Staff
Zenobia Barlow, executive director and cofounder of the Center for Ecoliteracy, has led the Center’s grant making, educational, and publishing programs since its inception. One of the nation’s pioneers in creating models of schooling for sustainability, she has designed strategies for applying ecological and indigenous understanding in K-12 education, including the Food Systems Project, Rethinking School Lunch, and Smart by Nature. She coedited Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World (Sierra Club Books, 2005) and Ecoliteracy: Mapping the Terrain. In 2009, Zenobia was named a Fellow to the Post Carbon Institute and served on an international team of experts that advised the Bhutan government on integrating Gross National Happiness principles into education. Prior to joining the Center, Barlow was editor of an international publishing company, a university program director, and executive director of the Elmwood Institute, an ecological think tank. She travels widely as a documentary photographer.
Lisa Bennett, communications director, is a former fellow at Harvard University's Center on Press, Politics, and Public Policy in the John F. Kennedy School of Government. She is a contributor to the Center for Ecoliteracy's book, Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability (Watershed Media/University of California Press, 2009). Her writing has appeared in many newspapers, magazines, and blogs, including The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Chronicle of Higher Education, Education Week, and Huffington Post. She has spoken at the National Press Club and appeared on numerous television and radio programs.
Karen Brown, creative director, is an award-winning designer who has worked with the Center for Ecoliteracy for over a decade. A former independent software developer and technologist, her exposure to concepts initially learned in IBM's usability laboratories instilled in her a lifelong sensitivity to the human and environmental consequences of good and bad design. An early adopter of culturally sensitive, multi-disciplinary design practices, she has lectured on design-related topics in Japan and Europe. Today, Karen's primary area of creative interest is communicating with general audiences on issues of ecological literacy, education, and re-localization. Her work has been included in the Smithsonian Institution and Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and featured in The New York Times, Architectural Digest, and dozens of other popular and technical publications as well as NBC's Today Show.
Jim Koulias, deputy director, is a former bilingual/multicultural elementary school teacher with a degree in Intercultural Communication. After teaching for 10 years, he embarked on a career in the nascent computer-based filmmaking industry in 1987, developing new techniques for documentary films and television. In 1995, he became a producer and senior project manager, pioneering Web-based communications strategies and websites for businesses around the world. He has lived in Mexico, Japan, and France.
Carolie Sly, Ph.D., education program director, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to schooling for sustainability. She founded ReGeneration, a high school for at-risk youth, and taught at San Francisco State University and public schools in Davis and Napa, California. Carolie earned a doctoral degree in science education from the University of California, Berkeley and has coauthored several books and articles, including the award-winning California State Environmental Education Guide and the Center for Ecoliteracy's Big Ideas: Linking Food, Culture, Health, and the Environment. She also coauthored the Center’s discussion guide for the Oscar-nominated documentary, Food, Inc.
Michael K. Stone, senior editor, is the primary author of the Center for Ecoliteracy's book, Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability (Watershed Media/University of California Press, 2009). He co-edited Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World (Sierra Club Books, 2005). Prior to coming to the Center, Michael was managing editor of Whole Earth magazine and the Millennium Whole Earth Catalog; he has also written for The Toronto Star and The New York Times, among other publications. He was a founding faculty member and academic vice president of World College West in northern California.
Alice Lee Tebo, administrative and communications coordinator, recently moved to the Bay Area from New York City. She was a senior reporter at Entertainment Weekly magazine for the past eight years, where she covered film, television, and celebrity style. Previously, she was assistant beauty and fashion editor at Woman's Day; she has also worked in book publishing, media market research, and TV production. Alice earned a B.A. in psychology from Princeton University and studied abroad at the University of London.
Jacob I. Wright, program coordinator, holds a Ph.D. in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute, where his work focused on worldviews and the intersections of mythology, ecology, and psychology. He is a founding fellow of the Imaginal Institute. A native of Northern California, he has always had a passion for the particularities of place, be they the landscapes, flora and fauna, indigenous cultures, or more recent historical arrivals and events. His interests include educating for sustainability, localism, and food systems issues.
Nobuko Yamada, accounting consultant, created the bookkeeping system for the Elmwood Institute and managed the Center for Ecoliteracy's finances and records from its founding until her retirement in 2004. She previously studied spinning, dyeing, and weaving in England and Sweden, and served as administrator and circulation manager for an arts magazine in Canada. She has practiced meditation for 25 years and teaches yoga at locations in the Bay Area.