Through workshops, research reports, biological consulting, and field excursions, the Biomimicry Guild helps innovators learn from and emulate natural models. Our goal is to create products, processes, and policies that create conditions conducive to life.
PRINCIPALS
Janine Benyus
Janine Benyus is a biologist, innovation consultant, and author of six books, including Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. In Biomimicry, she names an emerging discipline that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature's designs and processes (for instance, solar cells that mimic leaves).
Since the book’s 1997 release, Janine has evolved the practice of biomimicry, consulting with sustainable businesses and conducting seminars about what we can learn from the genius that surrounds us. Her favorite role is biologist-at-the-design-table, introducing innovators to organisms whose well-adapted designs have been tested over 3.8 billion years.
In 1998, Janine co-founded the Helena, Montana-based Biomimicry Guild with Dr. Dayna Baumeister. The Guild is an innovation consultancy providing biological consulting and research, workshops and field excursions, and a speakers’ bureau. The Guild helps designers learn from and emulate natural models with the goal of developing products, processes, and policies that create conditions conducive to life.
Guild clients have included HOK, Arup Engineers, Boeing, Carollo Engineers, Cook + Fox Architects, General Electric, Gensler Architects, General Mills, Herman Miller, Hewlett-Packard, IDEO, Kohler, Kraft, Levi’s, NASA, Nike, Norm Thompson, Novell, Patagonia, Procter and Gamble, S.C. Johnson, and Seventh Generation. As a result of working with the Biomimicry Guild, the world’s largest commercial carpet manufacturer (Interface, Inc.) introduced Entropy™/I2, a carpet inspired by random pattern formation in nature. In record time, Entropy™/I2 rose to become Interface’s top-selling line of carpet, representing 40% of their carpet tile sales.
Janine has introduced tens of thousands of people to biomimicry through international keynotes including Amana-Key Executive Leadership Training in Brazil, American Institute of Architects, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Aspen Ideas Festival, Cambridge University's Centre of International Studies and the Environment, Canadian National Roundtable for the Economy and the Environment, Design Futures Council, FORTUNE Brainstorm Green, Global Business Network, GreenBuild, Health Care Without Harm, International Interior Design Association, Industrial Designers Society of America, Investors’ Circle, the Prince of Wales’ Business & the Environment Programme, National Textile Center, PopTech!, President’s Council on Sustainable Development, Schumacher College, Stanford Graduate School of Business, TED, Wharton School of Business, and ZERI World Congress in Japan. She also hosted and co-wrote a two-hour public television special based on her book, which aired on “The Nature of Things with David Suzuki” in 71 countries.
In 2005, Janine founded The Biomimicry Institute (TBI), a nonprofit organization based in Missoula, MT. TBI’s mission is to nurture and grow a global community of people who are learning from, emulating, and conserving life's genius to create a healthier, more sustainable planet. Programs include the development of biomimicry courses in a range of educational settings from K-12 schools to universities as well as non-formal venues such as zoos, museums and nature centers. TBI also offers biomimicry workshops for designers (engineers, architects, etc.) as well as biologists through the Biologist-at-the-Design-Table training. TBI’s Innovation for Conservation program uses proceeds from bio-inspired products to conserve the habitat of the mentor organisms. In 2008, the TBI launched www.AskNature.org, an open-source database of biological literature organized by design and engineering function. In early 2009, as part of its K-12 educational outreach work, TBI released Ask the Planet, a CD of children’s biomimicry songs, written and composed by Amy Martin featuring numerous celebrity artists including Ani DiFranco, Dar Williams and Bruce Cockburn.
Janine has received several awards including a Time Magazine’s Heroes of the Environment award, the Rachel Carson Environmental Ethics Award, the Lud Browman Award for Science Writing in Society, and the Barrows and Heinz Distinguished Lectureships.
An educator at heart, Janine believes that the more people learn from nature’s mentors, the more they’ll want to protect them. This is why she writes, speaks, and revels in describing the wild teachers in our midst.
Links to hear more from Janine Benyus:
- Twelve Sustainable Design Ideas from Nature - TED Talk
- An interview with Janine Benyus
- Read the first Chapter from Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.
