John Francis

For twenty-two years, Dr. Francis gave up the use of motorized vehicles as an expression of his personal commitment to creating a sustainable world, walked across the United States, sailed and walked through the Caribbean and Venezuela to Bolivia where he continues his walk through South Amercia. In 1972, after seeing an oil spill in San Francisco Bay, Dr. Francis gave up the use of motorized vehicles. A year later, on his 27th birthday, he made a vow of silence that lasted 17 years. In 1990, on the twentieth anniversary of Earth Day, Dr. Francis ended his silence at a gathering of family and friends.

Dr. Francis began his walking and sailing pilgrimage around the world in 1983, leaving from the village of Inverness on the California coast. During his journey across the United States, he earned an M.S. in Environmental Studies at the University of Montana and a Ph.D. in land resources at the University of Wisconsin. In 1991, Dr. Francis was named a United Nations Environment Programme Goodwill Ambassador to the World's Grassroots Communities. From 1991 to 1992, he worked with the United States Coast Guard Oil Pollution Act 1990 staff as a policy analyst, assisting in the development and implementation of a natural resource damage assessment methodology and the analysis of federal oil spill regulations.

In 1992, Dr. Francis left under sail for the Caribbean, where he worked with the citizenry and the government of Antigua on environmental problems facing the island. He was appointed to the Governor General's Beautification Committee and produced a public service announcement on litter that was televised throughout the country. In Brazil, Dr. Francis, was the first person granted permission to walk through the Waimiri-Atroari Indian Reservation. The walk coincided with the third anniversary of United Nations' "International Year of the Indian." Dr. Francis met with government representatives, and Waimiri-Atroari Indian leaders to discuss the threats to biological diversity on the reservation. As Dr. Francis' pilgrimage progresses through South America and beyond, he will continue his efforts to educate young people and to raise environmental consciousness.

Dr. Francis lives in Point Reyes Station, California, with his wife and son. He is author of Planetwalker, the inspirational story of a young man's call to public service and his decision to make a difference. He is the founder and director of Planetwalk, a non-profit environmental education organization (www.planetwalk.org). He travels around the world, speaking on pilgrimage and change and on "Planetlines," an environmental studies curriculum based on the walking pilgrimage, which he is developing for high schools and universities.

For more about John, visit his website: www.planetwalk.org