is to move into the farm-scale for my design projects, and potentially develop a farming project of my own in the town i live.

I also have an interest in building bridges between movements, specifically between permaculture, primitive/ancestral skills, and radical environmentalism. I am interested in financial permaculture, broadacre permaculture and agroforestry systems.