Dayna Baumeister
Co-founder of the Biomimicry Guild, Dayna’s fascination and intrigue with the natural world began early with daily forays into the woods behind her home and weekend trips to the mountains with her family. As an adult, nature has been an inspiration in all of her personal and professional endeavors. Starting at the coastal seashore of Florida, Dayna received a BS in Marine Biology from New College in Sarasota. After several years exploring the intricate relationships of coral reefs, she turned in her wetsuit and headed back to the mountains. There, Dayna earned a MS in Resource Conservation and a PhD in Organismic Biology and Ecology from the University of Montana in Missoula, specializing in dynamics of positive interactions among animal and plant life. With a background in biology, a devotion to applied natural history, and a passion for sharing the wonders of nature with others, Dayna has worked in the field of Biomimicry since 1998 as an educator, researcher, and design consultant. As co-founder and keystone for the Biomimicry Guild, Dayna acts as the liaison between all members of the Guild. In addition, she brings her skills as a systems thinker and organic communicator to her dynamic workshops, presentations, seminars, and exhibits, which have introduced the idea of nature as model, measure, and mentor to thousands of designers, business managers, and engineers around the country. Bringing home the principles of life that she espouses in her work, Dayna finds physical and spiritual sustenance as a gardener, hunter, yoga instructor, and naturalist. She lives with her family in the foothills of the inspiring landscape of the rugged Rocky Mountain Front in Montana.
GUILD BaDTs
Sharon Ritter
Explorer of Creature Strategies (aka, Case Studies Research Specialist)
Sherry digs deep into the multitude of strategies that nature practices all around her. A lover of science and sharing her time with children and adults in the field exploring plants, birds, and other wildlife, Sherry can't help but expound upon the exciting things that science is revealing every day. Sherry received her BS and MS in wildlife ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has worked most of her career as a nongame biologist for Wyoming Game and Fish and the Idaho Fish and Game, and a research/management coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Research Station's Bitterroot Ecosystem Management Research Project. Sherry is the author of a book, Lewis and Clark's Mountain Wilds, and numerous magazine articles about wildlife.
Robyn Klein
Robyn is the Phytosleuth for the Guild’s project: Nature’s 100 Best. She is a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild, trained primarily at the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine (1995). She is an adjunct instructor in the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology at Montana State University (M.S. 2004). Her research involved the phylogeny of adaptogenic plant species and the bioactivity of phytoecdysteroids (insect hormones synthesized by plants).
Robyn Klein has taught herbal medicine classes for over 20 years at schools few people know exist, such as the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine (Bisbee, AZ); the Dominion Herbal College (Burnaby, British Columbia); the National School of Phytotherapy (Albuquerque, NM); and the Rocky Mountain School of Botanical Studies (Boulder, CO). Robyn served as chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Wild Medicinal Plants 1999-2002, helping to pass one of the strictest laws in the nation against poaching medicinal plants.
Robyn’s recent work has been published in Healing Arts Press, American Entomologist, Journal of the American Herbalists Guild, High Falls Gardens, Veterinary Herbal Medicine, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, and in U.S. Forest Service publications.
Robyn enjoys reading and writing science fiction, rafting rivers and soaking in hot springs. She lives in the foothills surrounding Bozeman, Montana.
Tim McGee
Tim is a trained interdisciplinary biologist with an interest in applying biological know-how to industrial systems. Tim obtained his undergraduate degree in Biology from Colby College, where he focused on utilizing the tools of computer science to investigate natural phenomena. His liberal arts training served him well as he finds himself equally comfortable wielding hiking boots or a laptop, which enables him to explore the biological world as well as share it with others. Tim’s graduate research at the University of California Santa Barbara further refined his interest in sustainable systems by investigating the exciting world of biological molecular materials science, learning how life makes materials.
