TEDx Orcas: “Best of Both Worlds”

— from Gretchen Krampf —

TEDxOrcasIsland is coming to Orcas Center on Saturday, March 5. Our day-long conference includes TEDx Talks from a dozen fascinating local and national speakers, musical performances and more. Luncheon is catered by New Leaf and served in the Madrona Room. Tickets are now on sale at www.tedxorcasisland.

Our 2016 theme is “Best of Both Worlds” and explores the potency and potential in polarity. The event is co-curated by Adam Farish and Gretchen Krampf and supported by a team of collaborators including Annemieka Neenan, Catiya Gainor, Fran Tatu, Marilyn McGuire, Sara LeHoullier and Alex Callen.

An introduction to a few of our speakers:

Katrina Spade grew up in rural NH. Her parents were both medical professionals, and it was common to talk about death and dying at the dinner table. While earning her masters of architecture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Katrina designed a system that uses natural decomposition to turn our deceased into soil. Today, she is the founder and director of the Urban Death Project, an organization working to bring that system to the world. She is an Echoing Green Climate Fellow. Katrina Spade will present her idea – called the Urban Death Project – to create a new model of death care that honors both the earth and the departed.

Eric Youngren is a solar energy expert and entrepreneur living on Orcas Island. He founded Island Energy Systems LLC in 2008 to take the best of the US off-grid solar industry to international markets. Eric developed the SolarNexus off-grid system integration appliance to help people more easily install higher quality and reliable off-grid power systems. SolarNexus systems are now powering lights and computers in over 1,200 schools and clinics in rural villages in Tanzania and Kenya. Building on the lessons learned from the SolarNexus and other solar powered micro-grid projects, Eric and his team are now developing a new approach to delivering essential electrical services to homes, villages and communities called Capillary Grids.

Katherine MacLean, PhD. is an academically trained research scientist with a long-standing interest in the neural correlates of consciousness and the science of well-being. At the beginning of her career, she lived for four months at a secluded retreat center in the Colorado Rockies studying the effects of intensive meditation on brain activity, concentration and psychological functioning. As a postdoctoral research fellow and faculty member at Johns Hopkins University, she was one of the lead scientists and session guides studying the effects of high doses of psilocybin and other psychedelic compounds in healthy adults. Her ground-breaking research on psilocybin and personality change suggests that this class of medicines may play an important role in enhancing mental health and creativity throughout the lifespan. Her current focus is on the role of psychedelics and meditation in preparing individuals, their families and caregivers for dying and death.