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Jeff Gottlieb's CV

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I have been a naturalist since I was 4 years old. Learning about the Earth and living closer to it has driven my entire career. My work has followed some interconnected strands:

 

As an Interpretive Naturalist, it has been my deep pleasure to study the natural world and introduce others to it through field trips, hands-on workshops and guided experiences with animals, plants, sensory awareness exploration and games for well over 30 years. I love to teach and I hope to inspire others towards a stronger connection with All Life. As a teacher, I will use anything from storytelling to  food,  problem solving to puns to guide students in their learning.

 

As a Craftsman, I am drawn to the fascinating and satisfying pastime of making useful and beautiful objects from natural materials, including daily implements, natural buildings (I have built more than 60), art projects and artifact replicas. I love wood carving, drawing, sculpture, knots, rope making and leather work. It is important to me to connect these to any cultural, practical, historical and ceremonial uses of these items by Indigenous peoples.

 

As a Homesteader and Permaculturist, I have studied Deep Ecology and the interactions between plants, soil, fungi, animals including humans, and their environmental factors. I try to design human life ways and systems to make use of natural forces and the flow of life-sustaining resources. I seek to reduce waste, regenerate depleted soil, grow nutritious food and foster healthy communities of living things, all while establishing a fulfilling, bountiful, happy life for people.

 

Accomplishments, credentials and educational milestones include:

 

  • BA in Zoology from SUNY Oswego

  • MS in Biology from St Bonaventure University

  • Thesis: A population study of the hellbender salamander in the Allegheny R drainage of NYS

  • Teaching certification in Secondary Biology/ General Science

  • Extensive workshop and class participation with several globally known experts including Tom Brown, Jr., Dr. Errett Callahan and David Winston

  • Built over 60 full scale primitive wigwam and longhouse replicas

  • Have taught at Earthskills and other Primitive skills gatherings every year since 1994

  • Self-published author of three books on primitive skills

  • Forage for mushrooms and wild edible plants for a large portion of his diet

  • Grow fruits and vegetables and raise rabbits on his 1.5 acre homestead

  • Built a natural studio building out of hand cut timbers, kudzu bales and native clay plaster

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