The Team

Greg Watson

Greg is Director of Policy and Systems Design at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics. His current work focuses on updating Buckminster Fuller’s World Game Workshop, advocating for the integration of regional and global electric grid systems. He works with stakeholders to discover Nature-and-community informed development strategies that reveal synergistic approaches to resolving food, energy and water issues. Greg has spent nearly 50 years studying systems thinking as inspired by Buckminster Fuller and to apply that understanding to achieve a just and sustainable world. He has served on the board of the Buckminster Fuller Institute and as a juror for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge.

In 1978 he organized a network of urban farmers’ markets in the Greater Boston Metropolitan Area. He served as Commissioner of Agriculture in Massachusetts from 1990 to 1993 and again from 2012 to 2014 when he launched a statewide urban agriculture grants program.

Greg gained hands-on experience in organic farming, aquaculture, wind-energy technology, and passive solar design at the New Alchemy Institute on Cape Cod, first as Education Director and later as Executive Director. There he led the effort to create the Cape & Islands Self Reliance energy cooperative.  He served four years as Executive Director of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, a multicultural grassroots organizing and planning organization where he initiated one of the nation’s first urban agriculture projects (anchored by a 10,000 square foot commercial greenhouse).

Watson was the first Executive Director of the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust (now the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center). In 2005 he coordinated the drafting of “A Framework for Offshore Wind Energy Development in the United States” and the following year founded the U.S. Offshore Wind Collaborative. Watson was part of the team that landed the National Wind Technology Testing Center in Massachusetts.  He served on President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. Department of Energy transition team in 2008.  

In 2015 he founded the Cuba-U.S. Agroecology Network (CUSAN) following a trip to Cuba to learn about its agroecology system. CUSAN links small farmers and sustainable farm organizations in both countries to share information and provide mutual support. He is on the editorial board of MEDICC Review, journal of the nonprofit Medical Education in Cooperation with Cuba.

Tim Tensen

Tim is an ecological designer, data-driven technologist and researcher, and landscape theorist and planner with international consulting experience. His areas of expertise include regional landscape assessment and land use planning; community food and agricultural systems design; and the design of agricultural and environmental data management systems. Tim started experimenting with 3D modeling, rendering, and collaborative mapping while studying ecological planning and design at the Conway School. When not reading or learning new computer software for visualizing landscapes, Tim can be found running, biking, hiking, or playing music.

Kirsten McCracken

Kirsten is a place-based educator, multidisciplinary designer, and communications strategist dedicated to amplifying the voices of mission driven changemakers. Kirsten joined our team to rebrand our organization across all channels in addition to designing and editing the Atlas, an extension of the World Grid Project. With expertise in sustainability education, graphic design, social media and visual storytelling, Kirsten partners with organizations and individuals advancing regenerative practices. Blending creative direction with a deep understanding of ecology, she builds brands that are visually compelling while also inspiring meaningful action. Outside of her professional work, Kirsten finds inspiration in her ever expanding garden, playing outdoors with her children, and reconnecting with the natural world.