Amara Szrom

Environmental Educator, Ecological Designer, & Event Organizer

Available for Consulting, Design, and Project Management

Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico

My passion is reconnecting youth and communities to vibrant, regenerative systems through hands-on experiential learning

Founder and Director

Indigenous Wisdom and Permaculture Skills Convergence

Oglala Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota

My 10-day ecological skills gathering dedicated to Oglala Lakota cultural preservation and food security was attended by about 200 people annually from 2017 to 2019. The IWPS Convergence offered workshops in natural building, permaculture, water management, and appropriate technologies such as low-tech and fossil-fuel-free cooking. Attendees constructed an Earthship-style Lakota language school and engaged in daily dialogue on mutual aid, decolonization, and indigenous cosmologies. Partners included Engineers without Borders, the University of South Dakota, and Permaculture Action Network. Special guests include the Lakota Tribal Chairwoman and a United Nations delegate.

Event Media

VICE News, “Inside the Lakota Sioux’s Fight for Food Sovereignty”

8-minute video by Come to Life Guyaki, “IWPS Convergence”

Environmental Education and Outdoor Classroom Design

For 13 years, I have designed and taught educational experiences for school programs for pre-K to the undergraduate university level. I connect young people to their innate passion for environmental stewardship through award-winning curriculum, games, and the design of supportive outdoor classrooms.

International Environmental Consulting and Design

I provide technical support for community leaders and agribusiness professionals, solving local ecological issues through training and demonstrations, and contributing to food security and livelihood improvement. I am Rainwater Harvesting and Cistern design certified by the Watershed Management Group. I specialize in creating rainwater catchment, greywater, and Laundry-to-Landscape systems that benefit residences, farms, and build backyard biodiversity.

In photos: My previous work increasing soil fertility through compost teas and fertilizers in Benin contributed to economic development for a women’s farming collective. My 3-day training in Jamaica inspired farmers to grow and sell culinary mushrooms. A 1,600 gallon rainwater system installation on the Navajo Nation to protect cultural lifeway of sheep herding.

Published Academic Research 2023

Growing Pains: Moving Campus Gardens Beyond Administrative Barriers

University campus garden programs are critical community engagement and experiential learning spaces. Campus administrators celebrate gardens as part of their sustainability initiatives, yet these programs must fight for their existence as a campus resource. Through interviews with University school garden programs across the country, I found that barriers to program success stem from a lack of administrative commitment that manifests through five commonly experienced barriers:

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Incomplete Administrative Support
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Unpaid Labor and Informal Management
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Unstable Funding
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Inadequate Student Input Process
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Lack of Program Oversight
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Szrom, Amara. “Growing Pains: Moving Campus Gardens Beyond Administrative Barriers.” Fostering an Ecological Shift Through Effective Environmental Education, IGI Global, Hershey, PA, 2024, pp. 236–262.

Full PDF Available Here

Published Art and Story

“Seeds” 2025 Calendar. Quivira Coalition.

“When Water Left Earth.” Networks of Refugia, Land Art and Ecology, 2023, pp. 70–80.

“An Ancient Future.” Into the Unknown Together, Hearth, 2023, p. 52.

Contact me

amaraswidercircles@gmail.com
Santa Fe, NM