Joseph F. Kennedy studied earth building with architect Nader Khalili and helped him found CalEarth in 1991. He promotes earth and other natural building methods as a teacher, designer and builder. He is co-editor of The Art of Natural Building and Building Without Borders. Joseph currently teaches at the New School of Architecture and Design in San Diego, California. Michael G. Smith helped found The Cob Cottage Company in 1993. He has taught hundreds of hands-on workshops in cob, strawbale, natural floors and plasters, earthen ovens, and many other natural building techniques. He is the author of The Cobber's Companion and co-author of The Hand-Sculpted House. Michael has designed and built nearly fifty small cob and hybrid natural homes. He enjoys sharing his expertise with owner-builders around the world. Catherine Wanek is a cofounder of Builders Without Borders. A passionate advocate of natural building techniques for over two decades, she is the author and photographer of The Hybrid House and The New Straw Bale Home, and co-editor of The Art of Natural Building. She also produced the videos, The Strawbale Solution, the Building With Straw video series, and Urban Permaculture. Catherine is the owner of the Black Range Lodge, an historic bed-and-breakfast inn located in the mountains of southwest New Mexico, which is becoming known as a center for ecological building and healthy living.