EcoAssistant Team
We are passionate local folks driven to improve our shared future. We met volunteering with Cool Davis, networking at a business startup weekend, and working side by side at a Bee Sanctuary workshop. In March of 2014, we put our hearts and brains together to figure out how to make a living wage while also following our dreams.
We are passionate local folks driven to improve our shared future. We met volunteering with Cool Davis, networking at a business startup weekend, and working side by side at a Bee Sanctuary workshop. In March of 2014, we put our hearts and brains together to figure out how to make a living wage while also following our dreams.
Proactive Knowledgeable Trustworthy Accepting Lighthearted Confident Hopeful
Leslie Crenna is a relentless seeker of solutions and digs working with clients to meet their goals. She is experienced in a wide range of "living lightly" strategies including rainwater catchment, greywater, composting, vermiculture, sheet mulching for lawn replacement, low impact recreation, yoga practice, and fiscal greening. Leslie has been a volunteer with Cool Davis since she arrived in Davis two years ago primarily offering up her expertise in writing and community engagement. She led a school-based sustainable community garden in the Sierra Foothills before arriving here. Leslie is a certified multiple subjects teacher and a lifelong writer, editor, and family historian. She has participated in trainings with Blue Barrel Systems, the American Rainwater Capture Systems Association, and integrated water design with GrowWater. She is a Level 1 Certified Greywater Designer and Installer through Greywater Action.
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Scott Ragsdale is a resourceful problem solver who finds that assisting others comes naturally. Scott has been involved with environmental businesses for 15 years, primarily in the photovoltaic industry. His 30 plus years of work experience include solar installation and sales, public power advocacy, health care products and services, and business management. His myriad community involvement activities include years as a dedicated youth sports coach. His Humanities teacher at Emerson Junior High in Davis, Kent Gill, then President of the local chapter of the Sierra Club, left a lasting impression on him as a youth. A love of the environment is deeply instilled in Scott and both his daughters are capable cross-country backpackers who have grown to find eco-advocacy second nature. Scott wears another hat as General Manager at Davis Roots, a local business start-up incubator.
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Chrissy Backman is an action-oriented get 'er done gal who approaches clients with a positive, upbeat attitude. She has a strong foundation in water, waste, and resource management including her work as a mechanical engineer modeling residential building energy use and efficiency strategies. Chrissy implements both low and high tech means to help clients meet their goals like drying clothes on racks, cloth diapering, and strategic selection of energy and water efficient appliances and fixtures. She is also an urban farmer who has transformed her yard into a food forest filled with various greens, tomatoes, and squash, plus avocado, citrus, and peach trees. Chrissy's home sports a chicken coop and a laundry-to-landscape greywater system. She has built a deck at every home she's ever lived in. Chrissy strives to help others live a fulfilling life in order to create a stronger, more resilient local community. Chrissy is a professional engineer and serves on the board for the Valley Climate Action Center. She consults part-time with Davis Energy Group.
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Keli Rutan-Jorgensen thinks globally and acts locally. Her experience living in five different countries has forged her dedication to sustainable food systems, environmental issues, and social justice. She has taught, written, and edited in environmental geology, Earth systems, and natural science. Her favorite job was working on a sustainable development project in an indigenous community in Costa Rica where folks rely on solar panels to charge their cell phones and light their kitchens. While there, she helped science teachers explore alternative energy technology and techniques for experimental gardens. After 17 years, she's back in the Davis area to further her experiences in sustainable living. She holds a permaculture design certificate from Soil Born Farms in the Sacramento area and serves as a soil quality consultant in the beautiful Capay Valley.
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