Tim is a regular contributor to Treehugger the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream. He has also spent time working in wide variety of fields from medical research at the National Institutes of Health and Novartis Pharmaceuticals to studying landscape architecture at Harvard University. Tim’s wealth of experience in biological research, industry, and design enables him to act as a Biologist at the Design Table with the Biomimicry Guild, where he helps clients explore how the natural world can help their company innovate and create a sustainable future. Tim’s interest in biology extends to the micro and nano-size realms of materials science and energy production, where he is constantly amazed by the innovative nature of life.
Taryn Mead
Taryn's training in ecology and the socio-industrial aspects of environmental issues provides a systems-based platform for discussion of biomimetic principles and methodologies. As a Biologist at the Design Table for the Guild, she specializes in Nature's functions at the ecosystem level. With a bird's eye view on planning, architectural and production challenges, she provides insights into ecological principles that can be used to enhance the way designs fit into the landscape of a place. She guides clients through a design process that asks the local organisms how to flourish in the regional habitat conditions and incorporate ecosystem nutrient cycling into landscape scale designs. Her assignments include consulting with corporate clients, researching biological strategies, facilitating workshops with design professionals and biologists, creating tools to assist in the design process and managing the Guild's internship program.
She grew up in the woods of the rural Midwest, catching crayfish in the "crick" near her parents' long time home. Her adventures, educational endeavors and employment have since moved her to south Florida, Brazil, various parts of Colorado, Los Angeles and the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. She participated in the National Student Exchange Program and worked at the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies at California Polytechnic University in Pomona, CA. She graduated Cum Laude with degrees in Environmental Studies and Biology with an emphasis in Ecology from Western State College of Colorado in Gunnison. She was involved with numerous sustainability initiatives in Gunnison, eventually serving as Student Body President and the State Coordinator for the Sierra Student Coalition. Upon graduation, she received the Alumni Award for Excellence for her service to the campus and community. She relocated to Helena, MT, when she joined the Guild, after working as a biologist on commercial fishing vessels in the Bering Sea. In her free time, she enjoys bluegrass music, dark roasted coffee and getting her hands dirty, be it climbing, gardening, camping or rafting.
Mark Dorfman
Green Chemistry Naturalist
Mark Dorfman, Green Chemistry Naturalist, received his Master's degree in environmental chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Public Health. His case-study research of waste reduction practices at chemical manufacturing facilities helped INFORM, Inc. spur the creation and passage of the Federal Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 as well as similar laws in key industrial states. He's had the great privilege of providing technical assistance to disadvantaged communities located along the so-called "chemical corridor" between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana in their efforts to promote industrial pollution prevention locally.
On the international front, Mark has worked with chemical industry trade organizations to promote green chemistry in Mexico, India, Russia, and Nepal. In recent years, he’s created educational materials that link green chemistry with biomimicry including a section in John Wiley and Son’s Transforming a Sustainability Strategy into Action, a fellowship with the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and leading workshops for scientists and college students in Kathmandu, Nepal through a grant from the American Chemical Society's Green Chemistry Institute.
In 2007, he joined the Biomimicry Guild to focus full time as liaison between the Guild and the world's leading green chemists to develop the biomimetic component of green chemistry strategies. He's charged with the exciting and rewarding task of helping Guild clients find sustainable solutions through inspiration from nature's warehouse of sophisticated, elegant, and life-friendly chemical transformations. Mark is an avid cyclist, swimmer, hiker, and aquarist, maintaining no less than three distinct aquatic environments in his New York City studio apartment.
STAFF
Barry Patterson
A catalyst by nature, and a passionate sustainability entrepreneur at heart, Barry is a Business Catalyst for the Biomimicry Guild. His work includes business development, ideation, marketing, sales, speaking, and strategy. Barry’s lifelong fascination of the interconnections between humans and our environment led him to a degree in environmental science, with a minor in marine biology. His interests extend from innovation to ecology, from health to design. He has always felt that if we better understood these interconnections, we would naturally design more sustainable and restorative organizations, processes, products and systems. With these underlying aspirations, Barry has invested 20 years in developing and building organizations, including founding both for-profit and non-profit environmental businesses. He has consulted and worked in sustainability, EH&S, exhibit & product design, innovation, and strategy for corporations, governments, non-profits, and universities. He and his family currently divide their time between the Big Sky country of Helena, MT and the Low-country tidalmarsh of Charleston, SC.
