Amanda Bramble Amanda Bramble has always been drawn to working on the land. She began her technical schooling at Hampshire College, in Amherst, Massachusetts where she studied land and ethics. Her studies took her to courses and internships at environmental education centers in the US and abroad, including England and Central America. She learned innovative approaches for ecosystem restoration, and a variety of methods for the promotion of ecological diversity and design for beneficial interactions between people and their natural environment. A formative experience came from studying under John and Nancy Todd. Authors of several books, including Eco-cities, Living Machines, and Ocean Arcs, The Todds are founders of the New Alchemy Institute, Ocean Arcs International, and several other businesses focused on applying engineered biological systems to transform waste into resources. With a solid foundation in concepts and theories focusing on restoring our culture and ecological systems, Amanda took her first career step with the Center for Biological Diversity, in Tucson, Arizona. As Assistant Director of the Outreach Office she focused on designing curriculum for public schools. The Center still a top defender of the Endangered Species Act. After her work a the Center for Biological Diversity, Amanda moved on to world famous Arcosanti, a leading edge architectural project in Central Arizona founded by renown architect Paolo Soleri. She was hired to be the community's Farm Center Director. At Arcosanti, she successfully revitalized the agricultural systems and introduced to the community a new found respect for agricultural self sufficiency. In the process, Amanda discovered a passion for teaching through hands-on interaction with the land. At Arcosanti she also met her mentor Barbara Kerr, author of The Expanding World of Solar Box Cookers. Kerr founded the Kerr-Cole Sustainable Living Center in Taylor, Arizona and has been designing and experimenting with solar ovens and other human-scaled sustainable technologies since 1972 . Kerr's work inspired Amanda to dedicate herself to a full understanding of passive solar design. Amanda moved from Arizona to the west coast to take advantage of an opportunity to work at the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners. There she deepened her understanding of the remarkable psychological healing effects of working on the land. She ran a job training program for economically disadvantaged populations, including veterans, gang members, and the homeless to restore the tidal marshes, grasslands and riparian habitats of the San Francisco Bay Area. Amanda returned to the dry lands of the Southwest in 2001, ready to grow roots in New Mexico and share her life's work of fostering sensible and meaningful connections between people and our increasingly vulnerable natural environment. Ampersand Sustainable Learning Center is the result. Located in Cerrrillos, New Mexico, informed by the spirit of the New Alchemy Institute, and the Kerr-Cole Sustainable Living Center, she brings all of her mentoring and technical skills to the fertile ground of Northern New Mexico, in order to make living in harmony with our environment accessible to everyday folks.

Andy Bramble

Passionate about exploring strategies for conscious living and critical thinking Andy has studied healing, design, and narrative structure for the past 25 years. After a BA in Creative Writing, he worked with schizophrenic adults before studying and practicing Integrative Accupuncture. He went on to work with adolescents on a locked psychiatric unit. In the late 90's he developed job training programs and IT systems for a Bay Area non profit. Ten years ago Andy decided that we actually are the ones we've been waiting for (if we decide to be), and he became a more 'hands-on' person. He studied and built with a variety of natural techniques including adobe, cob, earthbag, and strawbale. He has since become enchanted with erosion control, waterway restoration, and humanure composting; all in support of being in right relation with where he lives. Some of the most fun Andy has ever had was teaching friends who were afraid of heights to rock climb. His current fascinations include the interplay between human perceptions and environmental systems, restoring diversity to monoculture, and what it might mean to tune the inner and outer environments.