Joy Loving has been working on local and state-level energy and environmental legislation, issues and organizations. Locally, she joined the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV) since 2013 and serves on its Legislation and Elections Committee. Also, part of Harrisonburg 50×25 Campaign, which works to bring more locally generated renewable energy to the city. She was appointed to the City’s Environmental Performance Standards Advisory Committee in 2021 and works on its Focus Area 2, Buildings and Energy. She has long been interested in and working toward building more inclusive partnerships with diverse groups with the common interest of addressing the risks of the climate crisis.
Earl Martin has worked as a renovation carpenter in people’s homes for the last 25 years. Earlier he and his wife Pat Hostetter Martin served with friends in Vietnam and the Philippines and throughout East Asia with the Mennonite Central Committee. Many scores of people have lived in Earl and Pat’s home over the years. Earl is attuned to issues of war and peace, anti-racism and climate change.
Steve Pardini has a Doctorate in Physical Chemistry and worked for 37 years as a material scientist. After retirement, Steve entered Eastern Mennonite Seminary, where he graduated with an MDiv degree in the Spring of 2022. Steve enjoys engaging as a scientist with biblical and theological questions; he writes curriculum for adult Bible studies. Steve is a member of Harrisonburg Mennonite Church, where he teaches, preaches, and is a member of the Creation Care Group, which installed solar panels on the church roof, and is currently working with a team of arborists to reforest the HMC campus. Steve has a plot of sweet corn in the HMC community garden. Steve has solar panels on the roof of his house, and he drives an electric vehicle. Steve is a member of the Pastoral Care for the Climate cohort and is currently writing a climate change conversation guide for faith communities.
Wayne Teel, Ph.D. is professor, ISAT, at James Madison University, retired. He has lived in Keezletown, VA for the last 30 years, after spending 9 years in Africa working on agroforestry efforts. He received his Ph.D. from the Natural Resources Department at Cornell University in 1994, specializing in Agroforestry. In 1999 he and his wife, Alta Brubaker, moved into a self-designed straw bale house with a solar hot water system in Keezletown, VA. Soon after that he was employed as a professor of environmental science in the Integrated Science and Technology Program at JMU. He teaches courses on environmental issues, water quality, agricultural systems, sustainability, and African geography. Among his research interests are alternative agriculture, making and using biochar as a soil amendment and a means of sequestering carbon, and using trees to control nutrient overload in area streams. Over the last few years a lot of his teaching has involved ways to address climate change. In 2013, while on sabbatical, Wayne wrote the draft of a text for his course on sustainability titled Regenerating the Ecology of Place, which was published in 2022. He also uses, and recommends everyone read, the book Drawdown in this course. He can be contacted via e-mail at teelws@jmu.edu
Carolyn Yoder is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with a private practice in Harrisonburg, VA. She attends Community Mennonite Church where she is on the Green Committee and the Worship Commission. She expanded the focus of her professional work to climate concerns when she began waking up at night, worried about the future of the planet and the impact on children and all living things. A member of the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America, she is a trained Climate Café facilitator, a space for people to begin talking about climate concerns. She speaks to groups on climate anxiety and active hope and brings to her work the background of a career specializing in individual and collective trauma.
Kathy Yoder is the Vine & Fig Educational Outreach Program Director at 715 N. Main Street Harrisonburg, VA. She works on environmental education in school gardens, nature trails and with composting. Her most recent work is with a network of organizations that work with populations most marginalized and who are food insecure on a project called “The Fresh Veggie Series” that is funded by VA Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Ron Yoder is an experienced international executive leader and consultant in the not-for-profit sector in the fields of economic and social development and aging services. His professional objective is to develop the capacity of organizations, professional managers and leaders and communities to achieve their aspirations and goals and improve their performance. He retired as President/CEO of Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community.
Earl Zimmerman is a committed climate and environmental activist and an avid gardener. He and his wife Ruth built an aging-in-place, energy efficient (net-zero) home here in the Valley when they retired. He formerly served as a pastor, as a professor of ethics and religion and in church service in Asia. His church assignments in India and the Philippines have especially made him aware of how global warming and environmental degradation adversely impact poor communities.
Shenandoah Valley Faith and Climate 