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Rico Zook has been a Permaculture designer, consultant and educator for the past 20 years working with private individuals, farmers, villagers and local organizations in India, Cambodia, northern New Mexico, the middle-east and other parts of the world. This work focuses on assisting all levels of our global community to create culturally and environmentally appropriate life systems that are resilient and regenerative. He has also worked with local and indigenous cultures to help preserve traditional knowledge and technologies while adapting to and becoming active members of our rapidly globalizing world. With work in different climates and cultures, Rico has established himself as one of the new leaders and innovators in Permaculture worldwide. This is further supported by his work with global Permaculture organizations and organizing the International Permaculture Convergence.
Marisha Auerbach is a permaculture teacher and consultant based in Portland, OR. She has been actively practicing, studying, and teaching Permaculture in the Pacific Northwest for over a decade, specializing in food production, seedsaving, ecology, and useful plants. Her practical experience has been gained while living in both rural and urban locations. Currently, Marisha offers an online permaculture program through Oregon State University. and teaches at Portland Community College and Pacific University. She also works with a number of non-profit organizations including The City Repair Project, Aprovecho Education Center, Lost Valley Education Center, Fertile Ground Community Center, and Planet Repair. Marisha currently is developing an urban plant nursery, specializing in useful plants for permaculture design.
Marisha is committed to sharing her passions for food security, regenerative design, biological diversity, seedsaving, permaculture, ecology, cottage industry, and positive futures. She has developed several permaculture based businesses including her plant nursery, providing edible flowers and other gourmet specialty food items to restaurants, plantable greeting cards, and herbal medicines. Marisha has offered permaculture work from the forests of Vietnam to the Rocky Mountains of the United States to the stressed conditions of Haiti. She holds advanced permaculture certificates in Permaculture Aid Work and Keyline Planning.
Marisha graduated from the Evergreen State College in 1998 where she focused on ethnobotany, ecological agriculture, and sustainability studies. She currently resides in Portland, OR. Marisha can be found online at www.permaculturerising.com. Visit Marisha’s garden blog at: http://marishabee.wordpress.com.
Andrew Millison has been studying, teaching and practicing Permaculture since he took his first design course in 1996. He started teaching Permaculture at the college level in 2001, and has been an instructor at OSU in the Horticulture Department since 2009. Andrew currently teaches the Permaculture Design Course and the Advanced Permaculture Design Practicum at OSU, on campus and online.
Andrew first learned Permaculture in the drylands, where he studied at Prescott College for his undergraduate and Master’s degrees. In Arizona, his focus was on rainwater harvesting, greywater systems, and desert agriculture. He started a Permaculture landscape design and build company, and also worked in an ecologically-based Landscape Architecture firm.
In recent years, Andrew’s focus has been more on broad scale farm planning, Permaculture housing developments, and obtaining water rights. In 2015 he founded Permaculture Design International, a collaborative design firm for working on large scale projects globally. Andrew brings his rich experience of designing and building his own and clients’ projects for nearly 20 years to his teaching, and seeks to impart real world experience to his students.
