MEET THE TEAM

Joanna Campe, Executive Director

In the early 1980s, I felt strongly I wanted to make a contribution to healing the Earth and did not want to leave the fate of the Earth in the hands of the "experts." In so many words I asked the universe to give me a task. Soon after a friend gave me the book The Survival of Civilization by John Hamaker and Don Weaver. What had previously been "dirt" under my feet became for me a vast micro-universe that is the basis of all life. As an individual wanting to make a difference I felt the tremendous importance of John's work and joined together with him, Don Weaver and others to get the message out.

In 1995 I received a grant to create the non-profit organization Remineralize the Earth which facilitates the networking of a worldwide grass roots movement concerned with regenerating soils, forests, health and stabilizing the climate through remineralization. I have collected research on remineralization from all over the world, produced a newsletter for many years and the magazine Remineralize the Earth (1991-1998), co-produced the European part of the documentary film Stopping the Coming Ice Age and have networked to policy makers and scientists since 1984. In 1994 I co-organized a conference at the USDA headquarters in Washington that included the USDA, the National Aggregate and Stone Associations and directed a two-year research project. I have been a speaker at conferences in the United States and Europe (including England, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary) and Central America and recently spoke at the World International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) and made radio and television appearances to promote remineralization worldwide.

 

Don Weaver, Co-Author of The Survival of Civilization

I have for 30 years been an ecologist, researcher, writer, and organic grower concerned with the health and survival of humanity and the Biosphere. I think that humanity must quickly emerge as the wisely generous species on Earth if the growing momentum of eco-climatic and health degeneration is to be reversed. I am grateful to have met the brilliant ecologist John D. Hamaker in 1978, being thrilled to learn how local and global soil remineralization with natural gravel (mixed rock) dust, to grow high-quality crops and trees, is such a powerful and practical foundation for regenerating the socio-ecosphere. John and I subsequently collaborated to author The Survival of Civilization, produce 11 issues of Solar Age or Ice Age? Bulletin, plus write numerous articles for the magazines Remineralize the Earth, Acres USA, Living Nutrition, and others.

John Hamaker died in 1994 at age 80, but his devotion to saving humanity from the vast and generally unforeseen consequences of soil demineralization helped inspire me to keep sharing his crucial insights, along with others supportive of "Earth Regeneration" and "Reverence for Life." From 1997-2002 I researched and wrote To Love And Regenerate The Earth: Further Perspectives on The Survival of Civilization, which includes additional Hamaker writings in its 540 pages. Both Hamaker-Weaver books remain free at www.remineralize.org as a planetary public service. I continue "promoting" the books and assisting Remineralize the Earth and its worldwide network in various ways. Let me know if I might assist you in your/our work for the health and regeneration of humanity and the Earth.

 

Dasha Gaian, Writer and Media Co-ordinator

Photo credit: Anna Rogal

I have been interested in environmental as well as food quality issues for a few years and have participated in projects aimed to raise public consciousness about the environment conservation in Moscow, Russia, while living there. In Brazil, where I was living at the time, I met Joanna Campe and was immediately drawn to apply my skills to the development of this wonderful organization, so I have joined the team as a Media Coordinator, Webmaster as well as an International Coordinator for Russia. For now I am bringing the remineralization information to Russian farmers and gardeners remotely, through Internet and volunteers. One of the major projects I am effecting is the creation of worldwide database as well as an interactive Google map of rock dust sources. Also, we are currently working on a small documentary about remineralization in Brazil, interviewing leading academics as well as farmers that are using rock dust in their work.

Pedro Antonio Ruiz Castro, Spanish News Correspondent and Science Writer

Since I finished my degree in Biochemistry in Spain I have been working in Biomedical Research, including my PhD in Biological Sciences at the Technical University of Munich and two postdoctoral fellowships in Germany and the United Kingdom. My work is focused on signal transduction and gene expression regulation in the context of inflammation and fibrosis. Living in Germany and the United Kingdom has given me the opportunity to learn and extensively practice both German and English.

The idea of reversing soil depletion by remineralization with rock dust, based on the vital importance of trace minerals to plant growth and health, struck me with its apparent simplicity and yet profound significance. As several authors have already remarked, rock dust is probably the only way to extensively restore mineral richness in soils depleted by centuries of intensive farming. I share my passion for Science with an equally strong one for languages and writing and I feel fortunate to be able to combine all three in this worthwhile initiative.

