Meet Modern Farmer’s Guest Instagrammer: The Ecology Center

Seven years ago Evan Marks launched an eco-education center for Southern California. He had wanted to use his agroecology degree from UC Santa Cruz and his experience designing and managing large-scale organic farms in Latin America and West Africa to help people directly impact the environment in a positive way through individual change.

Today, The Ecology Center is a thriving “biodiverse learning garden and community gathering space” where numerous workshops, community festivals, and field trips are held, says Ann Nguyen, who heads up marketing and communication for the center.

In 2015, close to 30,000 people participated in the center’s school programs – school gardens, camps, and field trips – and more than 4,000 folks have participated in sustainability workshops and farm-to-table education. The center has also played host to about 9,000 visitors who have come for self-guided tours, festivals, and other public events.

Participants in The Ecology Center’s Farm Lab Camp.

“We’ve seen both small and large scale results,” says Nguyen. “Through our workshops, people will go home inspired to install rain barrels and start composting. Through our Permaculture Design Certification course, students become eco-entrepreneurs, farmers, and designers. In our school garden program, kids get excited about vegetables, native plants, and the environment.”

Nguyen says the challenges of running the center include time and resources. It’s run by a small team of dedicated staff and as the community grows, so do the center’s needs. She says they have had help from “long-time sponsors, Hurley and Chipotle, to help us get to the next level. We honestly would not be able to accomplish so much without their help and we feel a lot of gratitude for ethical companies who care about the impact they have on the community.” The center hopes to see more collaborations with various organizations, companies, and individuals.

©Scott Sporleder

She believes that the individual can have a positive impact on the environment. Just as the current ecological problems we’re facing aren’t the result of any one action, but rather “an accumulation of many unmindful actions,” we as individuals have the “responsibility and the power to change it. It’s all about awareness and choices. Ditch single use plastics. Buy local. We can all do something to chip away at that big goal and together, we can create big impact,” she says.

“We’ve learned through experience that community is a very powerful pathway to sustainability. We very excited for this opportunity to have a dialogue with the Modern Farmer community and looking forward to sharing our stories,” says Nguyen.