Marco Barrantes was born and raised in Southern California, as well as first five years in Peru, an international background with three citizenships. He has over ten years of experience as a certified Permaculture designer, with Bill Mollison 1997 and La'akea 1999In 1999, Mr. Barrantes completed the pioneering B.A. program in Ecology, Culture and Sustainability at NCOC, Santa Rosa, Ca, where he helped to co-start the legendary PEA, a local garden and greening campaign.Completed his Masters in Landscape Architecture and Masters in City Planning from UC Berkeley in 2004. Marco has traveled and worked to such places as Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Western Europe, Middle East, China and Japan.

Forging partnerships between community members, non-profit organizations, and city government for green and sustainable projects, Marco Barrantes is the former Parks and Recreation Commissioner for the City of Berkeley, where he served for five years and oversaw dozens of projects for the city's parks, greenways, creeks, shores and natural areas. Prior to La Loma, Marco also worked with the Urban Gardening Institute and helped to create Spiral Gardens Community Food Security Project, a federally funded two-block community farm, organic nursery and produce store in South West Berkeley. Marco Barrantes' first book, "Feed Your City: Field Guide to Planning for Food Systems," was published in 2004 by CED, Berkeley. His designs and built projects have been featured in various media outlets, such as the LA Times, the ABC Evening News, Pasadena Star, Sunset Magazines and the Berkeley Daily. In 2008, he received the Golden Arrow Award, and in 2010, he received the Green Hero Award.