About Catriona MacGregor

"Catriona's work is clear and profound ... and comes straight from the heart."
Denise Linn

Catriona is a wise woman who weaves her many life experiences, spirituality, and intuition into a tapestry of hope. She is a visionary bridge builder between humankind and nature - and helps people connect to nature and their own spirits through vision quests, Nature Quests, spirit animal journeys, nature retreats and hikes.

Catriona (Gaelic for Catherine) MacGregor has been a voice for animals and wild places all of her life (She co-founded her first environmental NGO at the age of 12 called SOS - Save the Seals). Catriona has a Master in Science in Resource Management, and a Juris Doctorate. As a leader in the environmental field for over twenty years her environmental conservation programs have helped to protect species and habitat around the world. Her U.S. coastal conservation program helped to lead to the comeback of an endangered coastal species for which she received The Governors' Blue Ribbon Committee - Environmental Excellence Award.

In 2003, Catriona founded the International Bering Sea Forum, to bring together an international community from Russia, Japan, Canada, Norway and the United States to protect the Bering Sea and its important marine life. Catriona also supported the groundbreaking work of leading marine scientists in China to protect the spotted seal and the manatee, and the work of Russian environmentalists to protect salmon in the Russian Far East.

Catriona has advised NGOs and government agencies on the value of environmental education. She has created and led many education programs and she is certified as a K-12 public school teacher in New York State and California. She wrote mandatory state guidelines in science for K-12 public schools, and taught at two graduate schools - Norwich University and Antioch New England Graduate School.

Catriona also served as a career counselor and conducted personality assessments, and provided career advice to professionals seeking a new career path. As an international consultant, she assists organizations in the United States and internationally in strategic planning, leadership development, program development, and civil society capacity building. She uses a method known as Appreciative Inquiry

"AI" which is "the act of recognizing the best in people or the world around us; affirming past and present strengths, successes, and potentials; to perceive those things that give life (health, vitality, excellence) to living systems". Through this process she helps people to be open to perceiving new possibilities for themselves, and the world.

Catriona devotes herself wholeheartedly to educating the public about the importance of the natural world, and assisting individuals in forging a unique relationship to nature and rediscovering their life's path. Since childhood, Catriona has had mystical and shamanic experiences in nature that have provided her with a profound understanding of the natural world, spirit, and our relationship with other life. A visionary bridge builder between nature and humankind - and an adept nature guide and naturalist, she leads vision quests, and nature tours.

In 2005, Catriona founded Awen Grove, a non-profit organization, to bring the inspiration, wisdom and beauty of nature to benefit people's lives and the Earth, resulting in greater health and fulfillment for all living things. Awen Grove runs a Youth Quest program, which provides youth with inspiring outdoor adventures and a holistic introduction to and immersion in nature [awengrove.org].

Catriona is the award winning author of "Partnering with Nature: The Wild Path to Reconnecting with the Earth" which won a Gold Medal from the Nautilus Book Awards in 2011. She is the coauthor of Healing the Heart of the World: Harnessing the Power of Intention to Change Your Life and the Planet, along with Carolyn Myss, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Masaru Emoto, Fritjof Capra, Thich Nhat Hanh, et al..

Catriona's work has been covered in Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, NPR Radio, The Shirley MacLaine Radio Show, NPR, and the Today Show.

She lives with her husband, Paul, son Joe, and many animal friends domestic and wild in northern California.