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Brad Lancaster

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Brad Lancaster

Brad Stewart Lancaster (born 1967) is an expert in the field of rainwater harvesting and water management, sun & shade harvesting (passive solar design) and community-stewarded native food forestry.[1] He is also a permaculture teacher, designer, consultant, live storyteller[2] and co-founder of the Dunbar/Spring Neighborhood Foresters,[3] and Desert Harvesters,[4] both non-profit organizations.

Lancaster lives on an eighth of an acre (506 m2) in downtown Tucson, Arizona, where rainfall is less than 12 inches (300 mm) per annum. In such arid conditions, Lancaster consistently models that annually catching 100,000 US gallons (380,000 L; 83,000 imp gal) of rainwater to feed food-bearing shade trees, abundant gardens, and a thriving landscape is a much more viable option than the municipal system of directing it into storm drains and sewer systems.[5]

Lancaster helped legalize the harvest of street runoff in the city of Tucson, Arizona, with then-illegal water-harvesting curb cuts at his and his brother’s home and demonstration site that made openings in the street curb to enable street runoff to freely irrigate street-side and in-street water-harvesting/traffic-calming landscapes of food-bearing native vegetation.[6] After proving the concept, Brad then worked with the City of Tucson to legalize, enhance, and incentivize the process.[6][7][8]

Lancaster co-created and now co-organizes the Neighborhood Foresters program[3] which since 1996 has coordinated volunteer crews of neighbors to plant and steward over 1,700 native food-bearing trees and thousands of native food-bearing and medicinal understory plantings within or beside water-harvesting earthworks that, combined, harvest over one million gallons (3.7 million liters) of stormwater per year in his neighborhood,[9] while helping and training volunteers from other neighborhoods to lead similar efforts in their neighborhoods.[10]

Brad Lancaster leading tour of rainwater harvesting and walkability improvements in Dunbar Spring neighborhood, Tucson, Arizona

The Desert Harvesters non-profit organization Brad co-founded teaches the public how to identify, harvest, and process many of the native-plant foods neighbors are planting in their neighborhoods.[11] Desert Harvesters also makes the utilization of native foods easier by organizing community milling events that mill native mesquite pods into nutritious and delicious mesquite flour which is utilized by a growing number of restaurants, breweries, and home kitchens.[11] Brad resigned from Desert Harvesters in the summer of 2020.[12]

He was involved in a 2009 project, acting as a representative for the U.S. State Department on an educational tour in the Middle East.[13]

Lectures

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Lancaster lectures at the ECOSA Institute; the University of Arizona; and Prescott College.[14] He has been a guest speaker at the annual Bioneers Convergence; Green Festival USGBC’s Greenbuild Conference;[15] Texas Natural Building Colloquium;[16] the New Mexico Xeriscape Conference; the Green Festival;[17] the 2009 Water Conservation & Xeriscaping EXPO; the New Mexico Organic Farming Conference;[18] Conference of World Affairs[19] and various Audubon Expeditions.[citation needed]

Design

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Lancaster has designed integrated water-harvesting and permaculture systems for multiple projects, including the Tucson Audubon Simpson Farm restoration site, the Milagro development, Stone Curves co-housing project,[20] and the Tucson Nature Conservancy water-harvesting demonstration site,[21] the Wallace Desert Garden at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum,[22][23] and the Tumamoc Resilience Garden.[24]

Books

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Published articles

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Awards

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  • Citizen Forester of the Year: Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management (2021)[25]
  • MOCA Local Genius Award: Tucson (2016)[26]
  • Lifetime Achievement Award: American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA) (2015)[27]
  • Bicycle Commuter of the Year: Tucson-Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee (2014)[28]
  • Cox Conserves Hero: Arizona (2013)[29]
  • David Yetman Award: Tucson Audubon Society (2013)
  • Award of Excellence/Personal Recognition from American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (2008)
  • Arizona Department of Water Resources/Tohono Chul Park Xeriscape Contest Award, First Place – Homeowner under $10,000 (2005)[30]
  • Arizona Department of Water Resources/Tohono Chul Park Xeriscape Contest Award – Best Water Harvesting (2005)[30]
  • Arizona Department of Water Resources/Tohono Chul Park Xeriscape Contest Award –J.D. Di Melglio Artistry in Landscaping (2005)[30]
  • City of Tucson and Pima County Good Neighbor Award (2001)
  • Tucson Weekly voted Dunbar/Spring Organic Community Garden the Best Neighborhood Garden (2000)
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Interviews

