Charles Schweger considered Trungpa Rinpoche and then Thrangu Rinpoche to have been his teachers. Thrangu Rinpoche encouraged him to pursue eco-Buddhism, and Touch the Earth Forum began in 2010 as a non-sectarian group for practicing Buddhists. With academic degrees in geology, and lots of botany, Charles taught in Anthropology at the University of Alberta for 37 years. His work centred on the paleo-ecology of the North, climate change and geoarchaeology. Charles loved doing field work throughout the arctic and was grateful for the opportunities to work with Indigenous people and to walk in wilderness. These experiences fed into his Buddhist practice, which in turn added much to his experience of the natural world. He passed away in September 2026.