Our Crew
Teri Zandonatti Wynne
Teri moved to Concow with her husband Marty in 1981, and without power and only hand tools, built a small cabin as their first home. She wanted to live an old fashioned life how Grandma lived in Oklahoma. It was hard but it was satisfying too. Teri sewed most of her own clothes, grew food and harvested wild plants, washed clothes by hand, and made her own apothecary using medicinal plants that grew on the land. She carried water and chopped wood. In the late 80’s she and Marty built a bigger cabin and added solar to pump water from the well and power the house. Teri always tried to keep the land as natural and healthy as possible, clearing underbrush, diverting water across her orchard and installing a diversion pool to water her vegetable garden. She was practicing permaculture even though she was not familiar with that body of knowledge.
Teri is a two time fire survivor. During the 2008 Butte Lightning Complex Fire, Teri and Marty lost their first home. Because of Marty’s poor health they were not able to keep up with clearing all the underbrush afterwards. This made her land vulnerable in the 2018 Camp Fire where she lost her home for the second time.
Because of the 2018 fire Teri got connected to permaculture and landscape restoration networks through her participation in Camp Fire Restoration Project and Co-Renewal’s ‘'fire and fungi study group.’ This is where she met Eric, Mathew and Robin.
Teri holds the central spirit of this project. She brings a depth of knowledge about how to live naturally in the Concow area, where she is deeply integrated into the larger community. Her heart centered way invites the people around her to come from a loving place. She helps sequester resources and is handy on the construction site. Teri has helped build 10 yurts, 2 houses, and a whole lot of sheds. She is famous for her incredible feats in the kitchen. You would be lucky to try some.
Eric Wright
With a 10 year background in restoration, organic farming, permaculture and Conservation Trusts, Eric brings a focus towards the scientific method and evaluation techniques. He worked for Sequoia Riverlands Trust while studying plant biology as a caretaker and restoration biologist. He has learned permaculture under Toby Hemmingway and Jeff Lawton doing an internship at The Permaculture Research Institute in Jordan. Eric considers the Sierra foothills bioregenially significant in mitigating the effects of climate change and establishing resilience. He is also a fire survivor. His mind pulls together information from diverse arenas and brings them together in exciting, novel ways.
Eric is classically trained cellist, a back country philosopher, likes messing with electronics, natural sculptures and a fisherman. His world view is informed by Buddhism, permaculture and social ecology.
Matthew Smelser
Matthew is our chief technologist as a self taught solar technician, irrigation expert, carpenter, handyman with a general aptitude for infrastructure and project management. After losing his home to the 2018 Campfire the only thing that he could identify with was the natural world around him which inspired him to study permaculture and move back to the fire scar to start doing the work which started this project. He lives onsite at Concow Meadows which affords him the ability to execute protracted observation. Matthew studied Permaculture under Brock Dolman and Kendall Dunnigan at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center and currently assists a local farm in its transition to regenerative. From his experience in project management Matthew provides a focused, detail oriented approach to project execution.
He is a photographer, outdoorsman (fishing, swimming, hiking, observing nature, spending time with non-human friends). After losing all his material items when his home burned his focus shifted to connecting with natural surroundings over any particular hobby.
Robin Woolner
Robin is interested in the intersection of decentralized organizational models and land stewardship. He has a leadership quality that can facilitate, organize and coordinate groups. He consults and facilitates with land stewardship organizations around the world. He was one of the founding members of Ecosystem Restoration Camps in Spain which has grown into an international movement with over 35 camps worldwide. He also was one of the catalysts for the Ecosystem Restoration Camp regional hub in California which now has 5 camps affiliated. He is a facilitator with Perma Atlas in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains working on site as well as in the boardroom. He has consulted with Albuquerque Wildlife Federation, was selected as the first ‘restoration practitioner in residence’ at The Birdhouse in Los Angeles and has coached for Complexity University.
Robin is a systems thinker, artist and gardener particularly interested in dryland regions and dryland living. He believes in symbiosis as a personal life philosophy to strive for.