Jamie Nakama is living a multifaceted, passionate life! She is originally from the island of O‘ahu where she performed with a number of local dance companies including IONA Contemporary Dance Theater, Samadhi Hawai‘i, Wai Company, and Tau Dance Theater. Jamie studied hula with Hālau Ka Lā ‘Ōnohi Mai O Ha‘eha‘e (2006 – 2014) and has been training capoeira since 2002 with Mestre Kinha from Rio de Janeiro, Capoeira Besouro Hawai‘i.
In addition to her passion for dance, Jamie has been dedicated to the field of environmental education since 2001; she held positions as Environmental Educator, Curriculum Specialist, and Education Program Manager in Hawai‘i and now continues the work in northern California where she currently resides. Blessed to be part of the vibrant Bay Area dance community, Jamie is currently performing site-specific dance with Lizz Roman and Dancers and CALI & CO in San Francisco. She enjoys teaching yoga in her spare time.
Jamie holds a master’s degree in Ecological Anthropology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and has been teaching cultural and biological anthropology at community colleges since 2006. She is currently a professor of anthropology at Diablo Valley College. She joined LandPaths, whose mission is to foster a love of the land in Sonoma County, first as a board member in 2017 and then as staff in 2018. She is passionate about teaching human evolution (and our dis-evolution) in the context of our current ecological crisis and climate emergency. Her classes focus on the solutions for a sustainable and just future which are dependent on the integration of traditional knowledge systems and modern science.
