Patricia Michael, MFA
Landscape Designer and Permaculture Consultant
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Patricia DuBose Michael
603 Kingfisher Creek Drive, Austin, Texas USA 78748-2424
Voice: +1 (512) 291-4300
Fax: +1 (512) 291-4310
Summary of Qualifications
Environmental Consultant
Over twenty years experience using a whole-systems approach to ecological design
· Landscape and site design
· Landscape management
· Organizational dynamics and development
Site Designer
Fifteen years experience designing systems that are ecologically sound and economically viable
· “Green” commercial buildings
· Livable subdivisions
· Cooperative land use planning
· Model affordable housing
Educator and Trainer
Over twenty years experience in teaching, lecturing and conducting workshops
· Sustainable living technologies
· Organic agriculture
· Over twenty deliveries of the full Permaculture Design Certification course
· Over one hundred seminars in Permaculture Design
· Has lectured and presented in the US, Mexico, El Salvador, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Czech Republic, Portugal, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand
Site Design
For the past fifteen years I have worked as a free-lance site designer in the Central Texas area. The projects listed below are primary examples from the body of that work; each project has integrated design systems that are ecologically sound and economically viable.
· Waterstone Private Wildlife Preserve, Blanco River. Coached the owner-designer with her creation for the management of song birds and non specified wild non game species. Worked with a team to design and build a light clay home with water harvest, passive heat and cooling, a full feng shui application.
· Created a Xeriscape for a city residential property that involved an elaborate metal arbor, an aquaculture and three outdoor rooms. Solved surface water problem.
· “Greening” of a hotel in Austin, Texas. Sustainable landscape design, rehabilitation, waste management, and resource conservation. This project won two awards from the City of Austin.
· In partnership with James R. Dawes, architect, designed and completed an environmental impact study for two subdivisions in Lavernia, Texas and San Antonio, Texas. The first subdivision included 50 home sites on 88 acres. The second subdivision included 250 home sites on 100 acres. Both projects included open space, parks and recreation areas as well as wildlife habitats and corridors. Also included were rainwater harvesting and infiltration, orientation for seasons and climate, fire/flood/wind/ and erosion aversion, gray water bioremediation, aquaculture/water gardens, edible landscapes, traffic calming, crime prevention, mixed zoning, clustered parking, and diversity housing.
· Designed and developed cooperative land use plan for five landowners adjacent to Jacob's Well, a natural springs environment, Wimberley, Texas.
· Designed interior of Bexar Savings Office Tower Café, San Antonio, Texas.
· Designed three large apartment project landscapes in San Antonio, Texas.
· Designed interior, exterior, and landscape for a legal office in San Antonio, Texas. This rehab design transformed a chemically toxic structure into garden offices using bioremediation.
Publications
· Patricia Michael and William Meacham: "Permaculture as a Design Modality for Healing and Regeneration: Design with a Deeper Agenda," in The Design Journal, Vol. 4 No. 2 (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2001).
· Patricia Michael and William Meacham: "Permaculture Design," in Feng Shui Society Journal, Summer/Autumn 2001 (London, UK: Feng Shui Society, 2001).
· “Inner Development in Service to Community” in Creating Harmony: Conflict Resolution in Community, ed. Jackson, Hildur (East Meon, Hampshire, England: Permanent Publications, 1999)
· “Pattern - Key to the Universe,” The Permaculture Activist, Vol, 39, Knowledge Pattern and Design, 1998
· “The Garden Game: Permaculture for an Existing Garden,” The New Garden Journal, July-August, 1997
· “There’s a Garden in my Office!” Permaculture International Journal # 59, 1996
· “Notes on Zone One Design,” Permaculture International Journal # 43, 1992
· “Report from Third International Permaculture Designers Convergence,” International Permaculture Journal #32, 1989
· “Non-Toxic Insect Pest Management for the Garden.” New Alchemy Institute Technical Bulletin 8, 1987
· “Controlling Aphids in the Garden.” New Alchemy Institute Technical Bulletin 7, 1987
Honors
· Award: Best Success in Design (Commercial), City of Austin Environmental Conservation Department, the Hill Country Foundation and the Austin Business Journal, for Habitat Suites Hotel resource conservation plan and rehabilitation of building and grounds.
· Award: Best Innovation in Waste Management, City of Austin Environmental Conservation Department, the Hill Country Foundation and the Austin Business Journal, for Habitat Suites Hotel waste management plan.
· Featured guest on ten Pulse of the Planet programs with Jim Metzner, National Public Radio.
· Featured guest on The Next 200 Years with Olive Graham, National Public Radio. Topic: "Regional Land Use and Planning"
· Featured guest on National Public Radio in Australia. Topic: "Grassroots Activism for Environmental and Social Change in the United States"
· Featured in “Grassroots Organizing: An Interview,” by Peter Bane, The Permaculture Activist
· Appointed vice-chancellor, International Permaculture Academy. (I am presently supervising undergraduate and graduate students from American universities.)
· Cover story, The Permaculture Activist, No. 27.
· Featured guest on Growing Concerns with Cecilia Nasti, National Public Radio. Topic: "Bioregional Education"
· Member of the N.E.S.T Foundation: Environmental envoy to El Salvador.
· Selected as one of three U.S. aides at Japanese Garden Installation, Kerr Center, Oklahoma City. Installation was made by eighteen Master Gardeners from Kyoto, Japan, a gift from the people of Kyoto to the people of Oklahoma.
University Teaching
· Vice Chancelor and Teaching Fellow, International Permaculture Academy, Tylgum, New South Wales Australia
· University of Texas, School of Architecture, Department of Land Use Design, Visiting Professor, co-taught an eco-village design course subjects included were: design principles, planning and development, project management, watershed mapping and modeling, topographic maps, biological resource impact and regulatory compliance, quality standards, site analysis, biological indicators, site selection, soil chemistry, water, wastewater, aquaculture, and storm water infiltration, soil protection, wildlife design, transportation planning and development, wetlands protection and creation, climate of Texas, plants, bioremediation, wildlife habitat, pest management and organic chemical safety, community coordination and negotiation, local economics, disaster and hazard prevention, team supervision, coordination, and pier reviews, budget assesment, preparation, and implementation
· Corpus Christi State University, Corpus Christi, Texas, Instructor, Graphic Design
· University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, School of Architecture / Assistant Professor, taught design, graphics, and color theory
· University of Maine, Orono, Maine, College of Art / Adjunct Professor, taught art History
Education
· Bachelor of Fine Arts, Magna Cum Laude, with honors, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas
· Master of Fine Arts, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma
· Graduate, New Alchemy Institute, Falmouth, Massachusetts, (Ecology and Sustainable Agriculture)
· Diploma, International Permaculture Academy, Tyalgum, Australia, From 1987-1995 I studied Permaculture under Bill Mollison's supervision in the following locales: Australia and New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France, Mexico, El Salvador, and the United States (Massachusetts and Texas). Dissertation topic: "Permaculture for the Cretaceous"