Katlin is our marketing manager and business strategist extraordinaire leading our Sales & Marketing Team.

Mitch comes to us with a BSc. in physical geography with a concentration in Earth Systems from the University of Victoria (BC, Canada), and an MSc. in physical geography (applied meteorology) from the University of Otago in New Zealand where he researched the utilization of machine learning for frost prediction in complex terrain, and the controlling meteorological variables of frost events.

Mitch helps out with the Essential Rainwater Harvesting Course, Passive Solar Greenhouse Course, is the product manager of Contour Map Generator, teaches the climate & mapping section of our Online Permaculture Design Course, and leading the event planning for our summits & conferences.

In his spare time you can catch him working on the endless amounts projects at Moose’s Groovy Grove, reading, developing frost forecasting models (amongst other data science projects), running around or cycling, dipping in some cold water, going for walks with his and Madi’s growing family of animals, or working on his latest funky sauerkraut recipe (Verge PDC Grad 2021)

Ben is a UBC graduate with a B.A. double major in Psychology and Anthropology. Curious about our cultural connection to the natural world, he took our online Permaculture Design Course to learn how Permaculture could be used to foster more meaningful livelihoods and integrated urban communities. Ben comes to us with a diverse skillset, with a focus as of late on business automation, permaculture research, and growth marketing so we can expand our global student network. In his off time, Ben enjoys spending quality time with friends, playing basketball, and forest bathing. (Verge PDC Grad 2020)

Phila Hoopes is Verge’s long-time marketing copywriter, transitioning to the team in 2021 after serving as a freelance contractor for more than 10 years. A graduate of Verge’s 2020 Permaculture Design Course, she brings decades of combined copywriting, technical writing, and journalistic experience to her work.  She hails from Baltimore, Maryland, where she’s implementing her permaculture project and networking on stormwater management issues, rigorously supervised by three cats and wildlife of various species. (Verge PDC Grad 2020)

Kate is a business systems junkie who enjoys supporting Verge’s students and courses by coordinating all the details on the back end as part of her passion for making permaculture education available for everyone. In addition to her work with Verge, she enjoys designing and managing  her many gardens as part of her deep love for sustainable agriculture and healthy living.

Tatiana is our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator. With a BA in Environmental Studies (Carleton University), her educational background focused on how we can better understand the earth and heal our relationship with it. Through her studies, Tatiana learned about permaculture and became interested in food forests, regenerative design, biomimicry and more. She’s passionate about ecoliteracy, nature education, and helping others reconnect to their roots and lead healthy, happy lives. With years of customer service, she also loves building genuine connections, and brings her empathetic people-skills into marketing and community outreach.

In her free time, you can find her painting, dancing barefoot in the woods, baking some sweet goodies, spending time with her family, learning about new medicinal herbs to add to her concoctions, or trying to befriend any wildlife creature that crosses her path.

Alain has spent the last decade working on local food projects, delivering school garden programs and developing community-based permaculture in the Seaway Valley of eastern Ontario.

He and his family have since settled on a new rural homestead, affectionately named Avondale, where they have designed and built a simple home and are developing their 10-acre parcel using the Building Your Permaculture Property process.

When he isn’t farming or collaborating on projects, he can usually be found in the kitchen preparing nutrient dense meals or paddling down a river somewhere. (Verge PDC Grad 2019)

The lead instructor for the Verge PDC, Carmen has had a varied career, working for the Alberta government in the fields of sustainable resource management, forestry and privately in silviculture, soils and horticulture. As founder and owner of Calgary’s URBAN FARM SCHOOL, as well as the Urban Farm Permaculture Project, she is dedicated to helping emerging gardeners and permaculture enthusiasts gain the freedom, confidence and skills they need to live more abundant, sustainable and resilient lives. Having grown food organically for over 4 decades, Carmen gets excited about helping others cultivate great food, and in turn, great selves.  (Verge PDC Grad 2013)

Initially an architectural graduate, Jen first heard of permaculture on a trip to Sierra Leone with Earthship Biotecture in 2011, but wasn’t formally introduced to it until she took a few introductory workshops with Jardins sans Frontières in Montreal. Everything seemed new yet was so basic; permaculture struck such a chord with Jen that she felt like her brain was being rewired. After taking Verge’s Professional Development PDC with 1-on-1 mentoring, Jen moved away from architecture and interior design to launch Northbound Bloom where she designs edible and naturalized landscapes and acreages (Verge PDC Grad 2017).

As the Verge Farm Store Manager, Madi has been working closely with local farmers and butchers to produce high quality, nutrient dense, cleanest ingredient list, YUM, Grass-fed and finished beef products. She also takes care of some bookkeeping and other administrative tasks.

Madi moved to Yeoford, AB from Dunedin, New Zealand in 2021. Her background is in food and coffee, and she has spent the most part of the last 12 years running cafes and restaurants in NZ. When she’s not in the kitchen you can usually find her outside in the garden, going on walks with her growing pack of animals, playing Catan or at the pub. She lives on a lovely piece of land with Mitch – you can follow their journey of turning a hobby golf course into a regenerative permaculture orchard on Instagram.