Jessica Jones
Pixel Naturalist
Spending her childhood in the deserts of Phoenix, Arizona, and the prairies of the Black Hills, South Dakota, Jessica is proud of the places she grew up and credits much of her creativity to these open landscapes. The inviting forms, shapes, and colors of these intriguing natural places have inspired her design style and continue to influence her work at the Biomimicry Guild.
Jessica graduated from the University of Montana, Missoula with a B.S in Recreation Management, an option in nature based tourism, and minors in media arts and nonprofit administration. Jessica has worked at the University Center as the Assistant Marketing Director where she designed the UC website, posters, and other promotional materials. She also designed the Sustainability Initiatives Team website. While an intern for both the Biomimicry Institute and the Montana Natural History Center, Jessica designed interpretive exhibits, PowerPoints, and advertisements. She was a Mortar Board scholar recipient and is a member of the National Association for Interpretation. Before joining the Guild, Jessica was an interpretive naturalist for Custer State Park in South Dakota where she developed and presented natural history programs to visitors of all ages. Jessica loves surrounding herself with biologists because she continuously learns interesting and intriguing facts about organisms; she especially geeks out about arthropods!
Jessica lives in Helena, MT, because the seasons allow her to participate in activities such as snowboarding, sailing, photography, and nature journaling. She also hopes to make natural history documentary films that focus on the concepts of biomimicry and sustainability.
Patti Borneman
Symbiotic Communications Catalyst
Patti Borneman is our Symbiotic Communications Catalyst. She creates symbioses between two important functions of the Guild: enabling others to learn about the exciting field of biomimicry and nurturing the health and well being of the Guild as a growing, adapting consultancy. She is the primary point of contact for those seeking inspiring, engaging speakers and workshop leaders for corporate retreats, professional trainings, and sustainability-focused events around the world. With a background in environmental writing and communications, Patti also assists with media relations, editing biomimetic reports, and marketing the Guild's products and services. Prior to joining the Guild, she held positions with the National Parks Conservation Association, the Montana Natural Heritage Program (a relative of The Nature Conservancy), the Montana Historical Society, and Farcountry Press. She holds a B.A. in English Writing from Carroll College, for which she wrote a thesis on the literary style and legacy of Rachel Carson. Patti lives in Helena with her family, which includes two cats and a dog, who all enjoy hiking together on nearby Mt. Helena. She's also an avid and committed organic gardener and revels in the art and culture of Montana and the Northwest.
GUILD ASSOCIATES
Rose Tocke
Rose’s long-time fascination with all things small led her to a degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado. It was there that she saw the parallels between the functions and flows of the micro- and macroscopic worlds of the cell and the biosphere, giving tinder to an already smoldering marvel at the elegant way Life works. Fostering a deeply seated ethic of conservation, Rose also undertook multiple large-scale environmental projects on her campus and received prestigious recognition and awards for her work in both academics and environmental stewardship including a fellowship with the National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology program and finalist status for the David Brower Youth awards.
As a Biologist at the Design Table with the Biomimicry Guild from 2006 to 2009, Rose conducted biomimetic research for Guild clients, gave lectures and led workshops internationally, and brainstormed on applying life’s biochemical strategies to technology and design. She also worked to build bridges between Nature’s chemistry and Industry’s chemistry to inform advances in the field of Green Chemistry. Rose also organized and co-taught Guild workshops in Costa Rica, Peru and in various locations around the U.S. In February 2009, she culminated her tenure at the Guild with a memorable gathering of biomimicry colleagues and alum at the San Diego Zoo.
Rose lives in Helena, Montana, with her husband and cats and soaks up life by goofing around in the woods, gardening, and preparing wonderfully elaborate meals for friends and family.
