Our Board
Laurel Carrington
“I am a former European history professor at St. Olaf College, retired for almost ten years now. I still manage to teach history classes with the Cannon Valley Elder Collegium, but my main interest these days is teaching meditation in the Northfield community: to seniors at 50North, to undergraduates at St. Olaf, and to whoever shows up at the Northfield Buddhist Meditation Center.
I have practiced meditation for over 15 years, primarily in the Insight Meditation tradition, and have sat a wide variety of retreats ranging from three days to a month. I am certified as a meditation instructor through the Unified Mindfulness teacher training program.” I also serve as the Board Chair at NBMC.
Evan Nowak
“I first encountered Buddhism in high school while reading Steve Hagen's Buddhism Plain and Simple. The practical, almost scientific, approach to understanding happiness, suffering, and the mind struck a chord at a vulnerable point in my life. I deepend my study in college, receiving a certificate in religious studies from UW-Madison, where I focused primarily on Buddhism. My coursework there provided a great foundation in Buddhist thought and history. However, I soon realized that to fully benefit from the wisdom of the tradition, I would need a practice. I began my meditation journey in 2006, and quickly saw the benefit.
Though I could see the value, my practice waxed and waned as I continued my journey through life: finishing school, starting a career, and a family. In 2016 I moved to Northfield and started attending meditation sessions at the Northfield Buddhist Meditation Center soon thereafter. Since then I've come to greatly value the Center and the community it fosters. It's been a great source of support for my practice. I'm honored to serve on the board and help the Center manage its website, technology and email communications.”
Scott Forsgren
“I was introduced to the Dharma from a paperback I found aboard a Navy ship, when I was stationed in the Orient as a teen. My curiosity about Buddhist wisdom continued, and in 2009 I began attending Dharma discussions at NBMC, led by Mark Nunberg, the Guiding Teacher of Common Ground Meditation Center; Zoom then made regularly attending both NBMC and CGMC possible for me.
I became an NBMC board member in 2022 and have been enjoying being the Guest Dharma Teacher scheduler since that time–with Zoom opening the door to national and some international teachers. My most influential personal teachers have been from the Insight Meditation tradition, including Ajahn Chah, Joseph Goldstein, Sayadah U Tejeniya, and especially Mark Nunberg. One of my current special interests is learning how mindfulness can be effectively used to help manage ADHD. My practice goal is to live mindfully, while maintaining part of my awareness on calm that is inherent in the body.
I’m a retired chiropractic orthopedist / acupuncturist. I love spending time with my life-partner, Linda, my son, two grandsons, and extended family, and exploring my creativity through the guitar, piano, visual arts, and poetry.”
Meg Ojala
“I am an artist, living and working in Dundas. I taught photography at St. Olaf College for 35 years and retired in 2018. I make visual art and write with a focus on landscape and. ecosystems like bogs and estuaries. I enjoy being with friends and family. I like to hike, bike, cross country ski, paddle, travel, and to spend time in Maine and in the PNW.
Yoga, meditation, Buddhist thought, and psychology are all important aspects of my spiritual life and vital for my personal growth. Practicing and learning at the NBMC, Mark Nunberg of Common Ground Meditation Center, and the Tergar Meditation Community have been important sources of learning, insight, and guidance for me.
I have enjoyed helping to plan Dharma discussions and book discussion groups at the NBMC. I am happy to be a new member of the board (February 2026) and to pitch in on the tasks that need to be done to keep the NBMC running smoothly. I look forward to helping to develop and implement ideas for programming. I want the NBMC to continue to be a welcoming and supportive community for meditators and learners, wherever they are on the path.”
Emilyrose Pfaltzgraff
"Hello, I'm Emilyrose. I returned to Northfield at the beginning of 2025 and was fortunate to have temporary housing down the street from the meditation center. Thus began my regular participation in evening sits and Recovery Dharma meetings. I reconnected with many people I had known when I was a student at St. Olaf from 2007-2011. Currently I am a bus driver for Benjamin Bus and in the summer and fall I grow garlic for the Garlic Festival in MN. My main hobbies are sourdough bread, reading, pottery, and gardening. I am likely to be found at the public library any day of the week, on Carleton Campus for folksinging, and at The Cow for Northern Roots Session Thursday nights.
