EARTHDANCE - Key Persons
Alan Prater, our Media Intern is passionate about all things design. He attended college at Truman State University, in Kirksville, Missouri, where he received his BFA in Visual Communication. Alan was not very keen about farming before college, however, after taking an agriculture science class he began to think it was actually pretty cool. Aside from freelance graphic design work, Alan's past related work experiences include map designing, library technology assistance, and park landscaping. These experiences have given him a wide range of skills which he hopes to use during his time interning at EarthDance. As the PR Media Intern, he hopes to use his skills to help make people more aware of EarthDance and promote all of the unique services they have to offer to the public. Alan is most adept with graphic design but also has a passion for motion graphics, freehand illustration, and printmaking. He has a growing collection of Gig Posters from concerts he's attended over the years, which is what got him interested in designing posters in the first place.
Dan Mueller grew up just across the river in a small farm town, New Baden, IL. It was here that time spent in the garden and on her grandfather's farm cultivated an interest in plants and the outdoors. In high school, she was actively involved in Environmental Club, which facilitated her interest and involvement in environmental advocacy and awareness in college. Dan currently attends Saint Louis University and will graduate in May with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, Community & Culture and a minor in English. Two years ago, her exploration of the world of organic consumerism began to foster a healthy lifestyle, which she continues to this day, through yoga practice and meditation. Dan believes in working to better the whole person-body, mind & spirit-and incorporating care for the Earth into care for ourselves and one another. During her time at EarthDance, she hopes to expand our city's agricultural and environmental efforts, encourage healthy and meaningful intercultural communication through community dialogue, and, in doing so, enrich its diversity.
Jack Davis's engagement with EarthDance is inspired by his work in advancing sustainable practices within the commercial real estate industry. In addition, his interest in food and farming seeded at an early age; Jack grew up in rural St. Charles, having forged friendships with his farmer neighbors. His passion for community service runs deep: An original partner in St. Louis Composting, he is now self-employed. Jack brings commercial real estate experience, as well as service with numerous organizations, including Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Central West End Neighborhood Association, and the Cystic Fibrosis Association, for which he was the Board Chair.
His hope is that, in the future, EarthDance supplies a blueprint for organizations, communities, families, and individuals who hope to incorporate sustainable practices into their business operations (regarding land development, in particular), neighborhoods, and lives.
Jenna Fleischmann is a St. Louis city native and graduate of Saint Louis University. She has always been passionate about reading, writing, and service. Through a college course in Eco-literature, she discovered a way to marry all three, and began writing about resource access and education. After earning an English degree, Jenna sought employment in the local non-profit sector, where she has continued to work for the past 5 years. As a Marketing and Communications Associate at a water charity, she learned about the sustainable development of clean water in Kenya and Haiti. She wanted to affect change at home, where the local food and sustainability movements were gaining momentum, and decided to join AmeriCorps. Jenna looks forward to promoting EarthDance events and programs and establishing partnerships with diverse communities throughout St. Louis.
Jessica Mills has a fondness for food, farming, and all things numbers. Luckily, through the magic of EarthDance she is honored to invite all three into her daily goings-on. A Saint Louis native, Jessica traveled to the northeast for college and earned her Bachelors in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. After graduation she gained corporate experience as an assistant buyer for a department store before enrolling in Washington University's Law program. In 2009 she moved to New York where she practiced for a Wall Street firm before discovering the missing link during the wee morning hours and late evening hours before and after work - cooking good food is life altering. Jessica jumped feet first into the Culinary Nutrition program at The Natural Gourmet Institute in Manhattan. Post-graduation she interned at health spas in both California and Florida. She forayed into farming by working for a Florida beekeeper before returning to Saint Louis to settle in, eat good food, and crunch sweet numbers. Jessica is excited to be a part of the EarthDance team.
Joan has a degree in Business Administration. Her prior experience in banking for over 30 years and my current position with St. Joseph Parish have given me the opportunity to manage the financial information of many organizations. She has also been the treasurer for several other non-profit organizations during the past 20 years and also serves on the St. Charles County Arts Council.
Her greatest hope for EarthDance's future is that it be recognized as a resource for organic farming best practices and create more programs in our community to share information and activities that can develop a new generation of organic gardening and farming.
Jon Taylor grew up in St. Louis, where he graduated with a BA in Film Production from Webster University. His passion for storytelling, philanthropy, and adventure have taken him around the world. Jon's past work-related experiences include documenting the effects of climate change on coral reefs in Asia, working in post-production on various television shows, and helping small businesses get a foothold in the social media arena. Looking to the future, Jon plans to continue to be an advocate for sustainable living, permaculture design, and locally grown food.
Matt Lebon adds to the list of St. Louis natives that are part of the EarthDance team. He returned to his hometown after a 9 year hiatus and is thrilled to be back. Matt originally left to go study at Indiana University where he majored in Entrepreneurship. It was during his time in Bloomington that Matt cultivated a close relationship with food (mostly pizza, but also with a curious eye on the global food system.) In his junior year, he studied abroad in Barcelona and found the Spanish language and life abroad so exciting he knew another stint abroad was in the post-college cards. Thus, upon finishing at IU, Matt set out as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay. He would spend two years living and working amongst rural Paraguayan farmers. Upon completion he would then circle the globe to Israel in order to further study organic agriculture; this time through a five-month permaculture apprenticeship. Both of these experiences were deeply transformative in cultivating Matt's connection to delicious food and the sacred soil below. Alas, all globe-trotting adventures must come to an end and Matt returned to the states and landed in New York City. While in the Big Apple Matt worked as a teacher and urban farmer. After almost a decade of being away, he returned to St. Louis to continue pursuing his passion for farming by joining the EarthDance team.
