Location
Bowditch 308

Lisa Depiano is a lecturer in sustainable agriculture.  She teaches courses in permaculture and her interests include carbon farming, specifically silvopasture with hybrid Chestnuts, and establishing food forests on public land.  “For over a decade she has taught permaculture to hundreds of students in dozens of courses in the United States and abroad, including the Permaculture Women’s Teacher Training. She runs the Mobile Design Lab which specializes in participatory permaculture design and installation and serves as a board member for the Permaculture Institute of the Northeast. Her public permaculture installations include the grey water system at Occupy Wall Street and the Lee Street Forest Garden in Cambridge.”

Curriculum Vitae

Senior Lecturer

EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Amherst, MA, Masters in Regional Planning, Sep 2006

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY Morgantown, WV, BA Journalism/Public Relations, Jun 2000

TEACHING AND ADVISING EXPERIENCE

University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, Lecturer, Forest Gardens Perennial Ag. for Ecological Regeneration Sep 2017 – Present

  • Prepare course materials such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts. 
  • Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, and course materials and methods of instruction. 
  • Keep current with developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and  participating in professional conferences. 
  • Supervise field work and field trips.

Lecturer, Social Permaculture Jan 2017 – Present

  • Prepare course materials such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts. 
  • Teach course content.
  • Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, and course materials and methods of instruction. 
  • Keep current with developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
  • Supervise field work and field trips.

Lecturer, Permaculture Practicum Sep 2016 – Present

  • Evaluate and grade students' course work, assignments, and papers. 
  • Mentor and supervise student directed field work at the Agricultural Learning Center Food Forest Garden.

Lecturer, Permaculture Design and Practice Jan 2014 – Present

  • Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate students on topics such as carbon farming, agroforestry techniques, and soil improvement. 
  • Teach course content. 
  • Evaluate and grade students' course work, laboratory work, assignments, and papers. 
  • Keep current of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences. 
  • Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
  • Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions. 
  • Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, and course materials and methods of instruction.

Lecturer, Introduction to Permaculture Sep 2012 – Present

  • Prepare course materials such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
  • Teach course content. 
  • Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate students on topics such as crop production, plant genetics, and soil chemistry. 
  • Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions and activities. 
  • Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, and course materials and methods of instruction. 
  • Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.

Faculty Sponsor, Independent Study, Molly Murphy, Permaculture and the Dairy Industry Sep 2016 – Present

  • Work with student to create semester plan and deliverables.
  • Meet with student regularly to implement plan and answer questions.
  • Connect student with people and resources for independent study.
  • Evaluate student work, give feedback and suggest next steps.

Instructor, University Without Walls, Introduction to Permaculture Jan 2011 – Sep 2015

  • Prepare and deliver online lectures to undergraduate students on topics such as permaculture principles, forest gardening, and rainwater harvesting.
  • Evaluate and grade students' course work, assignments, and papers.
  • Prepare course materials such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
  • Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records. Initiate, facilitate, and moderate online classroom discussions.

Faculty Sponsor, Food Forest and Medicinal Herb Spiral, UMass Ag Learning Center Spring/Summer 2017

  • Create job description and implement hiring process.
  • Meet with students regularly to create and implement plan and answer questions.
  • Connect students with people and resources.
  • Evaluate students work, give feedback, and suggest next steps.

Faculty Sponsor, BDIC, Joshua Freund, Horticultural Therapy Academic Year 2015

  • Work with student to create semester plan and deliverables.
  • Meet with student regularly to implement plan and answer questions.
  • Connect student with people and resources for independent study.
  • Evaluate student work and give feedback and next steps.

 

Master's Thesis Committee Member, Kathryn Doherty, Urban Agriculture and Ecosystem Services:

A Typology and Toolkit for Planners Academic Year 2015.

  • Connect student with people and resources for independent study.
  • Evaluate student work and give feedback and next steps.

College of the Menomonee Nation Keshina, WI, Instructor Jun 2008 – Jul 2008

  • Prepare and deliver interactive and culturally relevant material to Menomonee Nation leaders connecting
  • permaculture with indigenous culture and land use practices
  • Prepare course materials such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
  • Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
  • Collaborate with colleagues to create course content and teaching methodology.

