Laura Weiland

Laura Weiland is the former director of the Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL), and creator of Omega's 4-week Ecological Literacy Immersion Program.

Weiland has lived, studied, and worked across several countries and the United States over the past two decades, starting as a student in an agricultural high school in Ambato, Ecuador. She has been imagining, designing, and creating nontraditional educational experiences for herself and others since the age of 15, with studies and experience from biology, farming, permaculture, and regenerative frameworks, to eco-social design, community organizing, and climate education. Weiland holds a master's degree in sustainable development with a focus in community development.

In 2018 Weiland and the OCSL team organized the first Drawdown Learn Conference in partnership with the Project Drawdown organization to explore how we can more deeply activate a solutions-oriented approach to climate education and engagement through schools and community participation. The 2nd Drawdown Learn Conference doubled in size and featured over 80 presenters and numerous breakouts session topics. Through the development of Omega’s climate initiative, Weiland enjoys strong involvement in regional, national, and global networks and relationship building to bring about the change needed to ensure the health of our ecosystems and the possibility for all communities to thrive. She is part of the coordination team for the Education, Communication, and Outreach Stakeholders (ECOS) community of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).