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Galien Valley Nature and Culture Program

about Zoe Elrick

Zoe Elrick founded the Galien Valley Nature and Culture Program (GV-NCP) and ABC Garden.
She designs and teaches classes, such as the "Wilderness and Culture Class," a unique interdisciplinary sustainability class (including
science, art, and history) and the
"Community and Landscape: Eco Workshop," on ecology, economy, and community problem solving.
Off shoots from the Wilderness and Culture Class include "Habitats and Wildlife," about local ecology and science, and "Nature and Community Arts," that connects nature, community, and art.

She knows that each person has many good qualities and talents.
Likewise, she has many good qualities and talents too.
Zoe is a
a living and loving being,
a friend, family, and community member,
a student and teacher,
a scientist and artist,
a naturalist and culturalist,
a curriculum designer,
a landscape architect,
and more.

Zoe enjoys science and art, nature and people, learning and teaching, surviving and thriving, interdisciplinary holistic sustainability, holistic local living, sustainable and enriching cultures, community-economy, and that everything connects to everything else.

In childhood and adulthood, Zoe’s passion has been studying and being involved in various education and nature and cultural activities.  She grew up in New York and Pennsylvania and particularly enjoyed history, science, art, and teaching.  Following, she attended the University of Illinois, at Urbana-Champaign, as well as studied abroad in Australia. In college, Zoe enjoyed majoring in landscape architecture, because it links together many subjects: people, nature, science, art, etc.  She likes to study many subjects, not just one. She wants people to be healthy, happy, and supplied enough. As people improve the way they sustain and enrich communities and their landscapes, people have better health, economy, education, etc. Also during college, Zoe volunteered helping and teaching at nature centers, at elementary schools, and at an Ojibwe reservation.   After college, a design firm in Boston, CBA Landscape Architects, employed her, and she got a landscape architecture license.  In Michigan, Zoe worked for Pizzo and Associates, a design and ecological restoration firm.  Also while living in Michigan, Zoe has been designing, authoring, and illustrating local-nature-based interdisciplinary-curriculum and books at the Pocket Pumpkin Press (see www.z-hub.org/pppress.html), and homeschooling her children.  Meanwhile, she continues to volunteer in the Prairie Club, an environmental club. She participated in the local government, by serving on the Three Oaks Village Planning Commission for six years.  Additionally, Zoe attends nature and culture classes at the Tracker School, a stone age wilderness survival school, in New Jersey. She enjoys the interdisciplinary education at the Tracker School.

Zoe started her own community school / local small business / nonprofit / science and art studio, the Galien Valley Nature and Culture Program (GV-NCP) with the ABC Garden to get kids and people of all ages aware of, learning about, and engaged with the local outdoors and the local community, for many reasons including to boost fun, joy, human health, economy, education, community, sustainable skills, government, social vitality, natural habitat health, morals and beauty in culture, science and art, and more, plus, history, and current possibilities to benefit the future of people and nature.

Zoe aims to always be learning, living, loving, connecting, caretaking, having fun, improving skills, expanding awareness, watching and praying, and unfolding.
Blessings to all people and nature!

Zoe's Daily Blog

Zoe's Monthly Blog

Galien Valley Nature and Culture Program
List of Classes