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More testimonials...

About Me.

"As an instructor, Carmen passionately explores every topic with us and creates a professional atmosphere in our online classroom.The slides Carmen creates are colourful, appealing, and informative--ones that I will revisit a lot throughout my design process and beyond!  Most importantly, Carmen adds in pictures from her own context to share with her students.  These examples help me see the permaculture principles at work, which spurs ideas for my own context.  In addition, Carmen shares her experiences from her forestry background and her work in ecological systems, which adds to her credibility.  At times, the students in the Permaculture Design Course can be very passionate about topics under discussion, so much so that biases emerge.  Carmen expertly diffuses these situations by bringing us back into balance through the use of permaculture principles as well as thoughtful, respectful comments.  Most importantly, Carmen’s passion for her work comes through.  It makes me feel that permaculture design is really attainable for all, no matter our situation."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Debra M.

"Carmen is a stellar presenter, a shining member of a constellation of permaculture instructors. She has provided all of us with so much inspiration and is truly a guiding light. It is her groundedness and love of the earth and soil, down to the smallest living or inorganic components contained within it, and the importance of relationships that extends to every level, including human systems. She is able to connect even across the zoom platform, which is the only way I’ve encountered Carmen’s teaching. She has a depth of knowledge that is impressive, but more importantly, she conveys it with enthusiasm and clarity to a varied audience, welcoming all to the conversation. She uses her visual artistry to illustrate complex ideas through beautiful slides as well as sharing examples from her own garden. Her warmth, openness, willingness to sing a song at short notice, and generosity of spirit inspires confidence for us to go and learn more of what inspires us as we take our first steps on our permaculture journey. Thank you for sharing your love of permaculture with us all!"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      June K.

"As the lead instructor in the Permaculture Design Certification Course, Carmen’s knowledge is truly impressive and her enthusiasm, which she is able to express even via Zoom, is contagious. She is patient and an excellent teacher. The sheer volume of information associated with the various subjects far exceeds the limits of what can be taught in a single Permaculture Design course but I can say with confidence that a strong foundation has been laid. I am grateful to Carmen for the role she played in developing that foundation from which I can grow. It is a journey with much to learn and I hope more of that will be from Carmen."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Greg L.

"The training I have received from Carmen during the Permaculture Design Certification course has been invaluable.  She is a confident, engaging instructor, who is extremely knowledgeable in her own fields of expertise and beyond.  Her presentations are professional and informative, with just the right amount of personal application and humour.  I would highly recommend any course taught by Carmen."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Roxanne J.

"Carmen's presentations in the Permaculture Design Course have been so inspiring to me on many different levels. I am most impressed by her knowledge grounded in experience but have also been delighted by her beautiful graphic design work in the images she creates to explain her topics. I am a very visual person, and whether her diagrams include simple lists, or depict complicated relationships in an ecosystem, I am drawn in and paying close attention to what she is showing and saying in her lectures. I am very much looking forward to following her work and seeking out her additional offerings through Urban Farm School and will recommend her highly to members of my own community seeking to learn more about Permaculture. In many ways, this terrible tragedy of the pandemic has given us greater accessibility, through online resources, for which I am very grateful, as otherwise, I likely would never have known of the many beautiful and inspiring gifts that Carmen has had to offer to me and the others in this course."                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Deborah A   

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