About Us

Dr. Carl F. Jordan Founder of Spring Valley EcoFarms Carl can often be seen on the tractor at Spring Valley EcoFarms; his eyes survey constantly the landscape. He cannot go about his day without knowing exactly what the rainfall has been overnight or checking on his beloved horses (Sally the quarter-horse mare, Thor the Belgian stallion, and Duke and Marlon, their progeny that represent a good combination of brains and brawn). In recent years his precise focus on ecology as a science has broadened into an all-inclusive environmental philosophy. The focus is less on reductionism, and more on systems and cycles that are in constant flux and that are delicately interconnected. For Carl, understanding the ecological landscape as a whole is much more significant than trying to isolate one component or part; the farm as a whole has properties such as sustainability that are not apparent from a study of the parts. Carl holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Botany from Rutgers University in addition to a B.S. in Conservation of Natural Resources from the University of Michigan. He has been an Ecologist at the University of Georgia for over 30 years and his dedication to international conservation has made him better known abroad than in the United States.   Working with Nature and Conservation are just two books published by Dr. Carl Jordan. A full list of academic books, journal publications and literary collaborations can be viewed by clicking here. Most noteworthy is his dedication to research and education. Carl’s students are the direct vectors of his avid passion for understanding ecology; Spring Valley EcoFarms serves as the research center to broaden this learning, and is a platform in solving some of the most basic environmental problems we face today. Carl has been married over 40 years to Carmen Jordan, a vivacious educator in her own right. They have two children, two grandchildren and share many varied interests. For a full biography on Dr. Carl F. Jordan click here.

Hugues Foucart The Passionate Observer Hugues is the Spring Valley EcoFarms botanist. According to Websters 1913 dictionary a Botanist is one versed in the knowledge of plants…and Hugues is certainly dedicated to plants. We like to call him a passionate observer, because he comes from a long tradition of woodsmen and hunters from the Champagne region of France… his education demands observation, study and pragmatic understanding before all else. The culture and tradition of his family alone speaks volumes on his attention to detail without ever losing perspective. Hugues cares for his grapes and trees as though they were his descendants. The French take food and drink and growing things very seriously. His intense focus on nature and its workings is palpable. Once beyond his thick French accent, you realize one thing is certain: the technical aspect of growing all things green is his domain. Hugues is perpetually reaching out to grasp leaves, seeds and grains…observing their qualities- searching for answers. He has a natural affinity for animals. Hugo, as we like to call him, holds a degree from the University in Montreal and HEC (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales). He has varied experience in all domains from marketing luxury goods in Europe to propagating plants at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia; this proves to be a very appropriate combination. At SVE he wears many hats- the most important ones being that of a gentleman farmer, development director and consultant.

Anabel Foucart Anabel is Vice-President and Marketing Communications Director of SVE. Her passions are conceptual art, people, water sports, international business, writing, public relations, marcom technologies and nature. Her university degrees are in Art History, Journalism and Marketing Communications. Anabel's experience covers international marketing, non-profit fundraising, pioneering contemporary arts in SE United States and capital investment ventures. These days Anabel’s focus is on leveraging her diverse experience and applying it to green causes; she believes in promoting sustainable lifestyles through art/ education that pushes the envelope and serving as a catalyst for projects that employ contemporary communication methods. Anabel admits to being a bit of a technology junkie and an “idea” gal…She is a University of Georgia alumni.

Jason Mann Jason is a biodynamic farmer, social/environmental entrepreneur, agroecological researcher and community organizer. He is the cofounder of the University of Georgia’s Agroecology Laboratory and founder/farmer of Full Moon Cooperative located on Spring Valley Farm. Jason has been farming for close to decade and has explored agricultural traditions and practices around the globe. His farming practice and philosophy emerge from in-depth training and extensive practice in biodyanmics, agroecology, and permaculture systems.

Kathleen Frey Born in rural Georgia, Kathleen received most of her early education from quiet moments in forests, canoe rides at sunrise and books, lots of books. A naturalist from Day Go, she has been writing essays, poetry, and newspaper articles about the outdoors since the re-birth of environmental activism in the early 1990s. Kathleen graduated the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in newspapers. But her career as a journalist started at age 16 as an intern at her local weekly paper. Along the way, she’s thrown out questions to (and received answers from) the late Benezir Bhutto, Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich, Oliver North, as well as kids surviving cancer, Iraq war vets, middle school teachers, city council members, and local politicians. Now in her first year at the Odum School of Ecology at UGA, Kathleen is pursuing a graduate degree in Conservation and Sustainable Development. Her interests include mini-farming, facilitating connections between the community and the farmer, and educating the public about the health benefits of eating locally grown food.

Tad Brown Tad tries to make it happen--take foundational ideas and bring them to life. From an early jaunt with wilderness, he double-backed to the farm fields.He attended the first class on the Ethics of Sustainability at SVE; from there he spent a year on a homestead in the mountains of California.  He jumpstarted the Heritage Orchard Project at Agrarian Connections, then returned to introduce pastured livestock to SVE. Currently, he is a PhD student studying agricultural anthropology and historical ecology. He envisions a natural farming system in the Southeast that takes its cues from arboreal succession, engineering low-tech pasture infrastructure to provide habitat for deep-rooted, perennial fodder crops.

Josh Egenolf Josh is a native Hoosier and the son of a commercial beef cattle, sheep, and conventional row-crop farm family turned ecologist. His lifetime experiences include working as a coal miner in Indiana, as a whitewater raft guide in southeastern Tennessee, as an intern for the American Whitewater Association, as a wildland firefighter working for the Groveland Hotshots in northern California, as an Assistant Watershed Coordinator and AmeriCorps member in western North Carolina, and most recently as a Stewardship Project Manager for the Klamath Basin Ecosystem Foundation in the high-desert ranching country of southern Oregon. He draws on all these experiences to shape his perspective on life: the need for a balance between academic “reductionism” and a real world “holism” in his Ph.D. studies on grassland management in the Agroecology Program of the Odum School of Ecology. He and his wife Laura Beth have taken up residence at Spring Valley EcoFarms so that, in his words, “we could nurture our relationships with the landscape and community in which we live; that is, to participate in the production of the food we eat, to do research literally in our back yards, and to blaze paths and generate enthusiasm for solving the greatest challenge many of us have witnessed in our respective lifetimes….which is learning to live as sustainably as possible.”

Next Page (2/3)