Megan Schuknecht
Megan is a biologist with a strong interdisciplinary background in ecology, environmental health, green building, and sustainability and social justice issues. A lifelong fascination with nature’s elegant and varied solutions to problems, from the nanoscale to the ecosystem level, led her to a position with the Biomimicry Guild. As a Biologist at the Design Table, Megan helped clients look to the natural world for inspiration to create innovative, sustainable solutions to their design challenges. She also lectured on biomimicry to a range of audiences, and presented design workshops. In her new position at the Biomimicry Institute, she serves as interim editor for AskNature.org, a free online inspiration tool for the biomimicry and design communities.
Megan began working fulltime for the Biomimicry Institute in March 2009, but is completing one last, crucial task with the Guild: organizing our 2009 Costa Rica workshop.
Megan graduated from Grinnell College with a BA in biology and earned an MS in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana-Missoula. She served as a beekeeping extensionist in Paraguay with the U.S. Peace Corps and honed her Spanish language skills backpacking solo through South America. Megan loves all manner of outdoor activities, from gardening to sailing to hiking with her pup, and enjoys cooking up local food feasts at her home in Missoula, Montana.
Carl Hastrich
Industrial Design + Web Design
Carl Hastrich is an Industrial Designer currently based in Canada with an interest in Sustainability. His recent experience has involved working in the Toy Industry making a variety of products, from collectable figurines to yo-yos. Having been exposed to the unsustainable practices going on in Toy Design and the toxic factory manufacturing environments in China he was interested in looking for new avenues to address these issues. He has since packed up shop and moved to Canada to pursue various new opportunities for sustainable design. Recently he has been teaching at Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) and working with students to develop new design methodologies that incorporate biomimicry into their design process.
Julian Vincent
In October 2000, Julian Vincent took the newly-created Chair in Biomimetics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath, UK.His MA (zoology) was from Cambridge; his PhD (insect hormones) and DSc (insect cuticle) were from Sheffield. He spent most of his research career in the Zoology Department at the University of Reading, studying the mechanical design of organisms and working out ways in which aspects of the design can be used in technology.
He has published over 280 papers, articles and books and has been invited to give conference lectures (mostly plenary) and research seminars around the World. His interests are very wide, covering aspects of mechanical design of plants and animals, complex fracture mechanics, texture of food, design of composite materials, use of natural materials in technology, advanced textiles, deployable structures in architecture and robotics, smart systems and structures. In 1990 he won the Prince of Wales Environmental Innovation Award. In 1997 he gave the Trueman Wood lecture at the RSA.
His remit in the University of Bath is to introduce concepts from biology into engineering and design, thus making the adaptive design of organisms available to advanced engineering design and control. In pursuit of this he is expanding a Russian system for inventive problem solving (TRIZ) to make biological design available to engineers, and wants to extend this general approach to all human endeavours. Recently he has realised that some of the results allow biology challenge traditional engineering at its roots, showing that information and structure underlay biological success, whereas man's engineering relies largely on energy. He is currently very interested in the way water is used both as a 'structural' material (especially in plants) and as a controllable plasticiser in the formation, production and control of biological materials.
He is a keen musician, having played the banjo, solo, around the UK (including the Purcell Room on London's South Bank), Ireland, Germany and The Netherlands, on BBC 2 "Horizon" and BBC Radios 4 and 3. During his days of penury he taught himself practical engineering by stripping and rebuilding old cars and motorcycles, sometimes at the side of the road. He only once failed to get home.
Jeremy Faludi
Jeremy Faludi is a sustainable design strategist and analyst. He teaches green design at Stanford University and designs modular green building systems at Project FROG. He designed the prototype of the Biomimicry Design Portal, and has worked for Rocky Mountain Institute and Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, among others. A bicycle he helped design has appeared in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and he was a juror for Dell's ReGeneration green computing competition.
In addition to his design work, he writes for Worldchanging.com and is one of the many authors of Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century. He has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, BoingBoing, Treehugger, C|Net, Sustainable Industries Journal, Package Design Magazine, and GreenBiz, among others. He has spoken on green design and biomimicry at conferences, schools, and businesses around the world, including Mattel, Arup, Doors of Perception in Delhi, the Better World Business Forum in Paris, ArquinFAD in Barcelona, the National Library of Medicine, and Foo Camp.
