I have a diverse background in education, community service, and environmental stewardship. With seven years of experience teaching in public schools, I have a deep passion for fostering learning and growth. My journey took me to Samoa as a Peace Corps Volunteer, where I immersed myself in the local culture and contributed to community development.

Currently, I serve as the President of the Learning Gardens nonprofit, where I lead initiatives to promote sustainable gardening and environmental education. As a certified Texas Master Naturalist, I am dedicated to conserving and enhancing our natural surroundings.

In my free time, I enjoy gardening, camping, hiking, and spending quality time with friends and family. These activities not only bring me joy but also connect me to the beauty of nature and the importance of community.

Austin Walsh is a farmer at the Learning Gardens. He is passionate about experimental gardening and implementing different permaculture techniques. Recently he has been working to develop a new composting outhouse at the learning gardens, and he excited to share that with y’all!!

Mary's Heirloom Seeds is a "mom and pop" small business created out of a desire to help people become more sustainable and self-sufficient.

My name is Sean Hawkins, Natural Farmer, Mushroom grower, teacher & student of regenerative agriculture, and amateur scientist. 

In the Spring of 2022, my wife Jen & I started Open Source Farmer,  an educational service focused on bringing Korean Natural Farming and JADAM regenerative farming methods to the United States. Since then, it has been nothing short of late night studies, collections of billions of microbes, many hours of Mushroom foraging & growing, fermenting, collecting seeds and teaching many students to how to invest in their gardening communities. We also own Cultivated-Mind.com, a wellness based mycology & herbal focused company. We grow or wild harvest our own medicinal mushrooms and herbs to ensure the highest possible quality medicine backed by independent quality testing.

I am a certified Korean Natural Farmer and returning student of Chris Trump's Soilsmith program. Also, I've had the honor of teaching along side the creator of JADAM natural farming, Mr. Youngsang Cho! All the while, I managed a large indoor microgreen facility for 3 years. The name Open Source Farmer, I hope, says it all. We started the company in the hopes to spread this knowledge to anyone willing to learn. We strive to provide education and knowledge to all who seek to restore life to their soil.

Emerson Cox Renfro is the founder of The Compost Corner and the author of an upcoming children’s book titled Mama’s Mulch. She was born and raised in Dallas, TX and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management from the University of North Texas.

The Compost Corner was created in 2023 to educate others about the many benefits of composting. Emerson provides clients with how to's, tips, and tricks, while also specializing in helping them start their own backyard compost. She feels that the art of composting has become somewhat lost as people, in general, are moving farther and farther away from the old-fashioned ways of life, and have converted to the convenience and luxuries of our fast-paced world. So many of our organic materials are never reaching their full potential as they just get hauled off to the landfills to sit and rot (and not in the good way!).

Her goal is to reintroduce the simple practice of “Waste Not, Love Rot” in a fun and relatable way so that together we can create positive environmental change one backyard at a time. For more information please visit www.thecompostcorner.com or email emerson.renfro@thecompostcorner.com. Let’s make compost great again and Happy Composting!

Caleb Hinojos was born and raised in the DFW metroplex. His love of wildlife began at the age of 3 with reptiles. Influenced by the great Steve Irwin and Sir David Attenborough, he knew that he wanted to pursue this passion. After completing an enlistment in the Marine Corps, he returned to the area and began his collegiate education. He received his BS and MS from the University of Texas at Arlington with a focus on genetic and genomic evolution. Through the years, Caleb has worked a variety of scientific jobs both in the field and in the lab which has given him a unique perspective regarding the natural world. These experiences led him to become a Master Naturalist with the intent of educating people about modern and classical biology and how these two disciplines intersect with conservationism. His passion has also taken him down a variety of avenues in the volunteering community as well. Most weekends you can usually find him leading a bird walk, arthropod crawl, or manning a booth at various areas around the metroplex, but he also loves teaching on various scientific topics to whoever will listen.

My name is Angel, I’m a Dallas, TX native who rediscovered a deep love and curiosity for nature after moving to Tennessee in 2020. This experience sparked a passion for mushrooms and plant medicines, leading me to become a self-taught amateur mycologist. As a Dallas Master Gardener, I now apply this knowledge in my role at Big Tex Urban Farms, where I manage a small-scale mushroom farm, contributing to the growth of urban agriculture and sustainable practices.

For me, yoga is not just a practice—it's a journey of growth, healing, and self-discovery that has touched my life in profound ways.

I am a certified yoga instructor who completed my 200-hour yoga teacher training at Black Swan Yoga in Dallas, Texas, in 2023. Since June of that year, I've been teaching at Black Swan Yoga, driven by a deep passion for sharing the transformative benefits of yoga with others. 

My yoga journey began a couple of years ago, but it was during a particularly challenging period that I truly deepened my practice. Yoga became a vital tool for navigating that difficult time, offering me a space for mindfulness and self-reflection. What started as a way to cope quickly evolved into a daily ritual, where I found comfort, clarity, and a deeper connection with myself.

Inspired by the impact yoga has had on my life, I decided to teach with the goal of showing others that yoga is not about achieving physical flexibility or mastering complex poses—it's about cultivating a deeper connection with oneself. I believe that yoga is accessible to everyone, regardless of their physical ability.

