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                  NICHOLAS PETER SHEAR
                              info@casainteram.org
                              PO Box 31
                             Otavalo, Imbabura
                             ECUADOR
                             +593-8-684-9950


EDUCATION

University of Michigan
Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources,
Environmental Policy concentration
May 1993

University of Vermont
Master of Science in Political Geography
May 1997


EXPERIENCE

1999-2005
Director, Inter-American Cultural and Development Studies
Burlington College
Burlington, Vermont
  • Planned and organized service-learning trips for university students to Guatemala,
    Puerto Rico, and Ecuador. Courses taught include: Mesoamerican History, Andean
    History, and World Economic Geography.

2000-present
Director, Inter-American Center for the Arts, Sustainability, & Action
Cotacachi, Ecuador
  • This small NGO supports communities and organizations throughout the Americas in
    their small-scale and artistic endeavors to create sustainable, creative, and more
    autonomous ways of living. I currently manage rural integrated development projects
    in Guatemala and Ecuador.  

2002-present
Instructor
Department of Geography
University of Vermont
Burlington, Vermont

2007-present
Ecuador Country Director
Global Works
Boulder, Colorado
www.globalworkstravel.com
  • Organize Service Learning work projects in rural communities in Ecuador for groups
    of high school-age volunteers. Train staff and coordinate all logistics for groups of up
    to 30 people.

2007-present
Coordinator
Intichakiñan Project
Cotacachi, Ecuador
www.intichakinan.com
  • Coordinate and promote community and ecological tourism programs in four rural
    villages. Manage the training of guides and community members to receive tourists as
    well as the day-to-day operations of a Spanish School.

2008-present
Associate Member and Coffee Exporter
Agro-Artesenal Coffee Association of the Intag River Valley (AACRI)
Apuela, Ecuador
  • Producing member of a 400-family organic, fair-trade coffee cooperative exporting to
    Japan, the EU, and the USA. Arrange export of AACRI coffee to the USA.

2009-present
Director
Intag Spanish School
Pucará, Ecuador
intagspanishschool.wordpress.com
  • Direct the day to day logistical, financial, and academic aspects of a Spanish School
    in rural Ecuador

2009-present
Owner/Operator
Finca La Fe Organic Farm and Permaculture Education Center
Pucará, Ecuador
fincalafe.wordpress.com
  • Coordinate the implementation of a long-term permaculture plan and the daily
    management of an organic farm
Pete with his  
daughters Camila
and Nina
(August, 2010).
Inter-American Center for the Arts, Sustainability,and Action


Centro Interamericano para las Artes, el Sustento, y la Acción