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Earth Walk Instructor Bios

Earthwalk's Instructors offer workshops, seminars, courses, internships, field trips as well as on-line training programs covering a wide range on sustainable living and natural health subjects. They are leaders in their fields, bringing the most up-to-date information in sustainable living skills and technologies.

Here are the Bio's of just some of our team...

Garnet McPherson - Earthwalk's Director Of Sustaianable Education

Garnet McPherson is sustainability and natural health consultant, speaker, author and filmmaker from Northumberland County on the north shore of Lake Ontario. After graduating in communication arts, Garnet taught at Sheridan Collages School of Visual Arts for a few years before spending the next few decades developing a very successful communication company with a focus on the environmental and natural health. He has studied and written about total health and ecology for over 30 years. His mission is to raise consciousness about sustainable solutions to our social, environmental issues with a focus on sustainable and healthy living.

Throughout his career he has been a dedicated naturalist and environmentalist. Garnet McPherson continues to be a leading consultant for the Natural Health Network and has donated his time and expertise to a number of other organizations. In recent years he has served as the education and communications director for both the Canadian Natural Health Association and the Green Planet Foundation. Garnet has also worked on numerous sustainable economic development projects with the Green House Enterprise Centre as well as dozens of natural habitat and biodiversity projects across Ontario.

Today Garnet's work ranges from eco and healthy building design to facilitating natural health strategies for individuals and organizations. He explores “actions we can take today in our own lives - in our homes, our businesses and our communities to begin the transition to a sustainable future”. He is the founder and visionary behind the Green Planet Festival and over the last two decades Mr McPherson has been instrumental in the creation of several other environmental initiatives including mentored thousands organizations and individuals on their path to healthy and sustainable future.

In 2005 he turned his expertise and experience toward building an eco education center called Earthwalk Sustainable Living Center on his 5 acre organic micro farm near Colborne Ontario. He is currently developing eco educational programs at Earthwalk which has the mission “to facilitate the creation of a new and more sustainable culture”, The programs he is developing including training programs on eco home design and construction, healthy home solutions, organic food production, natural health strategies as well as waste management and eco transportation solutions.

In addition to being the “visioneer” behind Earthwalk, Garnet McPherson recently became the accredited Earth Day Coordinator for Northumberland and the local Ambassador for US Vice President’s Al Gore’s Climate Project.

Garnet teaches courses himself in Green Construction, Healthy Homes, and Natural Health Stratagies.

Trent Rhode - Permaculture

Trent background is in journalism, online publishing and communications, and recently joined Peterborough Green-Up, an environmental education and stewardship organization, as the Communications Coordinator.

Although Trent loves writing about sustainability, his real passion is natural gardening. Trent is a Permaculture Design Course graduate; he has been avidly and continually studying and writing about permaculture and ecological agriculture techniques for the past four years. He has experience working on and designing various gardens, including forest gardens, and is presently implementing his own permaculture farm for specialty crops.

Recently, Trent helped to form the Permaculture Canada group, an ecological design group with members across Canada focused on spreading
permaculture design through meet-ups, workshops and online tools. He is currently enrolled in the part-time Sustainable Landscapes Certificate
program at the University of Guelph.

Gerri Baker - The Worm Factory: Vermicomposting

Gerri Baker and Ray Cooper are sustainable farmers on Foley Mountain; just outside of Westport. For many years now, they have been studying soil science, and worms; as well as, the studies of Rudolf Steiner, and biodynamic Procedures.

Gerri and Ray add worm casting, which is a by- product from the worm, to provide nutrients to their produce. Worm casting is the perfect nutrient for all stages of growth, from germination, through vegetation to blooming, and fruiting.

The farm on Foley Mountain is certified under the organic auspices of OCPP, and Gerri and Ray are dedicated to learning and sharing their knowledge of Vermicomposting, with other organic farmers. They work with the Stewardship Councils, and Schools Boards, Horticulture societies, and environmental groups who approach them to assist them in establishing Vermicomposting on site.

Gerri is a member of the Nation Farmer’s Union, The Canadian Organic Farmer’s Association and the Compost Council of Canada. The Foley Mountain Farm welcomes school tours, and visitors to the farm. Guests are given the chance for a “Hands on experience” to organic farming. Visitors are asked to call ahead of time to book a visit, because the farm is a working operation.

For more information please visit: www.thewormfactory.net
info@thewormfactory.net
Phone: 613-273-7595

Bob Garthson - Organic Gardening

Bob has worked in many different fields. He was a tobacco farmer, a teaching assistant at eh University of Waterloo, a cattle rancher, a social worker, a federal officer, a teacher of: history, law, environmental studies, political economy, and philosophy. He also worked as an Educator Union Executive.