Biomimicry Institute
The Biomimicry Institute is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to naturalize biomimicry in the culture by promoting the transfer of ideas, designs, and strategies from biology to sustainable human systems design.
View the Biomimicry Institute website
Center for Biologically Inspired Design
The Center for Biologically Inspired Design at Georgia Tech is an interdisciplinary research, educational and outreach center to facilitate, develop infrastructure for, and promote research and education in areas of biologically-inspired design. The participants of CBID believe that science and technology are increasingly hitting the limits of the reductionist approach, and that biology is an important guide to non-reductionist linkages. In addition, many CBID participants believe that human civilization’s activities are increasingly overreaching the carrying capacity of the earth’s natural systems, and that biomimicry is an essential tool in the search for sustainable processes and designs. With nearly 20 faculty from various engineering and scientific disciplines, we seek to foster research and education that will enable us to identify and capitalize on the rich source of design solutions present in biological processes at all levels. Our goals are to train scientists and engineers to ask, “what problems does this biological system solve?”, teach biologists to identify potential design solutions relevant to specific problems, and give designers sufficient knowledge and familiarity with biology to seek solutions from the organic world. We accomplish these goals by a number of means. Our faculty have interdisciplinary research programs in promising areas of biologically inspired design, particularly, materials, sensing, biomechanics/locomotion, systems organization and green technology. We have a distinctive biologically-inspired educational philosophy that teaches the next generation of scientists and engineers to work with each other to identify and apply relevant biological design principles. We seek to use industrial partnerships and out reach activities to inform the scientific, business and general communities about the important contributions of biomimicry.
GUILD CONTRACTORS
Gloria Flora
Gloria’s lifelong love of the outdoors, degree in landscape architecture, and passion for people’s relationships with the natural world, combine to give her unique perspectives on sustaining both the human community and the environment.
Gloria is founder and director of Sustainable Obtainable Solutions, a Montana-based organization focused on ensuring the sustainability of public lands and of the plant, animal and human communities that depend on them. She works to harmonize the elements of human habitats and those of nature. Western water, climate and energy issues are currently at the forefront of her nationally recognized work. She recently co-authored Repowering Montana: A Blueprint for Energy Self-Reliance and the Governor’s Climate Change Action Plan for Montana.
As the former Ecosystem Synthesizer for the Biomimicry Guild, she helped develop its organizational structure and sustainability framework. In her 23 year career with the U.S. Forest Service, Gloria became nationally known both for her leadership in ecosystem management and for her courageous principled stewardship of public lands. She began her public service as a landscape architect, gaining attention for innovative design in harmony with habitats and natural processes. Gloria went on to become the Forest Supervisor on the largest national forest in the continental United States.
Gloria speaks extensively on sustainability; natural processes and biological innovations; green business; people’s relationships to landscapes; and on leadership that makes a difference. She’s been featured in numerous magazines, videos, books and radio shows as well as being appearing on PBS’s NOW with Bill Moyers and in Leonardo DiCaprio’s documentary film on the environment, The 11th Hour.
Karen Allen
Karen feels most impassioned when exploring nature and sharing her understanding of the natural world with others to help inform the way we live. Her interdisciplinary science background and love of natural history helps Karen serve as a Biologist at the Design Table, translating nature’s strategies for architects, engineers, and designers. She brings her love of teaching to the Costa Rica Biomimicry and Design Course, presentations, and workshops. Karen also helps the Guild research nature’s solutions. She is currently diving deeper into Biomimicry as a student in the Biomimicry Two-Year Certificate Program.
After receiving a B. S. in Environmental Science from U.C. Berkeley, Karen taught environmental science to students in Yosemite, then taught wilderness skills, leadership, and natural history on month-long wilderness courses in the Rocky Mountains and desert Southwest. A burning curiosity to more deeply understand natural systems led her to receive a M.S. in Earth Sciences, with an emphasis in botany, soils, and hydrology, from Montana State University. She currently runs a habitat restoration and wetland consulting business in Bend, OR and teaches a semester-long natural history and ecology program in Belize each winter for Humboldt State University. When not consulting or teaching, Karen nurtures her love of gardening, swimming, bluegrass, and exploring mountain and river systems with friends.
