Meet our board of directors

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Manno Franca

Chairperson IE UK and interim President IE USA. Expert in geospatial intelligence and strategy. Coordinates environmental projects in Brazil and co-founder of EarthX.

Gessie Houghton

Gessie Houghton

Secretary IE UK Gessie Houghton. Writer, art critic, and videographer. Director of Special Projects at October Gallery.

Mark Nelson PhD

Treasurer IE USA, Chairman Emeritus of the Institute, Director of Wastewater Gardens International, Biosphere 2 crew member, Founding director of the Institute of Ecotechnics

Thrity “3t” Vakil, FLS

Secretary IE US, President Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation, Co-founder of Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Fellow of the Linnean Society, & Fellow World Academy of Art & Science.

Deborah Parrish Snyder

Cofounding Director, Publisher and Co-owner of Synergetic Press. Publisher, campaigner for planetary stewardship. President, Global Ecotechnics Corporation.

Starrlight Augustine, PhD

Scientist and project manager. Ecological modelling, agroecology, farm management, and Dynamic Energy Budget theory. General Manager, Synergia Ranch.

Ingrid Datica

Director & Media Projects Manager of the Institute of Ecotechnics, RV Heraclitus former crew member, Artist and Event coordinator.

William F. Dempster

Director of Systems Engineering Biosphere 2, Inventer and designer of the “lungs”, Biosphere 2, Designer and builder of Geodesic Dome at Synergia Ranch.

Omar Fayed

Entrepreneur and environmentalist, CEO of ESTEE, and co-founder of EarthX.

Kathelin Gray

Producer, Curator, Writer, Co-Founder of Theatre of All Possibilities; Institute of Ecotechnics; October Gallery, Biosphere 2, Caravan of Dreams Arts Center, R/V Heraclitus; and The Synergias.

Christine Handte

Director of the Institute of Ecotechnics and Director of Ecotechnics Maritime (UK).

Marie Harding

Co-founder & Director Institute of Ecotechnics. Treasurer Emerita, Institute of Ecotechnics (US). President and CFO Emerita, and Director, Global Ecotechnics Corporation (NM).

Claus Tober

Captain of the Research Vessel Heraclitus, Director of the Institute of Ecotechnics, and of Ecotechnics Maritime, Ltd.

Andrés Rúa González

Director IE. Technical director at Las Casas de la Selva, Co-founder of Puerto Rico Hardwoods. Musician.

Robert “Rio” Hahn

Fellow and Director Emeritus of The Explorers Club and Founding Director and Past-President of the Institute of Ecotechnics. Captain Emeritus of the R/V Heraclitus, Director of Marketing and Communications Systems for the Biosphere 2 Project.

John Polk Allen, FLS

FLS. Founding Director, Emeritus, Visionary cofounder of the Institute of Ecotechnics and Biosphere 2
Scientist, Poet, Writer, Entrepreneur.


Fellows of the Institute of Ecotechnics

Antonino Saggio

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

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

Elisabeth Lalouschek

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

Francesco Rimondi

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

Gregg Dugan

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

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.

Maria Golia

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.

Natxo Torres

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 Dougherty

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

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.

Claudia Boulton

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.

Craig Inglis

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.

Bernd Lotsch

Urban ecologist and long-time director of the Natural History Museum Vienna, (which the London Sunday Times ranked among the ten best museums in the world in 2001 after seven years of his directorship), is considered a pioneer of the environmental movement in Austria.