It's been a LONG time since I have blogged here, but I will start posting updates more regularly this year. In 2011 I finished graduate school, earning a Masters degree in Sustainable Enterprise (a Green MBA) from Dominican University of California. This is why I stopped blogging. From January through May I was totally focused on my Capstone project—co-writing a business and financial plan for a proposed renewable energy/biochar project in Sonoma County called Sonoma Green Energy—and every other activity ground to a halt. After the big presentation and graduation my photography work picked up again and I was able to enjoy a few weeks off before starting up the High School Senior shooting season in June, which brought me out of the heavily cerebral space I was in and put me right back into the visual space I've loved for all these years.
During this time I also ramped up my involvement with the Sonoma Biochar Initiative, a non-profit whose mission is to educate people about and promote the local use of this potentially game-changing organic material. I currently serve as Director. In October we submitted a proposal to plan and host the 2012 USBI National Conference and we won the bid—a huge undertaking for our small group. I have been heavily involved in the coordination of this project ever since and will be reporting on our progress as we go. The Conference will be attracting 300 + of the top biochar scientists, academics, technologists, entrepreneurs, and media from all around North America and the world to Sonoma County, and you can find out more about it here: USBI Conference.
