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 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. 

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)

Erin is the Marketing Specialist for Verge Permaculture. Her background began in journalism and media relations as a result of studies at MacEwan University. Erin is very versatile with a jack-of-all trades skill set. After a few years working with traditional media and advocacy groups she began to build and upgrade websites for local clients while also coming onto the Verge Team. Erin is also a beekeeper running her business as Crave Honey Alberta and loves to spend time outdoors in rural Alberta with her family where she is a fourth generation homesteader.

Born in the scenic landscapes of Scotland and later embracing the diversity of Canada, Farrah is an experienced herbalist, educator, and nature enthusiast.  She is most drawn to the healing abilities of plants and the transformative impact they can have on people.

Her passion is encouraging others to build a deeper connection with their local ecology and to consider the broader implications of how we relate to each other and the world around us.

Prior to joining the Verge team, Farrah honed her business skills in various roles in customer service, education, and student services. Leveraging her extensive background, she is deeply committed to guiding our students along their unique paths towards a more environmentally friendly and sustainable lifestyle.

Katlin is our team lead and business strategist extraordinaire. Katlin is a self-declared permaculture groupie. She has been dabbling in permaculture for more than a decade, beginning with a roof-top container garden in downtown Toronto. More recently she’s been on a slow journey of transforming her urban property in southwestern Ontario into a permaculture space. She has an extensive background in both business and education, having led trainings internationally. When she’s not helping support Verge’s mission she works in the mental health field as a yoga therapist.

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, 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.

Maurice’s family on both sides have practiced permaculture for several generations. He has a long and storied past as a marketing and communications specialist in the natural resources sector that includes agriculture and fisheries.

He’s a respected activist who has championed human relations issues regarding mainstream news media, the Olympics, the protection of wild salmon, and more.

Maurice, an accomplished book author, has managed projects hands-on in almost every corner of the world and has considerable experience writing stories and producing video that helps the world understand critical ecological and environmental issues. Since 2014, he’s researched, produced and written extensively about blockchain, cryptocurrency, tech projects and campaigns at the institutional level, and for commercial and fine arts globally.

Maurice has produced high visibility projects viewed by millions in partnership with and/or sponsored by CBS, CBC, WIRED, and countless other publishers and organizations, as well as Fortune 100 and 500 companies.

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)

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).