Thursday, March 26th
March 26th | 8:50 am to 9:05 am | Zellerbach Hall
Deb Lane
Drummer and Water Conservation Administrator
Deb Lane has been playing the drums for most of her life. Formerly a member of the Santa Cruz World Beat Band, Pele Juju, she performs with artists throughout the Bay Area and beyond. In addition to her musical endeavors, Deb is a leader in water-use efficiency and works as a Water Conservation Administrator.
Afia Walking Tree
Percussionist, Educator and Facilitator
Afia Walking Tree, M.Ed., a Jamaican-born feminist percussionist, educator, and facilitator working at the “crossroads of rhythm, land, and liberation,” is an adjunct professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), an Artist-in-Residence with the African American Policy Forum, and One Billion Rising/V-Day’s Jamaica Coordinator. Afia has returned to Jamaica to steward a 25-acre regenerative land-based sanctuary and learning hub (Solidarity Yaad), where she curates nature-immersed healing journeys and eco-experiences rooted in ancestral wisdom, agroforestry, food security, and community care, prioritizing BIPOC women, and gender-expansive, queer, and trans-masculine people.
March 26th | 10:43 am to 10:56 am | Zellerbach Hall
Garth Stevenson
Musician and Composer
Garth Stevenson, a highly accomplished double bassist and composer especially known for creating music in direct communion with the natural world, traveled to Antarctica with the legendary biologist Dr. Roger Payne in 2010 to study whale communication and was able to imitate those calls on his double bass, attracting a dozen sei whales to their icebreaker. He has continued that work, most recently during a 2025 trip to Baja, Mexico to play for humpback whales, an extraordinary episode that was captured on film by National Geographic director Andy Mann.
Celebrate nature in movement! People’s Circus Theatre, a bold, cutting-edge performing arts organization whose fusion of circus arts and storytelling has a unique power to touch audiences mentally, emotionally, and viscerally will explore the beauty of nature through their unique acrobatic style. You will be invited to join in the fun!
March 26th | 12:40 pm to 1:10 pm | Zellerbach Theater Lobby & Patio
For all artists, people employed in the arts and art enthusiasts of all stripes: Come meet some of the artists whose work is featured at Bioneers this year and mingle and connect in this casual space. You are welcome to bring your lunch, pop in and out, or stay the whole time. This is an unstructured mixer, and not a facilitated networking event.
March 26th | 1:30 pm to 2:45 pm | The Marsh Cabaret
Music for Defenders of Land and Life is a musical set by Nēkajun, an Iranian American musician, organizer, and farmer. Through original songs and storytelling, she examines how extractive systems shape people’s livelihoods, ecosystems, and futures, while uplifting movements working to defend land and life. The performance centers frontline narratives and uses music to connect political struggle, ecological survival, and collective responsibility. Grounded in real struggles for land, food, and dignity, this set is offered in solidarity with those working to protect life on earth.
March 26th | 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm | The Marsh Main Stage
Strange Exchange (SE) is a hyper-local, community-focused project that extends the useful life of small household items, reduces waste and knits local non-profits and individuals together through reuse. SE is an “exchange” only in the aggregate, i.e., people don’t need to bring something to take something. All items are free. To-date, 6,700+ lbs of items have been “reshuffled!” Come participate in the non-monetary economy and experience the thrill of reshuffling. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to start a Strange Exchange of your own.
Strange Exchange will be accepting the following items (please bring in clean and in good condition): eyewear (sunglasses, prescription glasses, eyeglass cases, soft cloths and repair kits); small pet items (bowls, leashes, collars, toys); paper products (greeting cards, postcards, envelopes, unused journals and notebooks, post-its & 2026 calendars); costume jewelry (including broken jewelry and single earrings); small hardware (hooks, nails, screws, knobs, tools, locks) and accessories (shoelaces, wallets and men’s belts). Some of these items will be offered back to the community (for free, of course!) and others will be delivered to our non-profit partners.
March 26th | 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm | On Allston Way just outside of the Marsh Theater
What if the medicine for our broken hearts has been within us all along, waiting in the depths of our own voice? Internationally acclaimed singer, renowned vocal coach, peace activist, and master healer Amikaeyla will, in this transformative session, share ancient practices and cutting-edge techniques she has taken to war-torn regions and centers of collective trauma to literally “synchronize hearts” through sound. Come discover how your voice can be a foundational technology for nervous system regulation. Through gentle tones and shared rhythms, we’ll activate our body’s natural pathway to resilience and interrelatedness, shifting us from isolation to connection, depletion to wholeness and grounded presence. No musical experience needed—your willingness to participate is enough —just bring your heart and voice!