Bob is now an organic farmer at the Valley Pines Organic Farm, where he grows over 200 varieties of vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, and fruits on approximately two acres. The 26 acre property, mostly treed, has never been farmed commercially, making it an ideal site for an organic garden.

When Bob is not in his garden he enjoys reading, research, philosophy, cooking, wine making, ocean exploration, travel, and environmental and political activism.

Bob is a current member of the Central Region President of the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, which focuses on promoting ecological agriculture, on educating farmers and members of the public on ecological practices, and on facilitating a sense of community. Other memberships Bob is involved with include: Ontario Nature, Ontario Secondary Teachers Federation (Life Member), Society for Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening in Ontario, Seeds of Diversity, Wine Tasters, Heritage Alnwick/Haldimand, Grafton Horticultural Society, and Valley Voices Residents Association (Director).

Bob has practiced organic gardening since 1956, and he says that his maternal grandparents, Robert Rodale, Scott Nearing, his son Josh, and daughter Chloe, are his main influencers who make him want to continue organic gardening.

For more information or to arrange for a visit, please contact Bob
Garthson at bgarthson@sympatico.ca or 905-349-3807.

Bill Venn - Thermographic Imaging

Bill is a retired election and thermographer; he worked in the automotive industry for over 30 years.
He started his own business, Hot Flash Thermography, to assist home owners and manufactures on ways to conserve and maintain energy. Using thermal imaging Bill is able to identify areas that are loosing heat, and find ways to keep it in.
In 2007 Bill published a paper titled Calculating Radiating Heat Loss in Dwellings, Ovens and Other Structures – A Quick and Dirty Method, and presented his work at a conference for infrared thermographers.

The paper outlined the uses of templates he developed to quantify power being lost from thermal radiation. The paper is featured on the Infrared Training Centre, InfraMation 2007 Proceedings, book.

Bill was awarded the Presidents Award for energy savings from General Motors in 2007, for the money he saved the company.

Today, Bill devotes his time educating home and business owners, on ways to utilize their energy, and save money.

Brenda Stillman - Weatherization

Brenda Stillman has been the owner and marketing manager of Zerodraft Peterborough since 2004. Brenda was born and raised in Peterborough, but in 1992 she and her husband, along with their 3 children moved to a large farm near Collingwood. Here they owned and operated an on -farm market selling local fruits and vegetables, along with their own raised beef, pork, chicken and turkey. In 2003 they returned to Peterborough where Brenda had the opportunity to work in the insurance cleaning industry. Unfortunately after the constant exposure to harmful cleaning chemicals and moulds from the 2004 Peterborough flood, she decided to leave the cleaning business and steer her life towards a future that she could be proud of.

Her favorite quote is " I am not an environmentalist. I'm an Earth warrior. ~Darryl Cherney, quoted in Smithsonian, April 1990

Don Chisholm - Peak Oil and its Impact on our way of Life

Don was born near Goderich, Ontario. After graduating from Ryerson Institute of Technology in 1958, from Electronics, Don worked on repair and design of electronic computers and peripheral equipment systems.

From the year 1967 to 1982, Don opened, and operated aircraft electronics sales, and service in Dorval Montreal. He served as Director, and then Vice President of the Canadian Region of the Aircraft Electronics Association.

The company was sold, and Don moved to Ontario, where he moved to a Toronto Company doing market research, design, development and marketing of automated test equipment, for avionics on airplanes. The project was very successful, and was sold to a US company, who still supports and has expanded the product line.

In 1986 Don joined the Transport Canada, Airworthiness Division, Avionics section, dealing with avionics manufacturing.

In 1990, Don became interested in the Problematique, which is a concept created by the Club of Rome. The Problematic concept looks at crucial problems facing humanity.

In 1996 Don was invited to join the Canadian Association for the Club of Rome, he has articles published in CACOR Proceedings in Futures Journals, and in 1998 he was listed in the Canadian Futurists publications.

Don retired, in 2001, and moved to a rural area near Picton Ontario; although, Don is retired, he has not slowed down. He is involved with a group called CREEK, for Country Regional Environmental Coalition, which is a group concerned with the growth of industrial livestock operations, in Canada and locally.

Don also enjoys sailing, and playing bridge, and still enjoys the exploration of the Problematique.
For more information go to www.magma.ca/donchism

More to come...

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