I have been working in and around the fields of ecology, architecture, urban planning and design for the past 20 years with the intention of advancing sustainability and creating a healthier place for people and the communities we all live in. Over the past number of years, I have become disillusioned with how things have turned out - both professionally and more generally as a discipline. Currently, my primary work focus is integrating science with urban planning and design and helping to communicate complex ideas throughout the planning process. I run a small business focused on urban and ecological design, geospatial analysis and visualization, and supporting multidisciplinary design and planning teams.

Great question. I think my role is multi-faceted. I think part of my role is to help mentor and teach a new generation of doers. There is a lot of good energy in younger designers and planners. But I also hope to work for a long time still and want to make a difference. While I noted above that I have become somewhat disillusioned, I still have hope and I want to renew my energy for creating innovation and driving change.

1. Refocus my efforts to be more grounded and focused on what the most viable path forward might be;
2. Be a better teacher and leader to my teams and to people I work with;
3. Learn from the ideas of the people I work with - surround myself with people that bring good energy and ideas;
4. Grow from a community of people who want to make things better.

Twenty years ago, I took on a role as a Systems Ecologist at an architecture/planning firm with the goal of helping reshape the practice to be more sustainable, climate-focused, and ecologically sound. It was intended to be science first and grounded on ideas that make development much more forward-thinking. I had a lot of energy and ambition to drive change. To make things better. It’s now 2025 and climate policy and sustainable development practices are hardly better than they were then. So I think my first real arena for personal growth is to build back my energy for deep change. It’s already getting better by aligning myself with core partners, but I still need to keep working on it.

My second arena for personal growth is probably health/life-related. Being able to have the energy and passion I need to support my first arena depends on having a strong foundation of family, health, and active life. I’m old enough now to have been through enough with health, family, and loss to know intimately how important these things are to living a balanced life. If that can ever really be achieved. So arena two is keeping these things front and center.

I am rebuilding my small consulting practice and that takes time, energy, and passion. I am focusing a lot of my energy on this. My goal, at least for now, is to try and bring much of my earlier work back to the core. Over the past few years, due to a number of things, I have moved too far away from the center of where I want to be. My hope is to change that.
A big part of that is relationships and focusing on the right ones to help carry me in a positive direction. But it is also mindset and and focus. So these are at least two of the things I am hoping to focus on over the coming months.

Many years. And many attempts at different approaches. A small summary: As a systems ecologist at Mithun and a leader in sustainable design, Critter was involved in nationally recognized projects aimed at solving issues of energy and climate, water use and waste reduction, local food production, social equity, and ecosystem services. While a research consultant at the University of Washington, Critter co-founded and was the research director of an effort to develop visualization and analysis tools that promote more sustainable development of our cities and regions. Once in Colorado, Critter was part of the team at PlaceMatters, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping communities find creative local solutions for thriving, equitable, and resilient places. He was also Director for Community Planning Strategies, a small Colorado-based planning firm focused on supporting rural communities throughout the Rocky Mountains. As founder of Catamount Studio, Critter is advancing this work to create healthy, resilient, people-focused, ecologically diverse, and resource-efficient communities.

Too many to list. I will highlight a few things that come to mind off the top of my head. I imagine more will come up during our sessions:
- Biophilic Design (Steve Kellert was my advisor and close friend/colleague, EO.. Wilson)
- Ecology and Design (Forman, Franklin, Marzluff, McHarg, E.O. Wilson, etc.)
- Regenerative Agriculture
- Geospatial Analysis & Visualization
- Communicating Complexity (Tufte, Kahneman, etc.)
...

Humans are part of the natural systems that form the world we inhabit. We are also architects of this world in ways that are both profound and sobering. It is a role we must not take lightly; however, it appears that as a species, we have yet to fully appreciate it. We continually disrespect the patterns, movements, resources, and evolutionary processes that shape the world that we live in. We are not very good at learning from and adapting to these things. We take rather than work with. We spoil rather than give back or replenish.