March 26th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | The Marsh Main Stage
Panelists
Amikaeyla Gaston
Founder and Director | International Cultural Arts and Healing Sciences Institute
Amikaeyla Gaston, founder/Director of the International Cultural Arts and Healing Sciences Institute, is an award-winning virtuosic vocalist and master teacher who has collaborated with a number of renowned artists including Bobby McFerrin, Pete Seeger, Wyclef, Dave Matthews, Esperanza Spalding, and Sheila E. Artistic Director of the Voices of A Dream ensemble, Amikaeyla’s work in musical healing and cultural diplomacy has garnered her a number of prestigious honors including the United Nations Global Woman Award.
Friday, March 27th
March 27th | 8:50 am to 9:05 am | Zellerbach Hall
Afia Walking Tree
Percussionist, Educator and Facilitator
Afia Walking Tree, M.Ed., a Jamaican-born feminist percussionist, educator, and facilitator working at the “crossroads of rhythm, land, and liberation,” is an adjunct professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), an Artist-in-Residence with the African American Policy Forum, and One Billion Rising/V-Day’s Jamaica Coordinator. Afia has returned to Jamaica to steward a 25-acre regenerative land-based sanctuary and learning hub (Solidarity Yaad), where she curates nature-immersed healing journeys and eco-experiences rooted in ancestral wisdom, agroforestry, food security, and community care, prioritizing BIPOC women, and gender-expansive, queer, and trans-masculine people.
Deb Lane
Drummer and Water Conservation Administrator
Deb Lane has been playing the drums for most of her life. Formerly a member of the Santa Cruz World Beat Band, Pele Juju, she performs with artists throughout the Bay Area and beyond. In addition to her musical endeavors, Deb is a leader in water-use efficiency and works as a Water Conservation Administrator.
March 27th | 10:28 am to 10:38 am | Zellerbach Hall
Destani Wolf
Singer and Musical Educator
Destani Wolf, a Berkeley, CA-based singer and musical educator, celebrated by Jazz Times as “one of the West Coast’s most inventive vocalists…and an accomplished improviser,” has gained renowned for her powerful, soulful voice, impeccable control, effortless vocal range, and original, genre-defying songs. Hers has been a remarkable musical trajectory from performing at 15 at the Great American Music Hall to recording on over 40 albums including 3 that were GRAMMY-nominated, to being a lead vocalist of Cirque du Soleil, to currently being a Professor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a member of the legendary Bobby McFerrin's MOTION.
After a morning of intense presentations, there is nothing like reconnecting to our bodies before lunch by dancing to the rhythms of great percussionists, and there are none better than Educator, Ritualist, Cultural Drummer, Ambassador, Spiritual Earth Activist Steward, Community Advocate-Trainer, and founder of Spirit Drumz and Raise Yuh Voice Jamaica, Afia Walking Tree; and Deb Lane, formerly of the Santa Cruz World Beat Band, Pele Juju; and their cohorts.
March 27th | 12:40 pm to 1:10 pm | Zellerbach Theater Lobby & Patio
Panelists
Afia Walking Tree
Percussionist, Educator and Facilitator
Afia Walking Tree, M.Ed., a Jamaican-born feminist percussionist, educator, and facilitator working at the “crossroads of rhythm, land, and liberation,” is an adjunct professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), an Artist-in-Residence with the African American Policy Forum, and One Billion Rising/V-Day’s Jamaica Coordinator. Afia has returned to Jamaica to steward a 25-acre regenerative land-based sanctuary and learning hub (Solidarity Yaad), where she curates nature-immersed healing journeys and eco-experiences rooted in ancestral wisdom, agroforestry, food security, and community care, prioritizing BIPOC women, and gender-expansive, queer, and trans-masculine people.
Deb Lane
Drummer and Water Conservation Administrator
Deb Lane has been playing the drums for most of her life. Formerly a member of the Santa Cruz World Beat Band, Pele Juju, she performs with artists throughout the Bay Area and beyond. In addition to her musical endeavors, Deb is a leader in water-use efficiency and works as a Water Conservation Administrator.
Join artist Toni Mikulka-Chang for a special two-hour afternoon workshop on Friday at The Marsh Theater exploring how giant puppet theater can embody and advance Bioneers principles.
