Doniga Markegard has a diverse background in living close to the Earth with values of appreciation and care of all living things. As a youth, Doniga lived and worked on an organic farm and attended a full-time high school immersion program in nature, tracking, bird language and wilderness survival skills at the Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, Washington. Here Doniga honed her skills in the natural world, completing the 2000 hour Kamana Naturalist Training Program. Doniga shared her love of children by instructing at summer camps and youth home school programs through the Wilderness Awareness School.

Doniga's formal education includes a Bachelors Degree in Sustainable Community Development from Prescott College, Arizona and yearlong intensive training with Penny Livingston and James Stark in Regenerative Design and Permaculture at the Regenerative Design Institute. Doniga is currently pursuing her certificate and license in Landscape Architecture at University of California Berkeley's cutting edge program which focuses on sustainability in the built environment.

Doniga has consulted on many projects including a permanent exhibit at the Museum of Science, Boston called "A Birds World" and at San Francisco's Exploratorium on an interactive listening exhibit where Doniga leads viewers through how she, as a wildlife tracker and land management consultant, uses her listening skills to aid in her work.

With Doniga's extensive training in nature observation, Permaculture and regenerative design she currently owns and operates Designs by Doniga, consulting on projects in land management, erosion control, organic gardening, Permaculture, wildlife, renewable energy, natural building and native species restoration. Doniga has an immense passion for the natural world and helping others live a life of sustainability and balance with the Earth and all living things, leading a life of example where her own actions are deliberated into the health of the future generations.

James Stark is currently the Co-director of the Regenerative Design Institute (RDI) and a partner in Sustainable Living Designs. James also teaches in the RDI programs specializing in community development and leadership.

James co-founded the following community organizations:

* West Marin Growers Group (WMGG), which was created to ensure food security in Marin County. WMGG grew into the 5013c, Marin Organic, which introduced the Marin Organic Food Label and hosts the West Marin Farmers Market.

* Waste Free Now, which is committed to West Marin becoming waste free and hosts the innovative annual Recycle Circus including a "Stuff Exchange" for people to redistribute community resources.

* KWMR "Watershed Radio", which is a licensed 501c3 community radio station in the tenth year of providing a voice for West Marin residences and heard around the world live through web casting.

* CLAM - Community Land Trust Association of Marin, an affordable ecological housing land trust (5013c) created to provide affordable housing in the face of increasing gentrification.

* Permaculture Institute of Northern California

James served two consecutive board terms on the West Marin Chamber of Commerce, the Permaculture Credit Union and the Centre for Responsible Tourism

He served on steering committees for West Marin's county supervisor dealing with waste and affordable housing issues and also served on the Built Environment Working Committee charged with updating the county-wide plan of Marin County.

In 2002, James was nominated for the Beryl H. Buck Award for Achievement for Building Healthy and Sustainable Communities.

James holds a master's degree in Environmental Studies and a master;s degree in Spiritual Psychology.

Penny Livingston-Stark is internationally recognized as a prominent permaculture teacher, designer and speaker. She is the founder of:

Sustainable Living Designs (SLD) - a professional permaculture design/build firm integrating landscapes and structures with water, soil, plants and energy efficiency.

The Permaculture Institute of Northern California (PINC) - an educational and research organization promoting sustainable technologies and methodologies.

Regenerative Design Institute (RDI) - a non-profit education program focusing on hands-on skills development. RDI currently in collaboration with the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Commonweal, a Cancer healing and retreat center.

Penny has been working professionally in the land management and development field for 25 years and has extensive experience in all phases of ecologically sound landscape design and construction as well as the use of natural non-toxic building materials. She specializes in site planning & design of resource-rich landscapes, integrating rainwater collection, edible landscaping, pond and water systems, habitat development and watershed restoration for homes, co-housing communities, businesses and diverse-yield perennial farms.

Penny is currently on the board of the Solar Living Institute in Hopland, California and has served on the Redwood Empire Chapter of the Green Building Council. In addition, Penny Livingston-Stark is serving on The Institute of Noetic Sciences' Site Development Committee.

She co-created the Ecological Design Program and its curriculum at the San Francisco Institute of Architecture and co-founded the West Marin Grower's Group, West Marin Farmer's Market and the Community Land Trust Association of Marin.

Susan Osofsky's commitment to educating others about sustainable agriculture and general environmental issues is far reaching and includes experience from leading teams to harvest backyard fruit trees and small orchards with Village Harvest to leading hiking and backpacking trips for at-risk youth as a volunteer leader for Sierra Club ICO. She is currently Co-Director of the Green Fork project where she inspires and educates the community to grow, buy, cook, and eat seasonal, local, organic food' and is also a staff member of Peninsula Permaculture: Abundance in Action. Prior to her current position, Susan served as Executive Director of Collective Roots Garden Project. She has also organized and facilitated workshops for the non-profit organizations Acterra and WorldCentric that addressed an individual's ability to make life changes that have positive impacts on health and the environment. Susan has hosted garden and solar home tours for organizations such as Common Ground, the Valley of Heart's Delight project, BioIntensive for Russia, and the City of Palo Alto. Additionally, she advised and contributed material to a documentary film project on permaculture and sustainable agriculture which was produced in Central America.

Susan is an avid compost tea brewer and lover of creating a rich growing environment by nurturing better soil. In addition to healing the land, Susan spends some of her time as a certified PUSH Muscle Therapist healing other inhabitants of Planet Earth.

Susan enjoys cultivating her own backyard mini-farm. She greets the bounty of each harvest with great joy, honoring the abundance by preserving much of what she grows to not only stock her own pantry, but to share with the community. Susan has an immense passion for learning, communicating and sharing Earth's wisdom.