 

Robert Keim, Science Writer

Jim Cory, Web Developer Consultant

Jim Cory is the founder of and lead analyst at Horizon Mapping, providing consulting services to nonprofits regarding web development and mapping online. Before 2008 he worked for the commercial GIS consulting firm GeoAnalytics, Inc, where he designed and built spatial databases and wrote programs to integrate enterprise databases. Prior to that he worked at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources doing GIS database and application development.

"I continue to look for ways of promoting sustainability and wise use of the land. Through my work as a web consultant, I find I can help organizations with a similar mission get the word out, get people involved, and nudge the world towards a better place. The challenge of the 21st century is to reign in excessive consumption and waste and create a world our children can thrive in. Remineralize the Earth, with its effort to create a community of rockdust practitioners is helping to bring new vitality to soils without depleting critical natural resources. This is one step on the path we need to follow."

Sowmiya Suresh, Web Developer

I always felt a strong urge to address at least one of the social issues. Getting nutritious and healthy food free of chemicals, for everyone, these days has become hard. Sustainable agriculture and ecological balance is important to achieve this. RTE is trying to address this issue in a smart way. With 4 years experience in software development, I felt i could support RTE by maintaining and developing their website which RTE uses to reach millions of people. Would like to see RTE grow bigger, influencing a lot more people and educating a lot more agriculturists and environmentalists all over the world.

 

Scott Miller, Webmaster

Nishi Mittal, Social Media

I have always been passionate about Nature and skeptical about chemicals and chemical-based products. My professional background and interest in conversations around all things organic, green, chemical-free and nutrition led me to volunteer for Remineralize the Earth. The organization’s mission of “Better soil, better food, better planet” presents a phenomenal challenge on multiple dimensions and I am deeply motivated to help build awareness about it as well as generate a wider participation of everyone in this dialogue via building of Social Media campaigns and engagement opportunities.

 

Bingqing Wu,China Campaign Coordinator

I was born in Hebei province, China. When I was 16 years old my family moved to Tianjin, one of the biggest cities in Northern China. I came to the United States in 2008. I graduated from Clarion University of Pennsylvania with honors in May, 2012 and received my Bachelor degree in Economics and Business Administration. I will be working with RTE for the next year, and I will be focusing on sponsorship, partnerships and grants. Throughout college I was very interested in project management, and I think it’s very useful in my current work. I am doing market research, translating articles into Chinese and building a micro blog, and other social media for RTE China. I look forward to contributing to RTE and helping to create more healthy food in our world.

 

Jingfan Qu, Accountant and Co-China Campaign Coordinator

I graduated from Clarion University of Pennsylvania with honors in Accounting and Finance in 2011. I previously worked as a business lab assistant, maintained and administered computer networks and related computing environment configurations. Currently with Remineralize the Earth I have assigned entries to proper accounts, developed, implemented, modified and documented record keeping and accounting systems, making use of current computer technology. I have also collected and analyzed data looking out for more sustainable agriculture companies and organizations so that we can stand in one line to have our Earth more healthy. It is imperative that the food we eat is grown on highly mineralized soil for achieving excellent health. In recent years I have more and more realized how important the soil is since the nutrient content of food has declined for the past 50 years. I am excited to work with RTE and looking forward to contributing to help RTE to raise people awareness on soil remineralization.

 

Cole Cataneo-Ryan, Hampshire College Intern 2012-2013

I am from Falmouth, Massachusetts and currently I am attending Hampshire College. My interests in food science and agriculture have brought me to volunteer for Remineralize the Earth. By working with Remineralize the Earth, I hope to further my knowledge of these subject areas and help initiate some of my own projects through the organization. I hope to finish school with a degree in some sort of environmental science so that I can educate others in more environmentally conscious ways of living.

 

Skyler Hawkins, Hampshire College Intern 2012-2013

I'm from Minneapolis, Minnesota and am now attending Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. I took a gap year last year and travelled throughout the south island of New Zealand. Along the way I woofed and took a course here and there- this kept me busy with hands-on environmental work, but now I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of environmental work that takes place behind the scenes, giving resources to a lot of folks all over the world.

I'm studying sustainability (among other things) while at Hampshire, but I also have a love for music. Perhaps I can mix the two through my work study with Remineralize the Earth!

 

Caleb Humphreys, Hampshire College Intern 2012-2013