The Team

Details

Published on Tuesday, 09 August 2011 18:44

Alex J.Metcalfe

Alex Metcalfe has been working with permaculture design for over ten years and actively practising for six. With a background in social sciences, agriculture and the local/slow food movement Alex brings his unique skills and perspective to his design work and teaching. After gaining the certificate in permaculture design with Patrick and Cathy Whitefield at Ragmans  Lane Farm in 2007 Alex has since gone on to build a design portfolio, work with top fruit producers and develop community permaculture projects. Alex has also been living and working with very low impact for the past two and a half years in a Kentish Orchard. In 2009 - 2010 Alex has been a project coordinator for Tribal Networks working with co - founder Andy Homer to develop project work in the High Atlas mountains and to organise the first Permaculture Design Course in Morocco where he acted as course co ordinator and co taught with course teacher David Spicer. Alex has also been working on the Brain Seeders community farm project in Guelmime in the south of Morocco.

David Spicer

David Spicer has been involved in the permaculture movement for the last 10 years. In that time he spent 12 months as Farm Manager on Tagari Farm in Northern NSW, Australia with Geoff Lawton, and another six months at Geoff Lawton’s farm at the Channon Zaytuna Permaculture Research Institue. David also spent six months working for Bill Mollison in Tasmania as the Sisters Creek Project Manager for the Permaculture Institute of Australia. He has a broad experience in implementation of permaculture systems as well as building, earthworks, horticulture, forestry and keyline systems. In 2010 David has been working with Tribal Networks' project in the High Atlas mountains, the Brain Seeders Community Farm in Guelmime in southern morocco, the Marda project in Jordan and teaching permaculture design courses in both Morocco and Jordan.

Tali Echner

Tali Eichner has extensive experience of teaching in an outdoor environment. Tali comes from a background in biodiversity conservation, organic and biodynamic agriculture and therefore provides an ecological perspective on education and food production. Tali has been a freelance instructor in outdoor activities for 8 years. Since completing her degree in Biodiversity Conservation and Management in 2005 Tali has been involved in a range of ecological projects, including work with National Trust and Sussex Wildlife Trust. She has also worked in both the production and distribution aspects of farming. In 2009 Tali was involved in an ecological and community agriculture project in Petén, Guatemala, where she tutored local young people in environmental education and helped to expand the community food garden. For 5 years Tali has been working towards a sustainable, low impact life, and founded Freeconomy Forest Row, a community initiative aiming to reduce waste.

Nick Jones

Besides an academic background in Social Anthropology, Nick has a range of practical experience in conservation work. He has worked for the ATCV (the Australian sister organisation of BTCV) for six months, where he gained experience of fencing, path building, geographic and habitat surveys.Nick has also spent five weeks working for a small NGO in Petén,Guatemala, establishing an organic veg garden within an area of restored tropical forest with the aim of increasing awareness of the value of the ecosystem amongst local people.  Nick is a qualified tree worker with a knowledge of tree biomechanics, identification and pests and diseases. He has experience of a range of heavy machinery, including chainsaws, cherry pickers, forklifts and dumper trucks. He is currently working on using GIS software to produce detailed land surveys.