Molly Rockamann is a St. Louis native but felt the coastal pull for college and remained in warm tropical climates until she decided her heart was in the heartland and returned to her family's roots in North St. Louis County. While away, she worked with mushroom producers in Ghana, organic rice farmers in Thailand, veggie farmers in Florida and California, and sugar cane farmers in Fiji. She has a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Eckerd College, a Certificate in Ecological Horticulture from UC-Santa Cruz and a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Studies from the University of the South Pacific. (But the land and other farmers have been her greatest teachers.) Finding inspiration in Caroline Mueller, a life-long organic farmer, she is dedicated to preserving farmland and to celebrating the culture in agriculture. She is proud to be a Ferguson, Missouri, resident, and loves to dance and hula hoop. Molly Rockamann was listed on Mother Nature Network's ‘40 Farmers Under 40‘ list in 2009, received a 2009 Kick-Ass Award from 52nd City, was named one of 10 Most Dynamic St. Louisans by Ladue News in 2010, and in 2011 was the first recipient of the Young Food Leader category of the Natural Resource Defense Council's Growing Green Awards. Rockamann feels that her greatest reward is witnessing the transformation that takes place when individuals spend an entire growing season farming in community.
Monica Pless grew up in Ohio, Maryland, France, Germany and Mexico City, but never on a farm. In college, she started out as an engineer but quickly switched to the ecology department for the chance to do field research on birds in Panama. She spent the next decade in New England working on farms in the city hiring high schoolers to do food justice work and rural farms raising livestock. She milked cows, herded schoolchildren, tapped trees and raised chickens before going back to school to get her Masters in Environmental Studies at Antioch New England, while managing a year-round CSA. Monica first met Molly at a conference in 2005 and has followed EarthDance online since it began. She's excited to work with this team and explore all that St. Louis has to offer!
Job Titles:
- Program Director
- Programs Director
Rachel Levi first observed the magic of growing food as she watched her mother tend the family vegetable garden at her parents' home in Ferguson. After residing in Chicago for the past four years, she is excited to be back in her hometown, helping EarthDance grow food, community, and farmers. Learning and teaching in one capacity or another are a constant for Rachel. During her teens and early twenties, she worked as an arts camp counselor, Ethical Society Sunday School teacher, and tutor. After earning a B.A in English and Education from Webster University in 2006, She has taught English to high school students, yoga to adults, and play-based fitness classes for children. In Chicago, she pursued her passion for creative writing at The University of Chicago, where she earned an M.A. in the humanities and wrote a memoir, Killing Fixie Prairie. For the last several years, Rachel has been actively investigating urban farming and permaculture design principles: she helped to install several community gardens, tended her own veggie plot and taught high school students about organic gardening. Her current position allows her to facilitate transformative hands-on learning for adults and children through EarthDance's apprenticeship and youth programming. She is enthusiastic to continue growing the good food movement. Rachel's diverse interests continually lead her toward new insights and situations. Wherever her path may lead, she hopes to leave her campsite in better shape than she found it in.
Rebecca Pace is a transplant to the St. Louis area from rural Kentucky. She attended Truman State University and received her BS in Agricultural Science, focusing on sustainability and animal husbandry. She has spent the past five years working as a herdsman on a 900 cow commercial dairy farm northeast of St. Louis, where she did everything from milking cows to assisting with calvings and taking care of momma cows. Rebecca always felt something was missing and when she heard about the work that EarthDance was doing and their mission, she couldn't wait to jump onboard. Rebecca is excited to be the new Development Associate and is looking forward to a year of growth and exploration!
Suzanne Hart is a St. Louis native that recently returned to her roots after four years in Chicago. Despite growing up in the city, she developed a passion for the Earth that she followed to Loyola University Chicago where she earned a B.S. in Environmental Science. While in Chicago, she got involved in urban agriculture and came to understand the power of good food and healthy land to build stronger communities and humans. Although she (for the most part) spent more time with books than soils, she still picked up a deep respect for compost and a borderline unsettling love for kale. For most of the past year, Suzanne was an intern with the Chicago Department of Transportation and developed a variety of administrative and project management skills that she was told would come in handy at some point in her life. Every now and then, though, she got to talk about bike- and pedestrian-focused streetscape design and how to better use urban public space (which she loves). After graduation, she moved back to St. Louis, hoping to get involved in the sustainability movement here, and immediately became interested in the work at EarthDance. She's excited to bring her passions for healthy ecosystems, localized food economies, community empowerment, and delicious food together this year so that she can contribute to the longevity of her native foodshed and learn a lot along the way.
Tori Dahl hails from Minnesota where, from an early age, she fell in love with playing in dirt and getting her hands muddy. She spent the last four years attending college at California Lutheran University (CLU) in Thousand Oaks, CA. During her time at CLU Tori majored in Biology and English with a minor in Environmental Studies and took as many environmental and ecology courses as possible. Due to one of these courses, Environmental Ethics, she learned about a local organic farm with an internship and immediately fell in love with the idea of living and working on a farm. During college Tori also volunteered at her school's community garden (the SEEd Project - Sustainable Edible Education) and after graduation she joined the Episcopal Service Corps, which brought her to Saint Louis. Tori is grateful to be able to experience the process of growing food while learning about sustainable organic farming this year. She is excited for the opportunity to pursue her passion for EDUCATION about the environment as the Apprenticeship and Work Experience Program Coordinator.