Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Warren, Vermont (www.yestermorrow.org) announced today that Bob Ferris, nationally known conservationist and environmental advocate, has taken over as executive director.  Mr. Ferris joined the 26 year-old school in early September after the school did a national search to fill the position.  The Yestermorrow Design/Build School is a national leader in design/build education emphasizing good architectural design and hands-on building experience with a focus on sustainable design/build theory and practice.

Mr. Ferris has more than two decades experience working in the conservation, environmental and sustainability arenas.  He helped capture the last set of wolves reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park and played a prominent role in keeping oil rigs out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge during the 1990s, putting conservation measures into federal farm legislation, and getting oysters back in the Chesapeake Bay .  More recently, Bob launched the Fossil Free by '33 movement in California and was an advocate for core sustainability issues such as green building, relocalization, urban redevelopment, and organic agriculture.

"We are very pleased that someone of Bob's caliber and experience has come to Yestermorrow," said John Ringel chair of Yestermorrow's board. "He arrives just in time to implement our emerging strategic plan which includes continued improvement of our educational programs, expansion of our work with partners and continued growth in our campus facilities, teaching staff and student enrollment."

"Yestermorrow is a perfect fit for me," said Ferris. "Without a doubt, the most critical issues of our time are energy and climate change. How we design our communities, build our structures, and live our lives are at the very core of the solution to the problems we face with regard to energy and climate change.  Yestermorrow addresses these three factors and does so in a manner that makes "saving the planet" not just an abstract necessity, but understandable and achievable through individual action."

The Yestermorrow Design/Build School was founded in 1980 on the belief that the best built environments result from true collaborations between designers, builders and owners. Yestermorrow's approach combines yesterday's dedication to craft, beauty and durability with today's vanguard technologies to create the sustainable world of tomorrow.  The schools hands-on courses empower people to express their values and lifestyles and unleash their creative spirit. This synthesis is enhanced through Yestermorrow's design/build method and through the connection between hand and mind that unfolds in that process. Yestermorrow also strives to tie classes to real world, community based projects such as the design and construction of town bandstands, covered bus stops or innovative housing options for the underserved of the world.

"The Yestermorrow experience touches people profoundly," said Ferris.  "How often can you learn until your brain busts, apply what you learn with your own hands, and have that application of mind and muscle perform a public good?"

Mr. Ferris lives in Warren with his wife Carlene Marie Ramus who is a green architect.

For more information contact:

Dan Eckstein                                     

dan@yestermorrow.org

Bob Ferris

bob@yestermorrow.org

Photos available on request