I am a professor of English at Tidewater Community College. I am also a lifelong environmentalist and a practicing Buddhist. Those three interests--Buddhist spirituality, Environmental awareness and responsibility, and a passionate interest in teaching and in the arts--pretty much define who I am.

My all-time heroes, gurus, and role models include Thomas Paine, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Henry David Thoreau, William Shakespeare, Gregory Bateson and Lynn Margulis. And most recently, of course, Barack Obama.

Nonprofits I have worked for

Sierra Club (Secretary for Virginia Chapter)
MoveOn.org
Oregon Natural Resources Council

My Change.org URL

• www.change.org/profiles/tiellis