About Your Instructors

In 1993 Scott received an Associates in Arts degree with a focus in Philosophy/Modern American Poetry. Following this with the Dean's List from College of Charleston and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in 1995 specializing in Early Childhood Education.

After graduating he designed and built his dream log home and 6 acre garden on Edisto Island. This project took 4 years. Following this, travels to Costa Rica allowed him to purchase properties there and begin construction and land stewardship projects in the year 2000. These endeavors are included under the umbrella of a development known as Comunidad. In 2004 he garnered an Alternative Construction Certification from The Farm- Ecovillage Training Center and Intentional Community with Albert Bates in Tennessee. While in attendance, Scott, his wife and their two year old daughter Luna stayed and home birthed a second child, Indigo, under the privileged care and guidance of Ina May Gaskin, the cofounder of the Farm and “mother of midwifery”.

In 2005 Scott traveled to Earthaven Ecovillage to study and gain a Permaculture Design Certification where he formed friendly and working relations with Rod Rylander and Peter Bane. In 2006 and for the next 7 years, Scott volunteered his time and energy as Public Outreach Chairman for Keep Colleton Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. As public outreach chairman for KAB it was his responsibility to visit all schools in Colleton County, to discuss litter prevention initiatives, conduct forums, assemblies and presentations, initiate projects and develop relations pursuant to objectives set forth by the local organization.

2007 brought Scott and Rod together again to form International Center for Sustainability, Inc. (ICS, Inc.) a 501c3 Public Charity Nonprofit where they collaborated to promote proper thoughtful design using Permaculture Principles, Ethics & Sustainability as key elements to co-creating regenerative models. Scott and Rod collaborated in 2007, as the first people on the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica to bring permaculture workshops and education to the area. They created and conducted international group workshops through an event known as the Aristotle Gathering. During the years between, Scott wrote two screenplays, published five books and painted thirty oil on canvas paintings while becoming a father to two sons Kevin Mikeyel and Keegan Gabriel.

In 2015 he started (AIR) Farm project in Walterboro, South Carolina where trail systems and tree houses were constructed in the forest using only reclaimed or donated materials. 2018 brought collaboration with other groups to present Shamrock Skill Share and Family Farm Feast on (AIR) Farm. A partnership between ICS, Inc. and Colleton High School allowed the opportunity to convert a dead space into an outdoor edible classroom with the help of special needs students. This was an ongoing weekly project for 3 consecutive years. 2019 saw the same collaborative team from AIR Farm organize Abundance Music and Arts Festival 1 & 2 with a total of over 25 live music bands, 30 vendors and artists. Currently, Scott opens his log cabin home on Edisto Island to guests for relaxing retreats while he continues to work on the aforementioned Costa Rica project known as Comunidad.

Rod traveled the road to innovation and helping others.  He was recognized internationally in his design of alternative homes, teaching in the classroom and nature centers, as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines successfully helped remote villagers to improve their status, two years as a social worker, developed an enhance program for homeschooled students, as a park ranger at Pedernales Falls State Park in Texas created an environmental education workshop for Texas and Mexican teachers that ended up initiating and helping develop the first EE curriculum for Mexico.

EE park ranger in Grand Canyon National Park, as a Peace Corps volunteer helped people leaving Hurricane Katrina, as VP of the International Center for Sustainable created workshops, created and ran the Hummingbird Lodge and Education Center in Rockport, Texas that had summer camps, conferences, restaurant, B&B, and tours, demonstrated to villagers in Belize how a half acre can support a family using the principle of Permaculture, help develop Earthaven Ecovillage.

In his spare time he was a trustee of the Texas Chapter of the Nature Conservancy for five years being the steward of the preserves in the state, organizer of Texoma Recycle, Texoma Solar Energy, Texoma Hiking trail, Sherman Bicycle trails, Sherman Historical Museum,  member of Texas EE committee, the North Texas Naturalists, Texoma Outdoor Club and the Seville, Spain Toastmasters Club, He also was a director of the Heard Museum, led commercial birding tours to Costa Rica, Mexico, and Texas, photographed for magazines, sales, weddings, etc., had published over 60 writings and photographs, co-authored with Dr. Ramish Manandhar of Nepal the book Pokernomics, presented technical papers in four countries, hired by ranchers to insure a pipeline didn’t affect their environment, along with having fun bird watching, participating in research projects, backpacking and canoeing rivers.

He has lived and worked for over 20 years in ten countries mainly living in villages.