In my classes, I strive to guide students towards seeing yoga as a holistic practice that goes beyond the physical, focusing on the intentions and mindset that lead to a more fulfilling and balanced life. As someone who loves nature, I weave my deep appreciation for the earth into my teachings, helping students connect with both their inner selves and the world around them. Living in a busy and growing city, I understand the chaotic pressures of the fitness industry and strive to create a space where yoga is not seen as just a workout but as a way of life—one that fosters self-compassion, mindfulness, and intentional living.

Ann Sansone

Gardening with Native Plants

Early Childhood  Teacher (Pre-K, K, 1st) for Dallas ISD for 29 years. Currently substitute teaching in Richardson ISD

North Texas Master Naturalist since 2018 - volunteering at Cedar Ridge Preserve, Tenison Park Pollinator Garden, White Rock Lake Park prairie remnants, DEI committee    

Former board member and chapter president of Native Prairies Association of Texas

Karen Weiss is a multidisciplinary artist from Dallas, Texas. Her debut picture book, "Firefly Lullaby," combines her love for children, art, nature, and books. Karen illustrated, wrote, and designed the book. 

             A self-taught artist, Weiss enjoys learning new media and art processes. She is a skilled henna artist, muralist, jewelry designer, alternative-process darkroom artist, photographer, and painter. Karen has an academic degree from Boston University.

Karen's career as an entertainer/body artist spanned nearly two decades, bringing joy to countless people in North Texas. She provided face painting, temporary tattoos, and henna for individuals and events. The pandemic led to an unexpected end of this work, yet it allowed her to dedicate time to her "Firefly Lullaby” project.

           The book was inspired by a starry night in Texas Hill County in 2002. Weiss was captivated by the night creatures' serenade while fireflies twinkled around her. This experience led her to create the "Firefly Lullaby" painting, which later evolved into her book and MP3. 

            Published in 2024, "Firefly Lullaby" earned the prestigious Kirkus Star. Weiss learned several computer programs to digitize the images, lay out the book, and create the MP3 accompanying this work. She also studied the book design and manufacturing process and used offset printing to create the highest-quality product available.

  The "Firefly Lullaby" soundscape combines the sounds of crickets, birds, frogs, and other creatures in a rhythmic song of nature.

Images of houses have been a large part of the artist's iconography for decades, symbolizing her belief that everyone should have a safe, nurturing place to call home. The reader will find Karen's whimsical houses sprinkled throughout the illustrations in the book. Karen is on a mission to give as many high-quality, beautiful "Firefly Lullaby" art books to economically disadvantaged or displaced children as possible. Her first fundraiser will allow her to give 300 books to children in Dallas.

Because Weiss has long supported small business and the arts, she requests that the book is purchased from the website or a bookstore rather than Amazon. You can find it at www.TricycleBooks.com, where there is also a list of stores carrying the book.

            Karen is the mother of two creative children and has a spectacular grandson who keeps her laughing. Her rescue animals, two of which are featured in the book's illustrations, genuinely love one another.

Health Conscious Homesteading Mom of 3 on a mission to save our soil.

Nicole and McKenna Angeles are a mother and daughter duo and the co-founders of The Farm Trail Project, www.usfarmtrail.com as well as six other global websites for farm trails all over the world.

The Farm Trail Project began as a homeschool project when McKenna was 14 years old. It quickly went viral and an app developer partnered with her to build national and then global websites to establish farm trails all over the world. The concept of a farm trail is to create local maps of farms in every region so that families can find local produce and help support ago-tourism in their regions. 

Nicole runs One Room Schoolhouse in the Piney Woods in Marshall, TX which provides enrichment and homesteading classes for homeschool families in East Texas. She wrote free agro-tourism curriculum downloads for the website so that homeschool families everywhere could partner with them to build farm trails and now this project is being coined ‘The Biggest Homeschool Project Ever Done’. 

Jack Ferrante is an Enginner-In-Training (EIT) with a speciality in water resources. He is passionate about water and the role it plays in our ecosystems and built environments. 

Jack has a masters and bachelors degree from the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) and is published in the Journal of Drainage and Irrigation Engineering. 

Sharon Kilpatrick is a beekeeper, worm farmer and owner of Singing Goose Farm formerly known as Farm Colquhoun.  Sharon also has a Permaculture Design Consultant certification and is a Fannin County Master Gardener.

Specialties include vermiculture, gardening and soil building techniques, beekeeping and raising beautiful French Toulouse geese.

Nicholas is an educator for the School of Permaculture, where he writes the education programs and directs operations at his homestead and demonstration site for the school. Since 2012, Nicholas and his team have worked on a large and varied number of permaculture projects from farms and ranches, to suburban homesteads and public parks, to apartment complexes and college campuses. He has received his permaculture education and training, in person, from the co-originator of permaculture Bill Mollison in Melbourne, Australia. He also interned with renown permaculturist Geoff Lawton at Zaytuna Farm and attended the Earthship Academy for natural and recycled building construction, under the tutelage of Michael Reynolds in Taos, New Mexico. Aside from permaculture, and ecologic-related activities, Nicholas is a devote follower of Jesus Christ and a father. He is also a nidan and instructor at the Flowing Circle Aikido Center, plus a major proponent of peace. He believes that through the application of permaculture, people can find a more meaningful and purposeful existence.