I grew up in the foggy forests of Mill Valley, California followed by the small community of Sebastopol. In the year 2000, I moved to Oregon to study Green Architecture at the University of Oregon. During the five-year program at the U of O, I supplemented my Bachelor of Architecture with a minor in Landscape Architecture and additional studies in the fields of Permaculture, Cohousing and Ecovillage design.
Upon graduation, I moved back to the Bay Area to help out with the family farm and practice Architecture in Sonoma County. During these years in the bay area, I worked on a broad variety of projects including numerous residences, a couple of wineries, a conference center, a resort, and numerous smaller projects. Many of these projects were able to incorporate green features including on-site energy production, water catchment, passive heating and cooling, and the use of renewable and environmentally sensitive materials.
In October of 2007 I moved to Portland, Oregon to further pursue my passion for Ecological Design. After working on several projects with Communitecture, a small office in SE Portland focused on sustainable, community design. Lack of work at Communitecture prompted me to continue my Green Architectural endeavors independently.
Current projects include a backyard green studio project, master-planning and building design for Growing Places farm and Energy Park, an educational farm and alternative energy facility for at-risk youth in Centralia, WA., a strawbale house on a farm in Portland and a substantial green remodel of an old Portland house to eventually become self-sufficient in terms of water, energy and waste while producing a bounty of food to boot.