Our Mission
To inspire individuals to utilize natural systems in developing and restoring our communities.
Archive
...of past conferences
NSS Board of Directors
President
Emily Barker currently works for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, where she is an administrative assistant to IATP's President, VP of Programs and the Development office. She also helps manage the intern program and assists with events. Emily has a B.S. in biology, with minors in environmental studies, chemistry and religion from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. She originally hails from Butte, Montana, where she grew up on a horse ranch and gained an education in the "Leave no Trace" land ethic and a strong sense of connection to the Earth. Emily has lived in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, for the last four years. Outside of work, she volunteers with the Northland Bioneers Conference, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church and MN Food Association. Emily enjoys spending time with her husband Joel and cat Evey, as well as gardening, biking, reading, cooking, traveling and advocating for all things sustainable.
Vice President
Anne Tiller's life journey has carried her from a ‘60s hitchhiking trip through Europe to a 15 year guru cult involvement and 9 years in West Africa and India with travels in over 40 countries. Her main achievement was to start and construct a village nursery school in The Gambia that now has over 200 students. After returning to America, Anne earned a Degree from St. Cloud State University. During her recovery process, Anne compiled a manual on Cults and spoke in over 200 locations.Anne married Charlie Tiller after meeting him at a Tapestry contra dance in 1994. She has memberships in food coops and various organizations including Alliance For Democracy, the Neighborhood STAR Board, Garden Club of Ramsey County and Minnesota State Horticulture Society, spearheading their Raffle Quilt Project and is an active theatre volunteer. She spent 12 years in Home Health Care and Senior Recreation. Since 2000, Anne has been a prolific quilter with over 25 projects to her credit. She is active in 5 quilt groups and her quilts have won prizes and been exhibited at the past two Northland Bioneers Conferences among other venues. She hosted her first show at Walker Community Methodist Church in 2009 with over 20 quilts on display. Her most recent pride is 2009 State Fair Blue Ribbon winner “The Art of Community” in which 49 artists participated. Watch for more of Anne’s quilts at this year’s Northland Bioneers Conference.
Secretary
Rebecca Cramer, Ph.D, is a biologist and educator whose research has been in cell biology and human physiology. Rebecca currently serves as President of the board of the Minnesota Older Women’s League (OWL), treasurer of the St. Paul-Ciudad Romero, El Salvador, Sister City Project, and is active in several other peace and justice committees locally. Rebecca and her husband Scott Cramer, owner of Northern Sun Merchandising, have attended numerous Bioneers conferences in California and have been supporters of the Northland Bioneers Conference since its inception.
Treasurer
James Price is a native Minnesotan. He has a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota. He has also done work toward a M.S. in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. He worked at Unisys Corporation as a Software Engineering Manager for fourteen years. He also worked as an Engineering Aide in the US Air Force. Now he would like to pursue a career in sustainability, especially clean renewable energy. As a world traveler and avid scuba diver, backpacker and marathon runner, he would like to see a sustainable world that will allow all to enjoy such activities in the future.
Additional members
Doug Shoemaker grew up in South Dakota on a farm without electricity. In the Air Force, he traveled the world for four years as an electric power production technician. While earning a degree in business administration at the University of Sioux Falls, he joined Xcel Energy. Over a 34-year career, he managed Xcel’s transport fleet and supervised non-destructive testing in the Twin Cities area. In 1985, he helped found the Minnesota Windstar Connection, a chapter of John Denver’s Windstar sustainability movement. At retirement, in 2002, he embarked on a frenzy of volunteer organizing on behalf of the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society (MRES): he took on management of Minnesota’s portion of the National Solar Tour (it drew 2,000 visitors at 52 locations last year), the Living Green Expo (25,000 visitors last May), and the State Fair’s Eco Experience (350,000 visitors over 12 days). As co-chair of MRES, he also organizes about 30 table exhibits annually at functions around the state — including a lot of school outreach programs. In addition to his work for MRES, Doug now serves on about 20 renewable energy related committees and task forces.