WiserEarth Suggestions

Marna is a published scholar and author with graduate study, awards, and teaching experience through the graduate level in sustainability and ecological design. She is the founder of Moonifest and the Institute for Earth Regenerative Studies. She studied comparative literature and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Reed College, having completed a thesis on ecological nature poetry and earth empathy in farmer-poets in America and China. Her graduate studies include over twenty years of study, design, and building in permaculture ecological systems. Marna graduated with Sophia Wisdom Honors in Earth, Art, and Spirit from the Sophia Center at Holy Names in 2007 with a Masters Degree in Culture and Spirituality. In August 2009 Marna began a PhD program in Sustainability Education at Prescott College.

She has taught creative problem solving and worked with gifted young learners at Universities and public and private schools and has a specialty in nurturing contexts for wisdom and confidence in gifted learners of all ages. She received her certificate in Spiritual Direction from Namaste Contemplative Listening Program in 2006.

Marna has received innovation awards and has been awarded over a dozen grants to teach, design, and build sustainably sourced sacred spaces and earthen, hand-sculpted community spots, including from Orlo, National Wildlife Federation, Americorps, Envirocorps, the University of Oregon, and Antioch Seattle. Her work has been covered in The Oregonian and Willamette Week and her articles and works have appeared in Communities Magazine, The Permaculture Activist, Maize, Talking Leaves, We'Moon, Pearl, and other national and international publications.

Over the past decade, Marna also has professional success in strategic planning, product innovation, software development, and enterprise modeling. She provides innovative green business consulting through Catalyst Northwest and spiritual direction and sustainability coaching. Her training and experience range the breath and breadth of the wisdom traditions.