ECOSA FACULTY BIOGRAPHIES
ROGER ASAY, along with his wife, Rebecca Davis, has exhibited sculptures throughout the US. The couple currently lives in Prescott, AZ. They have been collaborating since 1983 to produce sculpture which presents the raw materials of nature as the subject as well as the substance of their installation art. The resulting body of work has been shown in museums throughout the Southwest. Asay and Davis have created permanent site-specific outdoor sculptures for the cities of Prescott, Tucson, Cottonwood, and Phoenix in Arizona, as well as many temporary on-site installations. Their work is part of a number of public and private collections. Asay's current work, consisting primarily of jumbles of sticks formed into polished spheres, is carried by Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, and Van Gogh's Ear, Prescott. Through most of his career, Asay has been a part-time educator at universities and colleges. In the last decade has also created animal sculptures of stuccoed concrete in collaboration with Arizona school children.
ANTONY BROWN has over 40 years experience working on sustainable architecture and urban design. He has taught sustainable design and planning at the college level and has lectured at universities around the United States and abroad. As Director of the Ecosa Institute he continues to develop an innovative new approach to educating students and graduates in the role of sustainability in design. He has attracted a number of leading architects, designers, scientists and writers to the Ecosa Institute to meet with students, review their work and discuss their approach to sustainable issues. Students now come to the Ecosa Institute from around the world to supplement their design education.
Mr. Brown has worked as an architect in London, Boston and San Francisco, has been a magazine editor and written numerous articles for magazines for which he has won press club awards. He has received awards for his book illustrations including illustrations in “Nature Notes” and “The Ecology of the Grand Canyon.” He founded an award-winning graphic design company and has an architectural practice where he has promoted concepts of sustainability throughout his career.
ANTHONY C. FLOYD has worked for the City of Scottsdale since 1985 as a building codes specialist and later as a city Building Official. He left the city in 1995 to participate in a one-year international study program which focused on the issues of sustainability, development, and global ecology. Since his return in 1996 he has worked to promote environmentally sound building practices. Anthony currently serves as Scottsdale’s Sustainable Building Manager and is in charge of the newly established Green Building Program which promulgates environmentally responsible and energy efficient building practices for city facilities, home construction and commercial development. The program is voluntary and uses public/private sector incentives to involve builders, designers and project owners. Green building rating criteria has been established from an integrative/whole systems approach involving site use, energy, building materials, indoor air quality, water, and solid waste.
Anthony is past chairman of the MAG (Maricopa Association of Governments) Building Codes Committee and past President of the Arizona Chapter of the International Conference of Building Officials. He currently serves on the Board of Governors of the World Organization of Building Officials, The Ecosa Institute, and as a member of the Arizona Solar Energy Advisory Council. Anthony is an Arizona registered architect and a certified building official. He has a civil engineering and architecture degree from Penn State University (1978) and a Master's Degree in public administration (1994) from Arizona State University.
JEFF FROST is Project Manager at Sol Source Architecture and Building, a.k.a. Green Co-founder Jeffery Frost assisted in the design, development and construction of some of the Valley's truest private environmental buildings. Frost has developed specialized knowledge and hands-on expertise in the construction of a broad portfolio of alternative building systems, including insulated concrete forms, autoclaved aerated concrete, structural foam technology, and straw bale. With clients who are willing to push the envelope, he has incorporated many alternative finish materials into projects, learning the nuances of each new material and its best applications. With a Designer's eye, he is always searching for and evaluating new and innovative materials based on aesthetics and practicality. He has been featured on local television and newspaper, discussing green building materials.
Frost began his career in Detroit, Michigan as a Project Manager and Designer. Before graduating with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Architecture from Lawrence Technological University, Jeff had already designed and built over 30 projects with Stucky-Vitale Architects. Attracted by the architectural possibilities suggested by an arid, desert climate, he moved to Phoenix and joined Salazar Associates as a Project Manager and Designer. Frost worked for Sol Source from 2001-2006 and is an AIA Associate Member and LEED Accredited Professional.
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CHARLIE GOHMAN has over twenty years experience with residential energy conservation. He has been with the Arizona Energy Office for sixteen years and is presently Manager of the Building Science and Efficiency section. He provides technical assistance and training on residential energy auditing, diagnostics, codes and energy financing to Weatherization Assistance Program participants, municipalities, utilities and the building industry. He has an extensive background in residential building analysis utilizing pressure diagnostics, infrared cameras and computer auditing.
TOM HAHN is an NCARB certified, Arizona and Nevada registered Architect, and an Arizona Licensed Residential and Small Commercial Building Contractor. Tom holds a Masters of Architecture in Energy Conscious Design from Arizona State University, and a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in Architecture) from the University of Washington. His career and current practice has centered on energy efficient and environmentally responsible design. He has fifteen years of experience in all facets of architectural design, environmental design consulting and project management, from large commercial projects to residential design and recreation projects. His construction experience spans the full spectrum of alternative and natural building systems, has been fully-contracted, volunteer and owner-builder based, and ranges from small commercial through complex residential and recreation projects.
BRAD LANCASTER has been teaching permaculture and running his own permaculture design consultation and education business since 1993. He and his brother have created, and live on, a thriving 1/8th of an acre urban permaculture site in downtown Tucson, Arizona. Within his neighborhood and beyond, Brad feeds his passion for community building and activism, resulting in the creation of an organic community garden, mini-nature park, salvaged bicycle cooperative, neighborhood newsletter, annual tree plantings, local food pot lucks, and more. He is author of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands aimed at giving people the tools needed to welcome rainwater into their lives.