This collaborative session will focus on developing the concept for a giant puppet theater work rooted in the values at the heart of Bioneers: ecological wisdom, biomimicry, Indigenous knowledge, systems change, environmental justice, interdependence, and community resilience. Together, participants will brainstorm themes, symbols, characters, and stories that could be shaped into a future large-scale puppet theater piece that reflects the vision of Bioneers and its role in inspiring cultural transformation.
Through guided discussion, collective imagination, and creative concept development, we will explore how giant puppets can help translate complex ideas into powerful visual storytelling that moves people emotionally, spiritually, and socially. This workshop is an invitation to think together about how art can serve as a living vessel for hope, activism, ecological awareness, and collective action.
No prior experience is needed — only a willingness to participate, imagine boldly, and help dream up a giant puppet theater vision in service of a more just and life-centered future.
March 27th | 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm | The Marsh Cabaret
Come get a taste of the variety of performances at the Marsh! This casual cabaret is perfect for anyone who wants to sample some of what the Arts Hub of the Bioneers Conference has to offer this year. Bring your lunch and enjoy!
March 27th | 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm | The Marsh Main Stage
Sit across from a stranger and draw each other…badly. In this playful Bad Art Club workshop, we invite participants to pair up with a stranger to create intentionally bad portraits in order to help us slow down, make eye contact, and let go of perfection in favor of connection. Come draw badly and leave with a portrait and a new friend. Low-pressure, drop-in friendly, and accessible for all abilities.
March 27th | 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm | The Marsh Cabaret
Facilitated by Nandita Batheja and Austin Willacy, this session invites all artists and creatives, and people who want to bring more arts and creativity into their environmental/climate work! Come and share your projects and passions and lay the foundation for future partnerships. This will be lightly facilitated with ample time for organic connections as well. Austin Willacy is a staff member at Youth in Arts (based in San Rafael, CA) and Nandita Batheja is the co-executive director of the SOULL (School of Unusual Life Learning). Together, they facilitate the annual YES! Arts and Social Change Jam, a co-creative gathering of activists at the meeting point of inner, interpersonal, and systematic transformation.
March 27th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Ashby Room, Residence Inn
Panelists
Nandita Batheja
Co-Executive Director | SOULL (School of Unusual Life Learning)
Nandita Batheja, a facilitator, somatics practitioner, and multi-disciplinary artist, is Co-Director of the School of Unusual Life Learning and a facilitator of InterPlay, an improvisational creative arts practice designed to unlock the wisdom of the body.
Austin Willacy
Community Organizer and Singer/Songwriter | Youth in Arts
Austin Willacy, a community organizer, award-winning singer/songwriter and a longtime member of the renowned a cappella group, The House Jacks (https://www.housejacks.com/), seeks to use music to foster peacebuilding and social justice and bridge divides. He has toured globally, released numerous albums, and facilitated workshops internationally, including in Turkey, India, and Israel/Palestine. (austinwillacy.com)
Fever Pitch, a powerful multimedia performance by Taína Asili, channels two decades of art and activism into a visionary call for climate justice. This one-hour experience fuses live music, dance, and cinematic visuals to explore the intersectional issues related to the urgency of climate change, and to uplift the frontlines of movements rising with courage and creativity. Featuring Asili’s original music, the show integrates emotionally-charged songs and choreography and projected video drawn from her award-winning films and music videos. Fever Pitch invites audiences into an immersive journey of resistance and renewal, while offering a creative space to imagine and embody a more just and sustainable world.
March 27th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | The Marsh Main Stage
An epic eco-fashion show featuring a line-up of local designers, including Natalie Walsh, Ash Rex Something, Susan Goldie, Amanda Hayami, Sophia Chen, Aurie Stetzel, Minkah Taharkah and more!
March 27th | 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm | The Marsh Main Stage
Bioneers is delighted to be able to present a uniquely diverse musical showcase of two extraordinary performers. Opening this remarkable double-bill is Garth Stevenson, a renowned musician, composer and eco-activist who has appeared on some 50 albums, collaborated with leading musicians from all over the globe, and counts among his mentors the legendary biologist Roger Payne, the first to record humpback whales in the 1960s. Garth has played his double bass not only for people around the world but also among seals, penguins, icebergs, and in the bow of small boats where he imitates whale calls on his bass. He will perform music based on those extraordinary interspecies exchanges accompanied by stunning video footage.