Yestermorrow Design/Build School Warren , VT, Instructor and Advisor, Edible Forest Gardens, Permaculture and Farm Design Aug 2007 – Apr 2016

  • Supervise and monitor students' use of tools and equipment.
  • Develop curricula and plan course content and teaching methodology.
  • Conduct on-the-site training sessions to teach and demonstrate principles, techniques, procedures, methods of designated subjects.
  • Select and assemble books, materials, supplies, and equipment for training, courses, or projects.
  • Advice and mentor certificate students on their final projects.

Omega Institute Rhinebeck , NY, Instructor & Advisor, Women's Permaculture Teacher Training Aug 2014 – Aug 2016

  • Collaborate with colleagues to create course content and teaching methodology.
  • Initiate, facilitate, and moderate group discussions.
  • Prepare course materials such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
  • Advise and mentor students on teaching and career opportunities.
  • Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities.
  • Keep current of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.

 

AWARDS AND HONORS

  • Agricultural Hero, The Farm School, Athol, MA Spring 2017
  • UMass Distinguished Teaching Award, Nomination, Fall 2016
  • Grantee, Center for Teaching and Faculty Development, Permaculture development in Haiti, UMass 2015
  • Sustainability Curriculum Fellow, UMass 2013-2014
  • Grantee, Open Education Initiative, UMass 2012
  • Community Engagement Award, UMass Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, 2006

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

  • "The Power of the Permablitz,” Permaculture Magazine North America Issue #2, Jan. 2016, Sebastopol, CA
  • "Inhabit a Permaculture Perspective," Film, Featured Designer, 2015
  • "Social Polycultures Using Permaculture to Build Resilient Relationships," Permaculture Research Institute, Dec 2015, Australia
  • Permaculture FEAST principles flashcards and teaching curricula, 2013
  • "Social Permaculture Principles in Action," Permaculture Research Institute, Feb 2013, Australia
  • "Bicycles, Night Soil and The Future of Garbage," Permaculture Activist Magazine #64, Waste=Food, Summer 2007
  • “Hanging Plannings Dirty Laundry,” DePiano, Negel, Fonza, Undercurrents Journal of Critical Environmental Studies Volume 16, Planning Culture and Space, Toronto, ON 2007
  • Panelist, Screening, Inhabit a Permaculture Perspective, UMass SFF and Dining Services Panelist, March 2017
  • Social Permaculture, Haverford College, Fall 2016, Haverford, PA
  • Permaculture and Practice, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA , October 2015
  • Permaculture For Master Gardeners, Master Gardeners Association, Holyoke, MA March, 2014
  • Permaculture Fundamentals, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, April 2014, Cambridge, MA
  • Permaculture Fundamentals and Permaculture in Higher Ed, UMass Permaculture Your Campus Conference, Summer 2014, Amherst, MA
  • Permaculture Fundamentals for Youth Beginning Farmers, Amherst College, July 2012, Amherst, MA
  • Panelist, Zube Lecture Series, Permaculture and Sustainable Development, LARP, 2012, Amherst, MA
  • Design, Art, and Technology: Re-thinking Public Places, Re-purposing Everyday Objects, Re-imagining Social Change, Hampshire College, January 2012, Amherst, MA
  • Perennial Polycultures for the School Garden,Mass Ag in the Classroom, Fall Teachers Conference, September 2012, Ludlow, MA
  • Out of the Margins and into the Streets a decade of Permaculture in the Northeast, Keynote Address, Northeast Regional Permaculture Convergence,Boston,MA, July 2011
  • No Till Agriculture, Edible Forest Gardens, Montview Neighborhood Farm Case Study, University of Vermont, Plant & Soil Science Department, Burlington, VT, March 2009, 2010
  • Permaculture Fundamentals, Wesleyan University, Social Justice Leadership Conference, 2010, Wesleyan, CN
  • Food Security, Mount Holyoke College, Youth Media Summit, South Hadley, MA, July, 2010
  • Montview Farm Tour, No-Till Farming, Rainwater Harvesting, Farming Without Fossil Fuels, Northeast Organic Farming Association, Summer Conference, UMass Amherst, 2007-2011