Toby Hemenway
After obtaining a bachelors degree in biology from Tufts University, Toby entered the biotech sector where he worked at several medical schools and private companies until he encountered his true calling in the field of permaculture in the early 1990s. In 1996, Toby began teaching permaculture, and has subsequently become an internationally recognized instructor, designer, and consultant in the field. In 2001 he published Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture (Chelsea Green Publishing), the first major book on permaculture for North America. He has presented and offered workshops at conferences such as Bioneers, Eco-Farm, SolFest, and other major venues. His writing has appeared in national magazines including Whole Earth Review, Natural Home, and American Gardener. He teaches graduate-level courses at Portland State University in permaculture and whole-systems design, is Scholar-in-Residence at Pacific University, and a field director for the Permaculture Institute USA. Toby is currently working on a book on the use of natural patterns as a design tool. His latest foray into the world of inspiration from nature led him to become a Biologist at the Design Table for the Biomimicry Guild. Toby lives with his wife in Portland, Oregon, where he is involved in the design and operation of several multi-acre sites that demonstrate how the processes and patterns of natural ecosystems can be harnessed to provide food, materials, and education for urban residents and students. Toby's website offers a wealth of resources on Ecological Design and Permaculture.
Janet Kubler
Janet Kübler has BA and Ph.D. degrees from Johns Hopkins University and University of Maine. She has worked in industrial research and development, elementary through college education and basic research. She is currently on the faculty of California State University at Northridge where her teaching specialty is biology for nonscientists. Janet grew up in the woods and backyards of Eastern Pennsylvania with a strong connection to nature but she first saw her intellectual destiny through Jacques Cousteau’s lens. She is a student of the original multicellular organisms, the seaweeds, and has been exploring the feedbacks between algae and their environments for more than two decades. Dr. Kübler is the author of dozens of research articles and coauthor of a book on mathematical models of organic growth, The Algorithmic Beauty of Seaweeds, Sponges and Corals. She has presented the results of her research to audiences worldwide. Coming from a family of engineers, Janet was an informal Biologist at the Dinner Table before joining the Biomimicry Guild as a Biologist at the Design Table in 2005. Her personal and professional life revolve around rekindling the conscious connection between people and their living world through scientific research, guiding hikes in local canyons, helping children observe and convey their relationship to their surroundings in art classes, facilitating university courses and lectures. She currently lives with her family in Southern California where children and art keep her vision clear and firewalking reminds her how little we really know. So far.
David Hammond
David Hammond is an environmental chemist with a broad interdisciplinary background in physical, biological and social sciences. He received his M.S. from the Energy & Resources Group and a Ph.D. in Agricultural & Environmental Chemistry, both at the University of California, Berkeley, where he specialized in Chemical Ecology — the interaction of plants and animals at the chemical level. While at UC Berkeley he was honored with two Regents Fellowships and the Macy Award for excellence in entomology. He has consulted to private industry concerning cork production, pest management, biological wastewater treatment, sustainability, and biomimetic product design, including work for Nike, IDEO, and the Green Chemistry Institute. David founded a non-profit organization in Guatemala that teaches Permaculture to small farmers, he has 2 patents for naturally-derived insecticides, has several peer-reviewed publications, and speaks Spanish and Portuguese. His current interests lie in green chemistry, industrial ecology, ecological design, biomimetic product design, and evolutionary psychology. In his free time he enjoys travel, photography, ultimate frisbee, and gardening.
The Biomimicry Guild has a wide range of experienced speakers to talk to your organization about the potential of Biomimicry and the methods of implementing Biomimicry ideas. For more information and to request a speaker, please fill out our 
Offered by The Biomimicry Institute, these specialized courses are designed for individuals in various design fields including architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, interior design, and industrial design. If you are interested in applying biomimicry to sustainable architecture and design, these workshops are for you! More info at these links: