Cameron conklin

Hi! My name is Cam. I am 28, from the United States, and currently bouncing between the redwoods of Humboldt County, CA and the douglas fir of Portland, OR.

My sustainability education began with the study of the renewable energy industry in South Africa. There I learned and taught other students about ocean energy production. This set me on a course to believe in the power of alternative solutions to solve our world’s problems, and pushed me to more deeply consider how we use Earth’s resources and relate to our environment. I later went on to study international political economy, communication, and architecture at Tulane University in New Orleans. My studies there focused on the relationship between policy, the built environment, and community--looking at how our social systems can use sustainable solutions to better react to environmental impacts, specifically, natural disasters.

My career then led me into the food industry, working for a protein drink company in Los Angeles. In 2017, I took a sabbatical and returned to my education on the ocean, spending nine months diving and working on coral reef restoration with the Tropical Research and Conservation Center (TRACC) in Sabah, Malaysia. This is where I had my first taste of living full-time in a rural, purpose based community setting. Inspired by my time at TRACC, I returned to my job armed with ideas and tools to help shift our practices into more sustainable alternatives. Yet, the more I learned about the ingredients and how they were made, the more I realized how little transparency existed in the industry. After years of investigating, I still couldn’t fully see into the supply chain and make the changes I had hoped to make. Working in the U.S. natural foods industry opened a window to the disconnection between consumers and producers in our food systems. This insight has inspired me to dedicate my life to resolving that disconnect.

I now feel called to shift my focus from making small changes on a macro level, to a holistic systems approach on a micro level. I want to learn how to tighten my consumption and production cycles through growing my own resources and integrating my waste into those systems. From my time at TRACC, I also feel called to live in a close community with others working towards these ends, and foster that social structure. This apprenticeship is my next big step in a lifelong educational journey to figure out how I can most joyfully make my life and our culture a more closed loop. I hope to use the skills l learn at El Rancho to help others actualize their passions and interests in this way.

I am a cook, climber, dancer, diver, and seeker of visual delights. I just finished a year long U.S. road trip in my van, and can’t wait to begin this next phase of life - shifting from a period of exploration, into a period of cultivation.

Please reach out if you’d like to chat about the Apprenticeship (or anything at all!) I would love to connect.

Email: cconklin524@gmail.com