Oasis Instructors and Presenters

Author of A Long Way Home: From Sweden to Cedar home, A Trail of Tears and Triumph
Robert covered the U.S. military for most of the period since 1990, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan throughout the period of U.S. involvement. He has covered 10 secretaries of defense starting with Dick Cheney, the re-election campaigns of President George H.W. Bush in 1992…

Environmental Communications, Sustainable Solutions
With a 30+ year career in public environmental education and environmental communications, and 32 years as host/producer of a weekly environmental radio/podcast interview show, and 22 years as an environmental columnist, Jean Ponzi is considered the leading expert in climate sustainability.

Artist / Art With Elders
Living in the Caribbean at a young age amongst the beauty of the people, language, and culture, I thought I would live there the rest of my life. However, after I started working at a Spanish tapas bar, I began meeting people from all over the world whose stories set alight a passionate curiosity in me. These stories set me afoot…

Culinary Arts Educator
Margi Lenga Kahn earned a BA degree from Wheaton College and a MSW from Boston University. While raising five children with her husband, attorney and writer Michael Kahn, she taught parent-child classes at a community center in Evanston, IL. After she and her husband moved back to St. Louis and her children were out of grade school,…

Professor of Medicine and the Larry J. Shapiro Director of the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis
Professor William Powderly, M.D., is the Dr. J. William Campbell Professor of Medicine and the Larry J. Shapiro Director of the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis. He is also the director of the Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS) and co-director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Washington University School of Medicine. From 2005 to 2012, he was Dean of Medicine and Head of the School of Medicine at University College Dublin in Ireland. Dr. Powderly has been actively involved in HIV-related clinical research for thirty years…

Educator
Joan Musbach taught American History in middle and high school for forty-one years, thirty-eight of those in the Ladue School District in St. Louis County. She earned a BA in History from the University of Kansas, an MAT from Northwestern University and has done post-graduate work in American History at Stanford and the University of Virginia…

Artist / Art With Elders
Artist. Teacher. Writer (journalism pieces, copy, interviews.) Masters Degree, Fine Art. Research. Edit. Perform! Speak Publicly. Specialities: Avant-garde and Urban Culture; Period Decorative Collectibles; Clothes; Contemporary Spiritual Movements.

Physician / Founder of BrainSavers
BrainSavers was founded by Dr. Paul Bendheim, a board-certified neurologist, clinical professor of neurology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, and author of The Brain Training Revolution – A Proven Workout for Healthy Brain Aging. Dr. Paul has spent his career studying the causes and treatments of degenerative brain diseases including Alzheimer’s. He realized years ahead of the field that the most effective way of reducing the chance of developing Alzheimer’s was by making lifestyle changes.

Public Health Educator
Chelsea Carriker earned her Masters in Public Health in Health Education and Promotion from the UTHealth School of Public Health in San Antonio, TX and is also a certified health education specialist (CHES). Chelsea has been promoting health and wellness through education for over two years and counting. She is well-versed in many health topics including different types of diets, exercise, mental health, behavioral science and much more.