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DEB LESNEFSKA, B.ARCH, ASSOC. AIA is a graduate of California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo. She has studied in both Europe and South America and has a particular interest in vernacular design and building constructs. Her academic work includes an analysis of Re-Use and Restoration as an Alternative to New Construction as well as treatment and use of bio-waste in agriculture and zoological environments. Recently relocated from Seattle, Washington, she is currently working with Tom Reilly and Associates as well as practicing independently as Raven Design. Her eight years of work experience varies from commercial and residential projects to public work with an emphasis on themed environments including zoological exhibits, restaurants and hotels as well as historical restoration.
CODY LUNDIN B.A. grew up with the outdoors, from the Pacific coastline and the hills of Europe, to the plains of the Rocky Mountains and desert canyons of the Southwest. His passion for freedom led him to a lifestyle of resourcefulness and simplicity through the exploration of self-reliance. He teaches with rare intensity and humor to individuals, schools, colleges, universities and various organizations throughout the United States. Cody holds a B.A. in Depth Psychology and Holistic Health. He founded the Aboriginal Living Skills School, LLC (ALSS, LLC) during the winter of 1991 in Prescott, Arizona.
BEN MANCINI is a Certified Solar Installer and worked as a solar hot water installer from 1980-1981. He built his own off-grid passive solar home between 1983 and 1990 and started his own business, EV Products, doing electric vehicle conversions in 1991. He is currently a licensed contractor for solar hot water and solar electric systems and adjunct faculty at Yavapai College for renewable energy applications in residential construction.
ANDREW MILLISON M.A. is a designer and builder of sustainable landscapes. He has a Bachelors Degree in Ecological Design and Master's Degree in Horticultural Conservation from Prescott College. He is currently director of the Arizona Heirloom Fruit and Nut Regis-tree, teaches Permaculture for Drylands at Prescott College, and is a landscape contractor and gardener. His enthusiasm for permaculture design drives his work and feeds his lifelong desire for learning.
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PATRICIA OLSON, PH.D. is a registered Architect with twenty years of professional experience and a Ph.D. in Environmental Design and Planning. Her dissertation research examined ecological design education programs. Her work focuses on the integration of environmental and human health issues in architectural design and planning. Patricia has taught college courses in Ecological Design, Passive Solar Design, and Healthy Building Design since 1991.
DANA OSWALD, PH.D. is a native southwesterner whose travels have taken her to more than seventy countries. Exposure to many different cultures fostered her interest in different lifestyle and values, culminating in a three year stay in southern Africa doing ethnographic work. “Travel played an important role in opening my mind, but now I want to stay in one place and help to build a sustainable community. My studies in cultural anthropology and human ecology …prepared me to look at modern problems from many perspectives. In anthropology courses, I help students respect diversity and learn from different world views, because diversity of thought is life-sustaining. In human ecology courses, I challenge students to confront difficult issues and to develop personal commitments to creating a sustainable future for all peoples.”
RICK PERNELL, Associate AIA started using ArchiCAD in 1993 while attending the University of Hawaii. He returned to the Phoenix area and started work at a local firm, and began supporting the local user group meetings. His project experience ranges from a large mixed-use retail pyramid structure, and aquarium, to commercial office and industrial buildings. Rick has assisted firms in the transition from 2D Cad programs to ArchiCAD and has taught classes at ArchiCamp. Rick has served as Associate Director for the Central Arizona chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He will have his profession registration in early 2008 and is the sole proprietor of Enthios, established in 2007.
JOHN PUCETAS is the President of SiteTek Financial Arts, Inc., a specialist consulting company providing original Value Strategies for the Built Environment. Their services strategically position clients to maximize the value received from financial investments made in new construction, renovation, acquisition, maintenance and life-cycle aspects of facility ownership. John is a Registered Architect, a Certified Value Specialist and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from Ohio State University. He has thirty years of experience in facilities economics, project management and architectural design in both the public and private sectors. His current work involves assisting clients in achieving “best value” design solutions maximizing project performance criteria including sustainability, operations, maintenance and initial cost of construction.
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MICHAEL PYATOK has been an architect and professor of architectural design for thirty-seven years. Since opening his own office in 1985, he has designed over 20,000 units of affordable housing for lower income households, winning numerous local and national design awards. During that period he has developed participatory design methods to facilitate the involvement of lower income communities in their revitalization. Using three-dimensional model kits, role-playing and game techniques he has helped many communities plan and implement the design and construction of new housing developments and community facilities. In 1995, he was elected to the College of Fellows of the AIA in recognition of his contribution to neighborhood planning and the design of affordable housing.
MARK REIGNER PH.D. has been teaching courses including Animal Behavior, Coastal Ecology (in Kino Bay, Mexico), Evolutionary Biology, Form and Pattern in Nature and Tropical Biology (in Costa Rica). His research interests embrace phenomenological approaches to understanding plant and animal morphology, a theme on which he has numerous publications. Mark relishes the opportunity to offer students sound academic courses with a strong field component, through which they may discover first-hand the wonder of the natural world as well as aspects of themselves. “Nature provides limitless possibilities for learning about both the world and ourselves. In fact, they go hand in hand, as expressed in Goethe’s words: ‘Each phenomenon in nature, rightly contemplated, awakens in us a new faculty for inner understanding.’ By approaching nature with an open-minded attitude, and by learning to recognize and formulate our own individual questions, we can begin to develop the necessary tools to guide us through life.”
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