Kirsten Rudestam

Motivated early on by a deep commitment to environmental and social justice, I approach my teaching, mentoring, and group facilitation from an integrative perspective that emphasizes environmental literacy, social and environmental reconciliation, collaboration and deep listening. My academic training is in the fields of environmental studies and sociology, and my research focuses on issues of water policy, allocation and justice. I have taught undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, University of California, Santa Cruz, and Whitman College, and have designed and lead programs for the Buddhist Eco-Chaplaincy Training Program, Insight Santa Cruz, Wildlands Studies, the Wild Rockies Field Institute, and the Green Fire Collaborative.

My inspiration for teaching and for learning is fueled by my love and gratitude for the wild magic of this more-than-human earth. In these precarious times I believe that practices of (re)connection are crucial to maintaining our capacity to face ecological loss and to embrace our inherent interbeing. I am trained as a vision fast guide through the School of Lost Borders, am a facilitator in Joanna Macy’s “Work that Reconnects,” and have been practicing Buddhist meditation since 2001 and teaching contemplative practices since 2006. I am grateful for my mentors in these traditions and much of what I offer weaves together practices inherited from these various lineages. I am also deeply indebted to the wisdom and beauty of this earth that I call home and its wise and humbling teachings.