For me, meditation is a gesture of self love, an opportunity to practice compassion and meet myself in the present. I am hugely grateful for the invitation to join our sangha and offer myself in service to this community. The self reflection and shared humanity of the Recovery Dharma meetings and Dharma talks, discussions, book studies and even simply connecting over tying shoes together in the lobby, have been invaluable to my sense of belonging and personal growth. I'm looking forward to meditating together!"
Rocky Casillas Aguirre
“I’m a Latino and LGBTQ artist originally from Tijuana, Mexico -a border town and the largest City in Baja CA. Though, I consider Northfield my hometown. My family moved to MN when I was nine and I’ve been here ever since; except for the three years I studied Conservation Biology at AUNE in NH. Nature and art have always been my greatest interests, and more recently the practice of meditation.
During the pandemic, I struggled a lot with anxiety. I didn’t grow up in a household that talked about mental health, so was faced with overcoming panic attacks alone as an adult. I spent years talking to psychologists until I found NBMC and learned how to welcome the thoughts and emotions that visited me. Today, I no longer see therapists or take medication for anxiety, and seem to have found my life’s purpose.
Near the end of 2020, I founded ROKATURAS, an art studio dedicated to creating mindfulness and mental health books for kids (resources I didn’t have). My comics are inspired by personal struggles with anxiety, identity and the exploration of the mind. It’s an honor serving on the NBMC Board to help with marketing and outreach.”
Fred Howe
“I am a Canadian, who grew up Calgary, AB. I met my wife Barb in northwestern Ontario, where I was working at a tourist fishing camp, and by chance we wound up settling in Northfield in 1978 (we thought only for the summer!) We raised 2 children here. I worked as a cabinetmaker and estimator in the store fixture business for about 25 years, then as an estimator and project engineer in the tradeshow business for 22 years. I now am retired. In university I studied philosophy (U of Calgary), then religion (McMaster), and became very interested in eastern religions before I became a grad school dropout.
In Northfield, I attended UCC church, and sat with the Quakers, before wandering into NBMC around 2002. I am grateful for the wonderful teachers who have visited NBMC, especially Mark Nunberg, Patrice Koelsch and other teachers from Common Ground in Minneapolis, and Santikaro from Kevala Retreat. Their guidance has been invaluable to me. Since 2012 I’ve also been sitting with the Buddhist group at MCF Faribault, and I have also learned much from them. Meditation and my Buddhist practice have become very important to me.”
Anne Klawiter
“I began meditating 40 years ago, in my mid 20's. About 15 years ago, I became determined to deepen my practice, and so I turned to the Northfield Buddhist Meditation Center, where I've been fortunate to learn from Mark Nunberg of Common Ground, as well as a variety of other teachers. Over the years I've done many retreats (my first was with Ajahn Sucitto, through the Madison, WI Insight Center). Though I've studied both Theravada and Mahayana, my main practice is Vajrayana, and my primary teacher is Mingyur Rinpoche of Tergar.
Professionally, I have been a teacher for most of my adult life. My husband and I have lived on our hobby farm between Northfield and Faribault for 36 years, where we've housed a community garden and been involved in sustainable agriculture. Over the years we've raised chickens, sheep, horses, many dogs and cats, and a wild turkey that wandered onto our land. Recently we became first time grandparents.”
Tatiana Achcar
“Born and raised in Latin America, we moved to Minnesota in 1990. While in college, I attended a Transcendental Meditation weekend training in St. Paul with my family, and began sitting regularly. A comparative philosophy studies class at the University of Minnesota shortly thereafter opened my eyes to Buddhism, though many years would pass before I recognized the message and importance of the Dharma.
In 2008, a kind fellow human walked me to my first Dharma teaching with Tim Olmsted at the Buddhist Center of Steamboat Springs, in Colorado. Tim’s gentle, clear and generous transmissions of the Vajrayana tradition captivated me immediately. My meditation practice shifted in method, I “Entered the Sangha” and participated in several retreats. However, yet another decade of undisciplined commitment passed.
In time, personal and pandemic hardships made it vividly clear to me that a robust meditation practice and spiritual life are the way through. I renewed my commitment to the Dharma and reentered the Sangha at the Buddhist Center of Steamboat Springs, where I remain a member. Upon returning to Minnesota in 2025, I joined the Northfield Meditation Buddhist Center and have had the honor of being part of the board since February 2026. Though Tim Olmsted and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche are my main teachers, and I am currently studying Vajrayana Buddhism, I listen to all Dharma teachers attentively.”