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References

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  1. ^ Kreutz, Douglas (2017-11-16). "Neighborhood foresters work to beautify their slice of the Tucson community". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  2. ^ "The Odyssey Storytelling Podcast: Brad Lancaster, Home". odysseystorytelling.libsyn.com. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  3. ^ a b "Dunbar/Spring Neighborhood Foresters – Dunbar/Spring Neighborhood Foresters". dunbarspringneighborhoodforesters.org. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  4. ^ "Desert Harvesters - Home". www.desertharvesters.org. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  5. ^ Telis, Gisela. "The Care and Watering of a Neighborhood", Tucson Green Magazine, January 2008, p.13
  6. ^ a b April 27, Tony Davis; Now, 2015 From the print edition Like Tweet Email Print Subscribe Donate (2015-04-27). "Tucson's rain-catching revolution". www.hcn.org. Archived from the original on 2019-07-07. Retrieved 2019-07-07. {{cite web}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Kraker, Dan (29 May 2014). "Rain Man: How one Tucson resident harvests the rain". www.mprnews.org. Archived from the original on 2019-07-07. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  8. ^ "American Oasis". american-oasis.herokuapp.com. Archived from the original on 2018-06-03. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  9. ^ "Accomplishments – Dunbar/Spring Neighborhood Foresters". dunbarspringneighborhoodforesters.org. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  10. ^ Kreutz, Douglas (16 November 2017). "Neighborhood foresters work to beautify their slice of the Tucson community". Arizona Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2019-07-07. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  11. ^ a b Media, Arizona Public. "Native Harvest". tv.azpm.org. Archived from the original on 2019-07-07. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  12. ^ Rainwater, Harvesting. "The Umbrella: Pre-spring 2022". Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  13. ^ Khan, Fouzia (April 21, 2009). "American Speakers at Earth Day Celebrations". Saudi Gazette, P.3.
  14. ^ Rainwater, Harvesting. "Brad Lancaster: Free Public Water Harvesting Talk Sponsored by Prescott College, April 19, 2010 - Prescott AZ". Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  15. ^ "Greenbuild 2009". Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  16. ^ "Natural Building Colloquium 2007: Texas: Presenters". Archived from the original on 2010-07-24. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  17. ^ "Green Festival - __404__". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  18. ^ "Home". farmtotablenm.org. Archived from the original on 2010-01-28. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  19. ^ "Brad Lancaster". Conference on World Affairs. 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  20. ^ Hamilton, James L., Stone Curves Development Manager, personal communication, February 10, 2010
  21. ^ "Sustainable Tucson » Water". www.sustainabletucson.org. Archived from the original on 2008-04-01.
  22. ^ Rainwater, Harvesting. "Growing the Soil-Carbon Sponge by Tweaking Trails, Irrigation Line Protection, & Erosion-Control to Harvest Rainwater, Soil, & Seed". Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  23. ^ "Wallace Desert Garden · Boyce Thompson Rd, Superior, AZ 85173". Wallace Desert Garden · Boyce Thompson Rd, Superior, AZ 85173. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  24. ^ Dryland rain gardens harvest all water from burst water line!, retrieved 2023-05-16
  25. ^ "Brad Lancaster awarded Citizen Forester of the Year – Dunbar/Spring Neighborhood Foresters". dunbarspringneighborhoodforesters.org. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  26. ^ Hoch, Heather. "MOCA Announces 4 Local Genius Award Recipients for 2016". Tucson Weekly. Archived from the original on 2019-07-07. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  27. ^ "Hall of Fame - Brad Lancaster - American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association". www.arcsa.org. Archived from the original on 2019-07-07. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  28. ^ "Brad Lancaster Wins 2014 Bicycle Commuter of the Year along with Juan Mungia". Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster. 2014-05-02. Archived from the original on 2019-07-07. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  29. ^ "Brad Lancaster Named Arizona's 2013 Cox Conserves Hero". Newsroom | About Us | Cox Communications. Archived from the original on 2022-09-14. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  30. ^ a b c Poole, B. “Design With the Desert in Mind”, Tucson Citizen, March 2006, p.4A.
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