Hi!
I'm Spencer. I was born and raised in California and have subsequently refused to leave. I am a systems-thinker with a range of interests spanning science, research, writing, education, communication, and project strategy. I have a B.S. in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley, a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from UC San Diego, and an MBA from an online institution, Quantic.
Until 2019, I was a career scientist with expertise in engineering next-generation cancer therapeutics. I led a team responsible for engineering and harnessing the power of a patient’s own immune cells to recognize and kill tumors.
However, after reading many climate-related books I realized I was in the wrong (and, surprisingly, less-pressing) field. I decided to quit and dedicate the best of myself to helping manifest a livable and equitable future. I've always been a writer (I could never choose between English and Math as my favorite subject) so I gravitated toward educational writing as something I could step into quickly. From there, I worked with Paul Hawken as the Research Director of his book Regeneration
set to be a follow-up to Drawdown. I conducted research on every aspect of a regenerative future from urban planning, agriculture, transportation, carbon sequestration,
aquaculture, biodiversity, energy storage and more. This laid the foundation of my work as an environmental consultant capable of spanning the gamut of climate challenges.
I've always wanted to use my scientific background in conjunction with my love of writing, sociology, and philosophy to distill complex issues. Climate change presents unique challenges at the center of the social, cultural, spiritual, and technological spheres. My current goal is helping people imagine a regenerative future and how we can all play a role in manifesting that future.
Taking that vision to heart, my partner and I founded Solarpunk Farms in the Northern California town of Guerneville along the Russian River. Solarpunk Farms is a queer-run agricultural community space designed to explore and celebrate regenerative models of living. Through land stewardship, educational residencies, workshops, events, and artwork we hope to engage and inspire our larger community to participate in a reciprocal relationship to Earth and its people.
Our vision is to become one small part of a larger regenerative future, where people, communities, and organizations function under sustainable and equitable ecological principles. We see our role in achieving that future as an experimental space that attempts to lead by example in identifying those principles and adhering to them, while inviting and inspiring all to come along.
WHAT IS SOLARPUNK?:
Solarpunk is a movement in speculative fiction, art, fashion, and activism that seeks to answer and embody the question “what does a sustainable civilization look like, and how can we get there?” Solarpunk is at once a rebelliously optimistic vision of the future, a thoughtful provocation, a way of living, and a set of achievable proposals to get there. (Adapted From The Solarpunk Manifesto)
WHY "SOLARPUNK" FARMS?:
The ethos of Solarpunk is central to our vision behind Solarpunk Farms. There is both the literal work of regenerating degraded land, as well as the metaphysical work of deconstructing conventional American narratives of what comprises a successful and fulfilling life. Solarpunk Farms is a testing bed, or perhaps an incubator, for alternative (and regenerative) ways to interact with self, community, land, and planet. A lot of our work will be a form of healing. A lot of our work will be a form of building. We welcome you to join us in both.