Meet our board of directors

Antonino Saggio is an architect and served as Full Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the Faculty of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome, until 2025.

Brad Riley is currently a Research Fellow at the Australian National University, and his work has been published in leading journals including Nature Energy.

Diana Mathewson is a horsewoman, land steward, and longtime contributor to IE projects. From Synergia Ranch to Quanbun Downs in Western Australia, her work has combined animal husbandry, ecological adaptation, and community development.

Elisabeth Lalouschek is an internationally exhibited painter whose work explores the evolving relationship between humanity, space, memory, and the natural world. She is currently the artistic director at October Gallery, Bloomsbury. London, UK

Born in Ethiopia and now based in Provence, France, Rimondi’s artistic vision reflects a lifelong dialogue between landscape, memory, and material.

Greg Hay was a skilled bushman, horseman, and land steward whose work at Birdwood Downs embodied the practical spirit of ecotechnics—integrating land management, animal husbandry, education, and community development in the Australian Kimberley.

Gregg Dugan is Director of the media company Two Birds Productions and the creator of the books, plays, and videos of the Human Race Series.

Johanna Eurich is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and documentary producer whose career has been dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices and preserving cultural knowledge through storytelling.

Mariner and captain Klaus Eiberle is a longtime member of the Institute of Ecotechnics community. He has played an important role in many voyages, projects, operations, and rebuilding of the research vessel R/V Heraclitus.

Maria Golia is a writer and cultural historian based in Cairo for over thirty years. She is the author of acclaimed books on Egypt, meteorites, tomb-raiding, and jazz, blending historical research with vivid cultural insight.

Artist and sailor Michel Lippitsch spent many years aboard the R/V Heraclitus and has become a leading advocate for traditional Malay Jong racing. Through teaching and community events, he works to preserve its maritime heritage and connection to healthy seas and coastal environments.

Natalie Harrison is a linguist, musician and former mountaineer who has lived and worked in several of the Institute’s projects. She is currently a crewmember on the Heraclitus rebuild in Catalonia, where she lives, teaches and brings up her much-loved daughter.

Naxto Torres is a musician, educator, entrepreneur, and social innovator whose work bridges music, human development, sustainability, and cultural transformation. He is a professional musician since 1994, and a member of the acclaimed Catalan band Gossos.

Orla Doherty is an Irish producer with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit. She is known for producing The Deep and co-producing Our Blue Planet episodes for the BBC’s Blue Planet II.

Pablo Friedländer is a researcher, consultant and projects leader specializing in regenerative development, ecology and traditional knowledge. He holds a PhD on the convergence of ancient wisdom and contemporary ecological paradigms and was Professor of Ancient Philosophy at the Universities of La Plata and Barcelona.

Deceased
Claudia was a gifted actress, accomplished theater director, and cherished member of the Institute of Ecotechnics community. A natural storyteller with an infectious sense of humor, she combined artistic excellence with warmth, generosity, and an extraordinary ability to bring people together.

Deceased
Craig A. Inglis, Fellow of the Institute of Ecotechnics, was a long-time collaborator and student of Dr. John C. Lilly, and an explorer of consciousness, community, and human potential.

Deceased

Deceased
Sound designer, broadcaster and archival recordist John Whiting preserved decades of pioneering work by the Institute of Ecotechnics and October Gallery. His meticulous recordings created an invaluable legacy of scientists, artists, explorers, musicians and original thinkers.

Deceased
Biologist Dr. John C. Marsden guided the Linnean Society of London as its Executive Secretary from 1989 to 2004. A passionate champion of taxonomy and biodiversity, he was also a valued friend of the Institute of Ecotechnics and an eloquent advocate for bringing scientists, artists and explorers into conversation.

Renowned Egyptian-American geologist Dr. Farouk El-Baz helped select Apollo landing sites, trained astronauts in lunar observation and pioneered the use of satellite imagery and radar to reveal ancient rivers and groundwater beneath the world’s deserts.

Austrian biologist and urban ecologist Prof. Bernd Lötsch is a pioneering figure in the environmental movement. A longtime friend of the Institute of Ecotechnics, he brought Biosphere 2 to the Natural History Museum Vienna and contributed to many IE international conferences.

Deceased
Pioneering mathematician Dr. Ralph Abraham helped shape modern chaos theory and used computer graphics to illuminate complex dynamical systems. A longtime friend of the Institute of Ecotechnics, he spoke at its conferences, lived at Synergia Ranch and brought mathematics into conversation with culture, evolution and consciousness.