The closer will be Berkeley’s own powerfully soulful, deeply original and inventive, genre-defying vocalist and improviser, Destani Wolf, who has appeared on over 40 albums including 3 that were GRAMMY-nominated, been a lead vocalist for Cirque du Soleil, and is a Professor at SF Music Conservatory and a member of Bobby McFerrin’s MOTION.
Note: This event is not included in the conference registration, so Bioneers attendees must register separately for it.
Doors are at 7:45 pm, show starts at 8:15 pm.
March 27th | 8:15 pm to 10:30 pm | Freight & Salvage
Note: A separate $45 fee is required for this event.
Saturday, March 28th
March 28th | 8:50 am to 9:05 am | Zellerbach Hall
Deb Lane
Drummer and Water Conservation Administrator
Deb Lane has been playing the drums for most of her life. Formerly a member of the Santa Cruz World Beat Band, Pele Juju, she performs with artists throughout the Bay Area and beyond. In addition to her musical endeavors, Deb is a leader in water-use efficiency and works as a Water Conservation Administrator.
Afia Walking Tree
Percussionist, Educator and Facilitator
Afia Walking Tree, M.Ed., a Jamaican-born feminist percussionist, educator, and facilitator working at the “crossroads of rhythm, land, and liberation,” is an adjunct professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), an Artist-in-Residence with the African American Policy Forum, and One Billion Rising/V-Day’s Jamaica Coordinator. Afia has returned to Jamaica to steward a 25-acre regenerative land-based sanctuary and learning hub (Solidarity Yaad), where she curates nature-immersed healing journeys and eco-experiences rooted in ancestral wisdom, agroforestry, food security, and community care, prioritizing BIPOC women, and gender-expansive, queer, and trans-masculine people.
March 28th | 10:43 am to 10:53 am | Zellerbach Hall
The Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company
The Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company (DAYPC) is a diverse group of teens that collaborates with professional artists to create dynamic, original productions. Combining hip hop, modern and aerial dance, theater, song, and rap, company members take the stage to tell stories that stem from their lived experiences and express their visions for a world transformed. Since 1993, DAYPC has performed original work for up to 25,000 audience members annually, garnering critical acclaim and widespread community support for both their technical prowess and their commitment to advancing inclusivity, equity, and justice.
Oakland’s own SambaFunk! brings their unique brand of joyful, dynamic dance and powerful drumming rooted in African carnival dance and rhythm traditions to move our bodies and raise our voices.
March 28th | 12:40 pm to 1:10 pm | Zellerbach Theater Lobby & Patio
Afia Walking Tree, who has come all the way from her home in Jamaica to be back in her old Bay Area stomping grounds of many decades and perform for us on Bioneers’ main-stage, will also lead a large ensemble of local drummers in what should be an awe-inspiring, full-bodied, transcendental musical journey and a powerful community uplift and healing ritual.
March 28th | 1:15 pm to 2:15 pm | On Allston Way just outside of the Marsh Theater
As The Gathering Tree, Brian Wood & Emily Lorena create intimate, lyrically-driven music that blends the rawness of folk with the soulfulness of R&B and the rhythmic undercurrent of hip-hop. Their songs are spacious, heartfelt, and disarmingly honest—inviting listeners into a space of warmth, depth, and reflection.
March 28th | 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm | The Marsh Main Stage
Stop by to learn “visible” mending techniques for your clothes and household fabrics. Come and darn socks, embroider, sew ashiko-style patches, and more. WEAD will provide samples and tutorials on stitching. Feel free to bring an item that you would like repaired. Instruction will focus on learning skills, rather than a final product. Needles, thread, buttons and patches will be available for use during the instructions, or bring your knitting and join the mending community!
March 28th | 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm | The Marsh Cabaret
Shadow Play is an immersive experience that invites audience members into self-reflection, co-creation, and communal storytelling—merging music, psychology, and performance in a way that feels both intentional and playful. This Bioneers Shadow Play workshop + performance explores the theme CONTACT—how we crave it, resist it, and experience it in our lives. Through live music and storytelling, Mia Pixley, Claire Calderon, and Nikbo will engage audience members in a collective exploration of these questions via their audience-drawn Song Tarot deck.
March 28th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | The Marsh Main Stage
Palace of Trash spins a solar-punk fantasy where family of raccoons navigate the end of “the world as we know it.” With the help of the last sentient human artifact, they examine the mistakes of the past, learn their place in the present and co-create an integrative, sustainable future in which nature and technology work in harmony, supporting one another as they move into the next chapter, offering hope for a new life.
March 28th | 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm | The Marsh Main Stage
