Education: From a young age Nick has been involved in the various attempts by academia to create an alternative type of education. From Kindergarten to 8^th grade, he was enrolled in the vanguard program at T.H. Rogers in Houston, TX. The school consisted of half vanguard students and half disabled students, including deaf, Downs Syndrome, autistic, and multiply impaired students. Part of the school program was learning sign-language and interacting with the disabled students. As a result, he has deep respect for the variety of human potentials in this world.

Experience: Nick spent most of his early life in Houston, TX, which is a gigantic, car-oriented metropolis, surrounded by sprawling suburbs. Because of this he knows a different model for urban habitats is badly needed. Nick has also spent a good amount of time in intentional communities that have separated from these cities in order to live in a more rural setting. However, these small communities cannot offer the diversity and cultural exchange of ideas that exist in cities. Through living in many cities and communities throughout the world, he has developed ideas about how to improve each by connecting them in sustainable ways.

At Mirabeau B. Lamar High School, I graduated with the International Baccalaureate (I.B.) Diploma and as a member of the National Honor Society. This was a fairly traditional public school in the inner city of Houston, and as such it was extremely diverse. Because of this diversity, I learned many lessons outside of classes about how public schools discriminate based on societal prejudices. Again I came realize the privilege that I have in society and that it is my responsibility to use that privilege well.

The I.B. program was experimental and incorporated project-based learning along with the state-mandated standardized testing, which added an important element of self-direction to the program. I continued the self-directed studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA where I graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy and Psychology of Time. Hampshire was extremely self-directed and as such I was allowed to wander among the various disciplines that have pondered the nature of time. My senior thesis focused on the metaphysics of time, where I argued that the present moment may be a result of our human condition, however because we cannot escape the human condition, the present moment is inarguably real.

As I came to realize the importance of living in the present and fully embrace the transient human condition, I wandered around South America educating myself by choosing the people, places and language that I spoke. I chose to participate in numerous natural building projects, where I forged close bonds with the people who live on the land and cities of South America. Upon returning to the U.S. I developed a resolve to spread the knowledge of natural building as a way of connecting different strata of society and create beauty through the introduction of more nature into cities.

We must not become so entrenched in the present comforts that we forget to plan for our future, for our children’s future, and for the future of all human-kind. The balancing act between staying joyful in the ever-changing present and the importance of planning for the future is the school in which I currently learn. This same balance can teach us how to enjoy creating a sustainable society so that others may continue improving the world. I am involved in the S.H.I.R.E. because each of us has knowledge about how to improve our human habitat and maximize our human potential, and the world can only get better as we share this knowledge with each other.

Contact Nick at

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or his cell (503)-490-2325