Logan Permaculture Site History

The Utah State University (USU) Permaculture Initiative started with a vision by USU’s Tamara Steinitz of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences and Roslynn Brain McCann of Environment and Society and USU Extension Sustainability to bring research-based permaculture design to the University via a combination of classroom instruction and hands-on teaching gardens.

This vision was enacted in 2013 when Tamara and Roslynn received permission from USU Facilities to trial a garden space on main campus between the Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences and Facilities buildings. Roslynn then secured grant funding to bring New Mexico-based permaculturalist Joel Glanzberg to Logan and Moab to teach the basics of permaculture design, facilitate a garden visioning process, and gauge community interest on main campus, a regional campus, and their respective communities. During the Logan 2013 workshop, 75 professors, students, and community members envisioned how the garden space could be redesigned following permaculture goals and principles.

Landscape, Architecture, and Environmental Planning student Keni Althouse turned the community vision into a garden design plan. Since that time, hundreds of professors, students, and community members have dedicated their time and energy to making the main campus garden a success. Key players throughout the process have included USU students James Wirth, Keni Althouse, and Esther Davis, USU facilities employees Bret Leckie, Jim Huppi and Charles Darnell, USU faculty Roslynn Brain McCann, Tamara Steinitz, Sheryl Aguilar, and Phil Waite, and permaculture designers Joel Glanzberg, Jason Gerhardt, and Jeffrey Adams.