ECOLOGY ACTION STAFF

The Jeavons Center (TJC)
Willits, California

John Jeavons, Executive Director
John has been the Director of the Ecology Action Mini-Farming Program since 1972 and is the author of How to Grow More Vegetables... on GROW BIOINTENSIVE® Sustainable Mini-Farming, which is currently in use in over 150 countries in virtually all climates and soils where food is grown. Versions are available in English, Spanish, German, French, Hindi, Russian, Kiswahili and Arabic, with an Italian translation coming soon. He is author, co-author and/or editor of over 40 Ecology Action publications. His major responsibilities include directing field and library research and education in GROW BIOINTENSIVE food-raising. He advises GROW BIOINTENSIVE projects in countries such as Mexico, Kenya, Russia and India, as well as all corners of the US. John holds a BA in Political Science from Yale University. Before coming to Ecology Action in 1972, he worked as a systems analyst in business, government and university settings. He has received the Boise Peace Quilt, Santa Fe Living Treasure, Giraffe, and Steward of Sustainable Agriculture awards for his public service. John's dream is to be a GROW BIOINTENSIVE mini-farmer.

TJC Mini-Farm Team

Melvin Castrillo, GROW BIOINTENSIVE® Mini-Farm Manager
Melvin is originally from Nicaragua and naturalized to the U.S. 13 years ago. Melvin learned to double dig from a friend while living in Nicaragua and proved successful. Melvin relocated to California and obtained a degree in Agronomy from Fresno State in 1993. Melvin grew many things in the central valley in CA. Educating others has been key to my career objectives. Melvin is pleased to be a part of EA as he continues to learn and teach.

Suraya David-Sadira GROW BIOINTENSIVE® Assistant Mini-Farm Manager
Suraya grew up close to nature in Hawaii and moved to California to start college when she was 17 years old. She has degrees in Agricultural Business from Feather River College and Sustainable Agriculture from University of California, Santa Cruz. She found her love of nature through watching sunrises on the beaches of Hawaii with her mom, riding horses through forests and beaches, growing her own food, and exploring the redwoods. It is a passion of hers to teach the importance of environmental and food justice through farming. She is excited to continue her journey at Ecology Action.

Jessi Mickow GROW BIOINTENSIVE® Farmer/Teacher/Trainer
Jessi has been a gardener for approximately three years. Through her food medicine journey she has grown a great care for soil fertility and interest in how to tend the land sustainably. She has found that working at Ecology Action and growing biointensively has struck her most passionate interest to commit down the path of receiving a deeper education. She is elated to one day teach the methodology of GBI, sharing it with her friends and family.

Ecology Action Administrative Support Team

Laurie Birch, Special Projects Coordinator/Librarian/Data Manager
Laurie spent most of her career working at various botanical gardens immersed in the fields of horticulture and botany with an emphasis on plant identification, classification and conservation. Organic gardening has been a personal interest since college and more recently she discovered the importance of gardening with heirloom varieties with a particular interest in growing heirloom tomatoes.

Lori Luedemann, Office Manager and Bookkeeper
Lori comes to Ecology Action with 12 years of experience in banking. She spent 7 years as a teller, and 5 years in the Proof department, processing all bank transactions and making corrections as needed. She has always liked working with numbers and went to college when her children were older, receiving an Associates of Science degree in both Business Administration and Business Accounting. Lori has been a bookkeeper in the auto repair, concrete construction, and now organic farming industries.                       

Dan Miller, Building Site Operations and Maintenance
Dan works part-time for Ecology Action in charge of building and site operations and maintenance. He is Ecology Action’s go-to person for anything requiring a creative solution. His responsibilities include taking care of the grounds; repairing fences, buildings, solar systems, generators and pumps; painting, fixing and oiling squeaky things; as well as being the resident expert in FileMaker Pro and taking care of the computers, printer, networking and satellite dish issues. He joined the ranks of small-town living after a career as sound engineer in San Francisco, doing sound for concerts, and as one of the founding organizers of the Burning Man Festival.

David Troxell, Communications Director
For as long as he can remember, plants have played a role of sacred importance in David’s life.  He spent his childhood growing redwood saplings and saguaro cacti in his family’s backyard in Southern California, then worked as a horticulturist and arborist for many years in Florida, before moving back to California to homestead with his wife, growing vegetables and managing the forest around their home. Although our current system rewards certain professions over those that work with the soil, David envisions a time coming soon when there will be no more valuable skill than the knowledge of how to grow one’s own food and medicine for oneself. Knowledge of plants, their culture, and their usage, is real power.

Starlite Humpheries Executive Assistant
I grew up in Willits CA, on Pine Mountain. I love being in nature, living off the land, and love animals. I am a local real estate agent, and I am honored to be here at Ecology Action. I am proud to be a part of such an amazing organization. In my opinion we all need to do our part to save our beautiful Mother Earth. To help feed the less fortunate.

Victory Gardens for Peace (VGFP)
Mendocino, California

VGFP Mini-Farm Team

Matt Drewno, Victory Gardens for Peace GROW BIOINTENSIVE® Mini-Farm and Seed Bank Manager
Matt is certified in permaculture, restoration of oak-savanna ecologies and Biointensive food production. After receiving a Bachelors Degree in Architecture from Iowa State University, he founded Rhythmic Water Ecological Design, a permaculture and flow-form design business which served mid-western states. He has been working with Ecology Action since 2010 training individuals and communities in the principles of biologically intensive food production and is an Advanced-Level GB Certified Teacher. His experience includes organic farm-scale food production, design and implementation of food forests, residential-scale food production and community gardens. In 2014, he started the Victory Gardens for Peace Mini-Farm and Seed Bank in the town of Mendocino, CA. He serves on the board of Ecology Action and managesVictory Gardens for Peace, Ecology Action's research, education and demonstration GROW BIOINTENSIVE® Mini-Farm in Mendocino, California.

Janet Moore, Farmer/Teacher/Trainer
Janét has always been drawn to nature and to growing. Growing up north of Seattle, she ran a small organic market farm with her mom for a time. She studied Soil Science and worked for the NRCS after college for several years mapping soil. Before joining EA in 2022, she lived in Coos Bay, OR working voluntarily on environmental issues that impact the area, namely timber, including conducting citizen science surveys. For many years Janét was the organic produce manager of the co-op there, working with local growers. During the last few years she also owned and operated a small nursery. Janét has recently been acquiring soil microscopy skills and knowledge of the soil food web. She is very happy to be able to work with EA and learn the highly productive resource-conserving GB methods in-depth to help create a better world!

Jake Ellsworth Farmer/Teacher/Trainer I recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee with a degree in Architecture. I moved out to California as soon as I graduated in order to learn hands on the best methods of sustainable agriculture which I also studied in college for a year. I have a permaculture certification from Midwest Permaculture. I'm interested in empowering communities through sustainable local agriculture. I believe it is incredibly important to have a close relationship with our food and communities in order to repair the social fabric and natural environment of our country.