Britt Walker
I have been intimately involved in cultural and environmental sustainability work since 2001. My passions for environmental advocacy and cultural preservation were ignited when I apprenticed at Rio Guaycuyacu, a sustainable agriculture family farm in Ecuador (www.ecuadorexplorer.com/guaycuyacu/) It was here that I was first introduced to the work of organic farming with indigenous campesinos, and observed small-scale community owned and operated projects designed to bring self-sufficiency and pride to local, rural communities. Community initiated and owned projects and the self-sufficiency that results are the two areas that have most directly influenced my life’s work up to now.
I graduated from Western Washington University at Fairhaven College in 2005 with a BA degree in Applied Cross-Cultural Studies. This degree combined the studies of cultural and social anthropology while allowing me to travel internationally and “apply” this knowledge in a variety of settings. Since 2001, I have traveled extensively both nationally and internationally working on a range of cultural and environmental projects.
Since 2003, I have served as Director on the Board of the Sound Essence Project (SEP), and worked as the Assistant to the Executive Director. With SEP, I have coordinated fundraising events, traveled to Mongolia to award 5 college scholarships to students, recorded oral traditional stories and songs of Mongolia Elders, and helped organize several International Children’s Peace Art Projects.
While attending WWU, I was a member of the student-led Sustainable Design Team selected in a National Competition. I served as the social and cultural anthropology specialist, advocating for community inclusion in development projects. Our team presented our inter-disciplinary work in Chicago, IL and on Kefalonia, Greece at an International Conference on Sustainable Development.
Since becoming a Co-Director of the Sustainability Research and Education Project, Katie, Eric, and I have worked collaboratively on a range of projects. In 2005, we sailed along the U.S. Gulf to promote sustainability and help rural and urban communities rebuild their lives. Following our trip to the Gulf, I volunteered at the EarthKeeper Project’s educational organic farm in Rockwood, TN. Here, I worked with Eric and his family to spread awareness of sustainable living and land use practices.
From February to March of 2007, Katie and I traveled to Mexico to document local cooperatives, communities, and organizations working toward ecological and cultural sustainability. I am currently editing this film footage to create an educational resource DVD for circulation in Mexico and in the U.S.
Our most recent endeavor is to create a Sustainability Research and Education Institute in the Puget Sound.