Erik Assadourian is a sustainability researcher and writer who was affiliated with the Worldwatch Institute from 2001 until 2017, when the institute went into hibernation. He co-authored over a dozen books and directed and co-directed seven. He focused especially on the need for cultural change to move humanity beyond consumerism. This brought him to grapple with overconsumption and its effects on humans and Earth, with economic degrowth, and many other topics. And in time Erik realized that only through a culture fully oriented on sustainability will humans be able to survive the changes wrought over the past two centuries of our cancerous development. This led him to write on what an Earth-centric education would look like; to create an eco-expansion for Settlers of Catan (Catan: Oil Springs) that helps players question fossil fuel use and continued growth; and even develop a reality TV show (Yardfarmers) that normalizes multigenerational households, economic degrowth, and low-consumption life paths for Millennials in the overdeveloped United States.

But most importantly this path led Erik to weave Deep Ecology, Gaia Theory, and other modern sustainability scientific findings and ancient philosophical wisdom into a new philosophical path, the Gaian Way. With the community that has formed around Gaianism, Erik and other seekers are crafting a new way, one that recognizes our connection with and utter dependence on the living Earth, and one hopefully that can help us navigate the society-disrupting environmental challenges that used to be on the horizon, but are now here. Erik also convenes the Middletown Gaian Guild in Middletown, Connecticut, and is a member of the Gaian Leadership Council.

Bart Everson is a Gaian, the convener of the Crescent City Gaian Guild, and a member of the Gaian Leadership Council. He helped found the Green Party of Louisiana as well as Friends of Lafitte Greenway, the Earth-Based Spirituality Action Team of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, the Earth-Centered Special Interest Group of POD Network, and the Greater New Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition. He is the author of Spinning in Place: A Secular Humanist Embraces the Neo-Pagan Wheel of the Year. More at BartEverson.com.

Robinne Gray is living in her fourth major watershed. She spent her childhood in the desert southwest (Salt River watershed), then lived in the Finger Lakes region of central New York (St. Lawrence Seaway watershed) and the Washington DC metro region (Chesapeake watershed) before relocating to the central Alleghenies (Ohio River watershed). For fun, Robinne studies natural history and botany and enjoys hiking and paddling explorations. Robinne is a member of the Gaian Leadership Council.

John Mulrow is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University. His research focuses on how environmental impact forecasting tools such as Life Cycle Assessment and Greenhouse gas footprinting can better account for the feedback effects of efficiency improvement. He leads a degrowth colloquium at Purdue, serves as Co-President of DegrowUS, and is on the Leadership Council of the Gaian Way. 

Krista Hiser is the convener of the Gaian Guild of Hawaiʻi. She is a professor at Kapi’olani Community College in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi where she teaches writing, rhetoric, and a course on climate literature. Her favorite Gaian practices are working less, meditating at her sit spot at Waiakeakua, and reading.

Jon Schroth is an Arts Fellow with the Gaian Way. He is currently developing an Ecological Calendar for New England to connect with annual cycles from an ecocentric perspective. Jon Schroth received his degree from Ringling School of Art and Design in 2004, before beginning a career in animation with Blue Sky Studios. He worked on twelve feature films released by 20th Century Fox and Disney including the Rio and Ice Age movies. Now, based in Middletown, CT, Jon works in a variety of visual creative mediums.

Nikki Woods is a celebrated media expert, entrepreneur, and the founder of Out of the Woods Digital PR and Marketing Agency. With a distinguished career in broadcast journalism, including her role as Executive Producer of the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show, Nikki has honed the art of impactful storytelling and media engagement over decades.

Driven by her passion for empowering brands to shine, Nikki established Out of the Woods to make high-level PR and marketing strategies accessible to entrepreneurs and thought leaders. Leveraging her extensive media network and industry expertise, she helps clients craft compelling narratives, amplify their messages, and elevate their influence. Nikki’s visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to excellence have made her a trusted partner for those looking to leave a lasting impact.

Non-human Gaian Council Members

In 2023, we added four more-than-human members to our council, with each human council member serving to co-represent them. Below are their brief bios. For more detailed biographies, visit here.

Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) lives across much of North America. Little Brown Bat joined the Gaian Way Council to give voice to those who are crepuscular, relying on nighttime darkness; those directly dependent on robust insect populations (particularly aquatic species, thus also on clean water) to feed; those who require undisturbed habitat to hibernate (torpor), migrate, and breed; species in danger of extinction; and those with the special talent of echolocation! (Channeled by Robinne Gray)

Sandhill Crane is a child of Gaia who has been practicing ecological rhythms on Turtle Island for nearly 2.5 million years. Antigone canadensis, as they are sometimes called, lives year-round in parts of Florida and the Caribbean, and otherwise travels up and down the continent to feed, breed, rest, and live among the elements. They are our partner in sensing, recognizing, and revering our one shared planet. The importance of Gaia’s health is unmistakable when we imagine the consistency of climate and pattern that guide Sandhill Crane on its way. (Channeled by John Mulrow)

Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus) is our oldest board member, having been part of Gaia for about 440 million years, longer than the dinosaurs. As a chelicerate, Horseshoe Crab is actually more closely related to spiders and scorpions than crabs, and lives in coastal areas, on sandy bottoms along the East Coast of the U.S. (three other species are found in Asia). We are grateful that she will lend us her wisdom and ancient perspective, especially after the horrible experience she has had lately with humans. (Channeled by Erik Assadourian)

Southern Live Oak, also known as Quercus virginiana, grow along the Gulf Coast and up the eastern seaboard all the way to Virginia. We’ve invited one particular individual Live Oak to the board of the Gaian Way. This tree is rooted in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain in what is now New Orleans City Park. The Crescent City Gaian Guild meets there every week, but that is a very recent development from the perspective of the trees. This particular tree sprouted from an acorn around 800 years ago. At that time, the Choctaw people called the area Bvlbancha, meaning the Land of Many Tongues, as over twenty distinct languages were spoken there. (Channeled by Bart Everson)