ASHLEY IRONWOOD
DIRECTOR OF MOONSHADOW PROGRAMS AND MEDIA RIGHTS AT MOONSHADOW

Ashley has been working in the arts since the early age of four, singing, dancing and acting her way out of trouble. She went to Interlochen Arts Academy for high school and then on to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where she received a BFA in film and television. She spent her four years in NYC studying documentary film and organizing campus and city-wide environmental and social justice education. After graduating from NYU, Ashley founded MEDIA RIGHTS, a small non profit production entity now a project of the Sequatchie Valley Institute at Moonshadow.

Ashley has done video work on a wide range of issues including the resistance at the nearby Watts Bar nuclear facility, the hydroelectric development of James Bay in Canada, and has created an hour-long documentary video, "Invasion of the Chip Mills." MEDIA RIGHTS has recorded actions against the desecration of Mount Graham in Arizona, for the release of political prisoner Leonard Peltier, and against the corporate control of our U.S. government.

Ashley has been living at Moonshadow since the beginning of 1995 and is fulfilling her plans to raise a family with Patrick. The Sequatchie Valley has offered her a place to really feel the effects of the environment she has been actively working to protect since 1990. She has played an instrumental role as an Earth Firster and has taken certification courses in Permaculture and Ecovillage Design. Bringing art and media into the environmental community and environmental education to the community at large has been her long-term mission.

Her activism has recently been focused on joining Patrick in raising a loving and happy family: Sage Indigo Ironwood, born on the Spring equinox of 2002 followed by his sister, Anakeesta, born on the Spring equinox of 2005.

PATRICK IRONWOOD
DIRECTOR OF LANDSCAPE AND ARCHITECTURE

Patrick has a BA in 3rd World Research and Development from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He has traveled extensively in Asia and S. America, studying the effects of technology and agriculture on society and the environment. He has been an environmental and social justice activist since 1987.

In 1989, Patrick moved back to Moonshadow where his family has been developing an alternative agricultural project since 1971. His plan was to work as a land-based activist and to help create a working model of ecological living. In 1992, Patrick became a certified Permaculture educator and has taught workshops and courses on Permaculture, edible landscaping, appropriate technology, ecovillage design, post modern homesteading, Deep Ecology for agriculturalists and wilderness skills, including rock climbing and wildcrafting. He loves being a Daddy to Sage and Anakeesta.

CAROL KIMMONS
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

Carol Kimmons, BS Geology and MS Entomology and Plant Pathology, moved to the Sequatchie Valley with her husband Johnny, her young sons, Patrick and Joel, and her retired parents in 1971. They began clearing land, planting gardens and orchards, and building a home, Moonshadow. In 1993, she and Johnny and Patrick realized that their knowledge of the land, their sustainable lifestyle and their experience with ecological construction and technology should form the basis for the Sequatchie Valley Institute. The organization and operation of SVI has become the most important and rewarding work of her life. Carol is also an adjunct professor in Biology and Environmental Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She has taught in Nigeria (Peace Corps), India, the Sequatchie Valley and Haiti, and was an agricultural research scientist in Guam. She has worked for many years in adult education and has written two books for adult beginning readers. Other interests include hiking, canoeing, and pottery.

JOHNNY KIMMONS
MASTER BUILDER

Johnny Kimmons, BS Geology and MS Biology, moved to the Sequatchie Valley with his wife, Carol and his sons, Patrick and Joel, in 1971. They began clearing land, planting gardens and orchards, and building a home, Moonshadow. In 1993, he, Carol and Patrick realized that their knowledge of the land, their sustainable lifestyle and their experience with ecological construction and technology should form the basis for the Sequatchie Valley Institute. Johnny's major interest is in the design, building and maintenance of SVI structures, which is challenging but rewarding work. For the past 8 years, he has taught Biology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Johnny has also taught science in Nigeria (Peace Corps), Turkey, India, Haiti, the Sequatchie Valley and Guam. He is an avid tennis player.

MELISSA CALHOUN AND BRIAN GEIER
CO-HEAD GARDENERS

Melissa Louise Calhoun grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta and was ready to leave them by the time she graduated with a degree in Biology and a heavy disillusioned heart. Identifying as an environmentalist while inside the academic world lead her down avenues of politics, research, and bureaucracy toward burn out, frustration and impotence. So she decided to learn some real skills (like how to grow food!) and to attempt to transform her life time and opportunity to cultivate real appreciation of this earth that she felt such a strong desire to protect. Since 2002 she has practiced the art of food and herb cultivation in maine, north carolina, indiana, poop, and now tennessee, in both small and large scales, organically, chemical free, and experimentally biodynamic, as an apprentice and independently. Melissa would like to become more attuned to the healing herbs and wild plants to find out what SHE can do for THEM. She is excited that there is so much still to learn. SVI has provided her with the opportunity to live closer to her family in the south while being blessed with the breathtaking beauty of the valley, the forest, and the landscape here that those who've gone before have lovingly prepared with their sweat, hands, and vision. Moonshadow is her daily reminder of the beauty that humans can sustain when they'll cooperate with their 'still small voice' rather than closing their minds and hearts. She is moreover thankful and amazed to be sharing the Head Gardener position (and yet another garden) with her loving friend Brian.




brian is a hoosier by birth, but happy to make a home here in the rich woods of east tennessee. once, he went to brasil, and landless peasants who radically took back land from the rich sparked his interest in agriculture and land-based life. later he studied sustainable agiculture at the university of maine, and though he gained a lot of book knowledge, he didn't learn how he could be a farmer, so he went to work on farms after he graduated. experiments in animal power, permaculture and community building, art collectives, and anarchist organizing permeated his time on farms in maine, north carolina, and indiana, and he liked all of those things, except maybe animal powered farming. his current interests and work revolve around growing food, making gardens productive and fun to be in, learning forest farming, studying the woods, brewing, healing from a bad car wreck, music, paying attention to mysterious things, teaching kids, and building a sustainable community where he can stay for a long time. he finds moonshadow a very exciting and empowering place to be right now, and is looking toward the future with his head held high.

Nada Jones
OFFICE MANAGER

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