The following is biographical information about the blog’s contributors, listed alphabetically.
Brandon was born, raised, and educated in the great state of Wyoming. His earth stewardship sensibility comes from the hours he spent as a teen riding his bike in the Wyoming desert. Listening to the birds chirping, smelling the sage, and staring at the pronghorn—it was great! He still enjoys getting out in nature, but now he does it in sunny Florida. In Brandon’s words: “This might sound strange, but going to the beach or the swamp is a holy experience for me. Maybe I’ll discuss these holy experiences in forthcoming posts. I should also mention that I am a bit of a cheapskate. When I reduce, reuse, and recycle, I do it because I’m cheap. Being a good steward is just a fabulous side effect.” Brandon is married, has two kids, and currently serves in the young men’s organization in his ward.
MaryCate is a descendant of Hyrum Smith and comes from solid LDS stock. She and her husband live in Oregon with their 4 children and enjoy attending their church meetings, holding weekly FHE, and daily family scripture study. Since 2006, after much study and prayer, she and her husband decided to try to consume less and produce more. They uprooted their happy, stable, suburban lifestyle and moved out to a 6 acre farm where they now raise many of their own animals and grow their own plants. Although they are still quite dependent on mass-produced products like grain, hay, plant oils, electricity, and petroleum (including plastics), they are doing their best to be good earth stewards. In Mary Cate’s words: “We didn’t do this because the prophet commanded us to, but feel that the Holy Spirit invited us to do so, and that is why we are here. We are anxious to share with others what we are doing in case it helps them in any way.”
MBCB is an American, married to a Canadian, currently living in a tiny flat in Scotland. Before moving to the UK, she worked as a librarian for 6 years and she is still a super-fan of libraries and reading. She became interested in earth stewardship largely through reading and she remains interested because she sees the positive impact it has in her home and in her community. She was just released as a counselor in the YW presidency in her ward, which is the hardest calling she’s ever had, especially the part where she tried to convince the Beehives that growing beets would be fun.
ReaderRachel is a housewife, mother, student, reader, and occasional artist. Rachel enjoys creating textile art by sewing, knitting, crochet, and weaving. Everything she makes, from blankets to costumes, shawls to dishcloths, is made to be used or worn. She cooks all of her family’s food from scratch, from baking bread and granola to putting up apple butter and peach preserves. She is proud to not have used a can of “cream of whatever” soup in over a decade. Rachel is currently the Primary President in her ward. Her service in her church, community, and family is motivated by a deep belief that we must actively work to realize Zion, and we gain the strength necessary to do that work as we strive to uphold our covenants. Rachel has a bachelor’s degree in Geology, a 200-hour yoga teacher certification, and is currently studying Philosophy and Anthropology at BYU.
RobF has a PhD in Geography from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied how to make cities good for both wildlife and people. In Austin, he was the founding director of the Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory and the first executive director of the Travis Audubon Society. He later worked for almost 5 years as the National Audubon Society’s senior scientist for urban bird conservation. He currently teaches geography, urban ecology, and ecological sustainability courses at Rowan University in NJ and Rosemont College in Philadelphia. He also conducts ethnoornithological research on Mayan bird names and bird lore among various Mayan groups in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. A long-time blogger and birder, Rob blogs about his birding exploits on his Birdchaser blog and about urban bird conservation at Urban Birdscapes. Rob served a mission to Quito Ecuador from 1988-1990, and currently serves as the ward mission leader in his exurban New Jersey ward. When he isn’t birding or writing about birds, Rob enjoys traveling and hanging out with his wife and three kids.
Sorentex is an architect, urban designer, and educator. Over the past 25 years as an awarded design and planning professional, including over a decade of public service as an appointed and elected official, he has focused on creating safe, healthy, beautiful and prosperous communities throughout the western United States. Søren earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin, with an emphasis in community and regional planning, urban design and public policy. He is currently completing his Master of Arts in Community Leadership at Westminister College in Salt Lake City, with his thesis focused on stewardship of natural resources in a century of unprecedented urban growth. He is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Utah College of Architecture + Planning, where his focus is on sustainable urban design. Søren walks to church each Sunday, rain or shine, at the Parleys Sixth Ward of the Salt Lake Parleys Stake. He presently serves as a Boy Scout advisor. Søren is married and has three children. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, camping, photography and winter sports.
Sprout (her real name is Alyssa) takes her nickname from the Jolly Green Giant’s little sidekick—because she’s too short and too modest to claim to be any kind of a Green Giant yet. (But she likes to dream big.) Her passion for documentary films is what initially piqued her interest in earth stewardship, but she has since developed a keen interest in the scientific studies behind climate change, conservation, and humanity’s relationship with nature. Alyssa earned a double BA from BYU in English Education and Media Arts Studies and her MA from the University of Utah in American Studies. She currently stays at home with her two boys and teaches rhetoric classes at night at Utah Valley University. Alyssa hopes to bring her strong teaching background to the blog by creating materials that will help her fellow church members magnify their callings (and their stewardships!) with high-quality church lessons and activities. She currently has her favorite calling in the church as the 2nd Sunday Relief Society teacher.
Steve was born on a small island off the east coast of Canada and lived in that region for the first 20 years of his life. Since then he’s moved at least a dozen times, most recently to the east coast of Scotland where he is in the final stages of completing a PhD in Natural Design at the University of Dundee. Professionally, he is qualified as an engineer and has worked as a consultant on projects ranging from food processing and waste management to alternative thermal and wind energy schemes in Canada and the UK. He currently works as a part time lecturer in mechanisation at the Scottish Agricultural College. Steve served as a missionary in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming and most recently held a calling in an Elders Quorum presidency. He and his wife have just moved to a new ward where he is enjoying being a “member at large.”
You! If you would like to become a member of our blogging team, please feel free to submit a guest post to us. Contact us at lds.earth.stewardship@gmail.com.