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Mobile Design Lab Holyoke, MA, Founder, Director Apr 2011 – Present

  • Coordinate and direct projects, making detailed plans to accomplish goals
  • Manage a team of volunteers and interns
  • Prepare budgets, bids, and contracts, and direct the negotiation of contracts.
  • Featured projects include; Design and Installation of the Greywater System for the Occupy Wall Street Kitchen at Zucotti Park, Permaculture Parklets, Edible Food Forests in Parking spaces, Times Square, NYC and Central Square, Cambridge, Design for Mass. Agriculture in the classroom perennial polycultures for school gardens, Food Forest at the Wendall Town Hall

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA

  • Appointed Research Fellow, Permaculture Expert for the Social Computing Lab Apr 2014 – Aug 2016
  • Coordinate and direct projects, making detailed plans to accomplish goals and directing the integration of technical activities.
  • Direct, review, and approve product design and changes.
  • Work with an interdisciplinary team of engineers, architects, computer scientists and artists.
  • Analyze technology, resource needs, and market demand, to plan and assess the feasibility of projects.
  • Confer with and report to university and public officials to provide information and solicit support for projects.

Montview Neighborhood Farm

  • Co-Founder, Farmer Apr 2005 – Nov 2011
  • Determine types or quantities of crops or livestock to be raised, according to factors such as market conditions, federal programs or incentives, or soil conditions.
  • Marketing and sales for farm products.
  • Hire, train, or supervise workers engaged in planting, cultivating, irrigating, harvesting, or marketing crops, or in raising livestock.
  • Maintain financial, operational, production, or employment records for farms or ranches.
  • Plan crop activities based on factors such as crop maturity or weather conditions.
  • Demonstrate or explain working techniques, practices, or safety regulations to farm or ranch workers.
  • Monitor and adjust irrigation systems to distribute water according to crop needs and to avoid wasting water.

Pedal People Northampton , MA, Worker/Owner Jun 2006 – Nov 2011

  • Make presentations to educate the public on how to recycle or on the environmental advantages of recycling and composting.
  • Oversee campaigns to promote recycling or waste reduction programs in communities and organizations.
  • Work collaboratively running a cooperative business, attracting new customers, communication with existing customers, promote our company.
  • Initiate and Pilot first city-wide business and residential composting program.

SELECTED COMMUNITY AND UNIVERSITY SERVICE

  • Permaculture Association of the Northeast, Board Member, 2015-Present
  • Holyoke Community Market Food Coop, Governance Committee 2015-Present
  • Co-founder, Western MA Permaculture Guild, Northampton, MA 2003
  • Established a Permaculture Agricultural Center in Bellabe, Haiti with the UMass Department of Public
  • Health and Opportunities for Communities, March 2015

ADDITIONAL TRAINING AND CERTIFICATES

  • 2016 Relational Leadership Diversity Training, Watershed Center, Millerton, NY
  • 2016 IDEO Human Centered Design for Social Innovation, Online
  • 2014 Creating Farm and Food Co-operatives, Inside-Out Program, Greenfield Community College, MA
  • 2013 Social Ecology Intensive, Institute of Social Ecology, Northampton, MA
  • 2011 Solar Design, Yestermorrow, Warren, VT
  • 2009 Tiny House Design, Yestermorrow, Warren, VT
  • 2009 Rain Garden Design/Build, Yestermorrow, Warren, VT
  • 2008 Permaculture Teachers Training, Esselon Institute, Big Sur, CA
  • 2008 Undoing Racism, Peoples Institute, Springfield, MA
  • 2006 RUST, Urban Sustainability Training, Albany, NY
  • 2005 New Orleans Flood Relief, Common Ground, New Orleans, LA
  • 2003 Permaculture Design Course Teaching Apprentice, Shutesbury, MA
  • 2001 Permaculture Design Course Certificate, Sonoma, CA
  • 2001 I'Jatz Food Forest Intern, San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala