Tip of the Day
To save energy, remember to turn off the light when leaving a room
Contributors
Joanna Papaj
Green Directory Representative and Contributor at Greenfudge.org.
Joanna grew up in the North-East of Poland, in the heart of Europe’s last remaining primeval forest. This inspired her to feel inseparable from nature. Apart from being an environmentalist and animal lover, she also a conductor, singer, composer and lyricist. She trains Taekwon-do ITF and learns Chinese (Mandarin). Follow the links below to discover her music!
Joanna is currently working on her album and writing a novel. You are welcome to write her with any questions about the GreenFudge site!
Twitter @amatajo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXHh83IoK5I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3i2Fwd-VC8
Graham Land
Graham Land was born in 1972 in Corvallis, Oregon, USA and grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC, where he was part of the local hardcore punk and Straight Edge scene. He was a member of prototypical bands Shelter, Better than a Thousand, Battery and Worlds Collide. Through this unique musical movement Graham became involved in grass roots interests such as anti-racist activism, animal rights and Ecology.
In 2000 he relocated to Europe, did some soul-searching and eventually earned an MA in History from Malmö University in Sweden. He has worked as an English teacher, sports therapist, dog walker, bonsai tree vendor, vegetarian waiter, customer service agent, musician and writer.
Graham currently lives in London, England and is working on his first novel. His interests are: literature, film, history, language, politics, martial arts, science fiction, fair trade coffee, vintage safety razors
Maria O. Belgado
Maria previously worked as a traffic manager and PR writer/researcher at a boutique communications agency in San Francisco, working on green building, renewable energy and conservation topics, before she became a full time freelance writer. She currently writes for several international companies, is a regular contributor to BusinessWorld Philippine’s High Life Magazine, serves as Public Relations and Media consultant, runs a Massachusetts-based food blog and is working on various travel writing opportunities.
On New Year’s Day of 2008, after failing to keep her resolutions year after year, she only made one – that whatever she said she would do, she will do it. So far, this is the only resolution she managed to keep and has since taken up surfing, skiing, scuba diving, saw pandas at the San Diego zoo, faced ghosts in New Orleans, got stung by jellyfish in Thailand, fell in love with Angkor Wat, got lost in Saigon, rode the tram up to Victoria’s Peak in HongKong and rode the “elevator of death” to the Great Wall of China. For her 30th birthday in 2011, she wants to scuba dive with whale sharks and manta rays. Her current obsessions include: Spanish tapas, chocolate, Finding Nemo (the movie and the fish), curry, train travel, learning Dutch and Jane Austen.
Melanie M. Magno
Melanie worked as Communication Specialist and Social Marketing Officer in three non-profit organizations for the past five years. She recently earned her MA degree in Communication from Ateneo de Manila University.
She is a development worker. Her heart belongs to the poor, and she wants to help them improve their human conditions. For more than two years, she spent most of her time in one of the conflict areas in Mindanao, Philippines, providing technical assistance to cooperatives in order to develop a community-based health financing scheme for the vulnerable members of the society – those who are informal workers and do not have access to quality health care services. She once lent some of her time helping a university group develop a research framework that would determine the perceptions of the Filipinos about climate change. Her brief stint in the project opened up her eyes to the worsening condition of the global environment.
After leaving the health-related project, she worked as a marketing communications consultant for her last employer and an affiliate company, an integrative clinic. She now spends her days reading a lot of fiction; writing articles and proposals; and doing yoga. She plans to go back to her first love, creative writing, and write poetry again. Her other passions include: music, food, and films.
Rick Gregory
Having lived over twenty years in the hot tropics, Rick journeyed to Malaysia after stints in Kenya and the Sudan soon after getting a forestry degree in Texas. Trading cowboy boots and blue jeans for sandals and a sarong, Rick has worked with environmental groups (WWF, MNS, MYCAT) and projects in conservation, timber and oil palm certification, responsible tourism, the wildlife trade and legal and policy matters affecting anything from sea turtles to national parks.
As an environmental writer his articles have appeared in Asian Geographic, Action Asia, Malaysian Naturalist and Wild Asia. Keen to rumble in the jungle with herpetologists, tiger researchers and other scientists, Rick now brings his adventures in the rainforest to his Nature Escapes website and encourages everyone to explore biodiversity from leeches to flying lemurs.
Heidi Marshall
In 1982, Heidi came screaming into this world with a passion for nature and a quest to help it thrive. Born and raised in a rural Pennsylvania town, she had a lifelong and deeply rooted relationship with the Earth from the word “go”.
Over the years, Heidi has taken care of a variety of animals, extensively studied a variety of earth sciences, volunteered at shelters, and gone on more hiking and camping excursions than any one person can remember. During time at art school, she also tried to raise awareness of environmental and animal rights issues, and started to get involved with the Defenders of Wildlife organization.
These days, Heidi places much focus on her nature photography efforts. When not traveling, taking photos or writing, she can be found tending to her garden, working on a variety of art projects, and taking on a pirate persona at local renaissance fairs.
