John Perlin, Author of the Harvard Classic: "A Forest Journey : The Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization", c1991, is also author of: "From Space to Earth: the Story of Solar Electricity", c1999 and co-author of "A Golden Thread: 2500 Years of Solar Architecture and Technology", c1980. His books have been translated into Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish. Whole Earth calls "From Space to Earth" "The best and most readable book on photovoltaics."

Mr. Perlin has written numerous magazine articles and encyclopedia entries, and is a very popular speaker at energy fairs and conferences throughout the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada and Mexico.

"The destruction of the world's forests is one of the major concerns of our age. Each year the world loses some 37 million acres of forests. (Between 1950 and 1980, the Himalayan watershed lost 40% of its forests)"   ...   John Perlin in "A Forest Journey", c 1991.

Adam Stone is Founder of Camp Forest, in Brooks, Maine to share his skills in wilderness survival and help children and youth to feel confident and comfortable outdoors relying on nature. He is co-owner of an eco-tourism center on Yarina Cocha Lake near Pucallpa, Peru from where he manages the SeedTree Peru program in villages along the Ucayali River.

Tammy Higgins, a public Accountant is the founder of T. Higgins Business Services, Winterport, Maine.

Ms. Kinsey spent several years in South Asia studying the culture and spirituality of the region. Her thesis: "Patterns of Priority: Imagery and the Inquiry into Universal Human Values", aims at reconciling a modern worldview with perennial wisdom.

She has also worked for the United States Forest Service in many capacities. Her current publications for the Maine Forest Service alert small woodland owners to the many values of forests and to an array of sustainable management options. They include a 15 page booklet, "It's Your Woodland", and the "Forest Policy and Management Information Sheets". These are available online at Current Publications of the Maine Forest Service.

Daniel M. Cartledge, Ph.D. is an environmental anthropologist and community development specialist with professional experience in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Americas. He has many years of experience as a university professor, and has worked with projects sponsored by USAID, the European Union, NOAA, the U.S. EPA, and a variety of other national government ministries.

A.L. Hammett, III, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Forest Products Marketing and Coordinator of International Programs, College of Natural Resources, Virginia Tech. (1995 to date) B.S.F., University of New Hampshire (1974). Dr. Hammett is the head of the Non-timber Forest Products Program of the Department of Wood Science and Forest Products. This program includes non-timber forest products utilization, marketing and international trade, forest enterprise development and international natural resource education.

• Master of Forest Resources, University of Georgia (1987)
• Ph.D. University of Georgia (1991)
• Senior Faculty Fellow and Research Scientist. Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies 1992 to 1995
• Chief of Party (Team Leader) and Senior Advisor. Institute of Forestry Project, Pokhara, Nepal
• Directed USAID funded project to develop Nepal's two campus Institute of Forestry (IOF), 1992 to 1995
• Lecturer. Regional Community Forestry Training Center (RECOFTC), Bangkok. March 1994

Richard J. Komp, Ph.D., Author of Practical Photovoltaics and President of the Maine Solar Energy Association.

Dr. Komp works in Nicaragua with Grupo Fenix, the National Engineering University of Managua and Professora Susan Kinne. Together they develop programs for solar electricity and solar heating suitable for rural areas. The PV systems being installed are designed and made there. They benefit the environment and the local economy.

Since 1960, Dr. Komp has worked on solar cells. He has given solar energy instruction all over the world. He started the SunWatt Corporation, a small photovoltaics company and Skyheat Associates, a non-profit organization.

Cloe Chunn, teaches the MS course in Ecological Teaching and Learning at Lesley University.

• BS in Geology, University of Maine
• MS in English Literature, Georgia State University

Ms. Chunn teaches the principles of ecology as a study of interrelationships from the microscopic to the macroscopic. In practice this means the networks, cycles and balances between the self, other humans, non-human species and the places we live.

She has taught and lived in many diverse bioregions, e.g. equatorial India, Scotland, France, Canada and Antarctica. Ms. Chunn is a registered Maine guide and has authored the well known book "Fifty Hikes in the Maine Mountains".

The UN's 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) defines 'sustainable development' as ... "that which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

According to Columbia University's Center for International Earth Science Information Network web site, www.ciesin.org February 23, 2002: "Human health, welfare, and enjoyment of life depend in fundamental ways on the systems of nature surrounding us. Yet these vital systems have been compromised by our own actions--consciously or otherwise. Humanity's coexistence with the natural environment is absolutely critical for the survival of life as we know it. Our relationship to our ecosystems must be, in brief, 'sustainable'.

SeedTree works toward this coexistence. A core of field staff and participants in Nepal have joined to form SeedTree Nepal, a nationally registered non-governmental organization. The address is: