Christopher Shein has been a gardener in Berkeley and Oakland, California since 1993. He has started dozens of community gardens, school gardens, market gardens, and gardens in backards in centers serving the homeless. He teaches permaculture at Merritt Community College where he helped develop the award-winning student farm. Shein also owns Wildheart Gardens, a permaculture landscape business that designs and builds sustainable gardens. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and earned his Permaculture Design Certificate at Linnaea Farm on Cortes Island, British Columbia. He lives with his wife, Dr. Runa Basu, D.O., and their daughters, Gitanjali and Bija Sol, in urban South Berkeley.