The Center for Protected Area Management’s core team of trainers for this seminar include Mrs. Rosa María Vidal, Ms. Erin Hicks, Ms. Audrey Ramsey, and Mr. Ryan Finchum. Together they have more than 75 years of combined experience living and working around the world with a focus on natural resource management, protected area and watershed management, and sustainable rural development. In addition to the Center’s staff, a variety of professionals, including protected area personnel, conservation NGO staff, and other conservation professionals serve as guest lecturers and provide valuable insights during the seminar.

The center team is supported by researcher Dr. Jennifer Solomon on the subject of gender equity in conservation at Colorado State University. In addition, we have a committee of advisers from various institutions involved in issues related to conservation and gender.

ROSA MARÍA VIDAL

CPAM Senior Advisor and Seminar Director

Rosa María Vidal has more than 30 years of experience in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. She is a biologist (UNAM) with certificates in organizational development (CEDPA, Michigan State University), gender and sustainability (UNAM-Gender Program) and leadership (ITESM, Cornell University), as well as knowledge in the areas of economics, climate change, management of protected areas, and wildlife. She is the founder and former director of Pronatura Sur and of the Training Center for Sustainable Development Moxviquil. She was the director of the Governors’ Climate and Forests Fund, Senior Advisor to the Center for Protected Area Management of the Colorado State University, and consultant to the World Bank, the Global Environmental Facility, and Livelihoods-Venture. She has also been an advisor to various international conservation networks. She was coordinator of the population and environment program at Pronatura Sur, analyzing gender, reproductive health and conservation approaches with support from the Mac Arthur Foundation, a member of the Gender and Environment Network of Mexico, consultant for USAID in project evaluation of gender, counselor of the Institute of Women for the State of Chiapas, and evaluator of the program “A Seed to Grow” with BanChiapas, and has collaborated in the integration of gender equality approaches in forestry development and conservation projects. Rosa María brings to the seminar extensive practical experience and understanding of the challenges that women face in organizational leadership, a cutting-edge knowledge in biodiversity and climate change, and an understanding of the challenges that women from rural communities

ERIN HICKS

Instructor

Erin Hicks, M.Sc., has a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from California State University and a master’s degree in Conservation Leadership from Colorado State University. She is an artist and social scientist with an interest in working with communities in Latin America in relation to sustainable development, conservation, and capacity development. Her professional experience includes studying the perceptions of ecotourism in the Mayan communities around the buffer zone of the Bladen Nature Reserve, supporting the Governors’ Climate and Forests Fund, and working in protected areas and trails with the Conservation Corps of California, the US Forest Service, the California State Parks, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the US National Park Service. She was also an environmental volunteer for the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic and has worked closely with women’s community groups on conservation in Belize and the Dominican Republic.

RYAN FINCHUM

Director of CPAM and Seminar Collaborator

Ryan Finchum is the Director of the Protected Management Center at Colorado State University. Mr. Finchum has a degree in Environmental Science and Geography from Louisiana State University and a master’s degree in Protected Areas Management from Colorado State University. His areas of interest include ecotourism, environmental communication, planning of protected areas and corridors, the link between conservation activities and sustainable lifestyles, systems leadership, and capacity development. Ryan has worked extensively in Latin America, initially as a Peace Corps Volunteer with the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos Islands, followed by almost a decade of experience as an ecotourism operator in Mesoamerica. He is a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and the Committee on Education and Communication (CEC). Ryan has focused his energy over the past five years on strengthening the sustainability of the Center as an institution, in order to ensure the permanence of long-term training programs.

AUDREY RAMSEY

Training Coordinator of CPAM and Seminar Collaborator

Audrey Ramsey is the Training Coordinator of the Protected Management Center at Colorado State University.  Audrey has a degree in Recreation and Ecotourism with a minor in Environmental Science from Ferrum College and a master’s degree in Global Conservation Leadership from Colorado State University.  Her additional areas of interest are in environmental/cultural interpretation, ecotourism, the link between tourism and conservation, and marine protected areas.  She has focused her professional work on interpretation in the past few years conducting projects in Latin America, focused on interpretation in Latin American protected areas and creating environmental interpretation plans with the Center and the Galapagos National Park.

ROMEO DOMINGUEZ VIDAL

Video Specialist

Romeo Dominguez Vidal (he/him) has a Bachelor’s degree in Film Studies and Screen Media from University College Cork, Ireland. He is a documentary filmmaker and a writer who is interested in working on projects related to gender equity, social justice, environmental communication, and cultural identity. He has worked in Europe and Latin America developing documentaries on gender violence, and volunteered in several environmental conservation organizations in Mexico and the U.S. such as The Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, Pronatura Sur, The GCF Fund, and the Center for Protected Area Management. He is the founder of Cuxtitali Expresion A.C. and Free Vogel Limited. LLC.

DR. JEN SOLOMON

CSU Faculty Member and Researcher

Dr. Jen Solomon’s research focuses on the interface of development, livelihoods, and the conservation of natural resources. She has evaluated integrated conservation and development projects in Latin America and East Africa. Two decades ago, while evaluating a project in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, she became interested in women’s experiences in conservation and development projects. Her most recent research focuses on barriers and supports for women conservation leaders. She is a professor for the Conservation Leadership graduate program at Colorado State University in the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Department. She runs undergraduate and graduate programs abroad and teaches undergraduate courses at the Warner College of Natural Resources. She is a Fulbright Scholar, member of the Center for Collaborative Conservation, member of the Executive Committee of the Center for Protected Areas Management, and has served in the United States Peace Corps in Nicaragua. Dr. Solomon has a Master’s in Environmental Policy from Tufts University and a PhD from the University of Florida in Ecology and Wildlife Conservation with a focus on the human dimensions of wildlife conservation and conservation and development in the tropics.

PAULINA ARROYO

Director, Adaptive Management and Evaluation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Paulina Arroyo is the Director of Adaptive Management and Evaluation for the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and is responsible for supporting environmental conservation initiatives in regards to measuring impacts. Prior to this position, she was a Program Officer in the Foundation’s Andean Amazon Initiative for nine years, leading a portfolio of projects for protected areas and indigenous territories in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia. Before working for the Moore Foundation, Paulina worked for The Nature Conservancy in various management positions including as Director of the Global Strategy for Indigenous Territories. She has collaborated with civil society and governmental organizations in Latin America for more than fifteen years in terms of conservation with equity, natural resource management with a gender perspective, and sustainable development. She collaborates in several working committees, including serving as a member of the Board of Directors for the Conservation Measures Partnership and as a member of the Board of Directors of Planet Women, dedicated to strengthening the role of women in environmental management. She was also co-leader of the Funders of the Amazon Basin and advised the National Wildlife Federation’s Women in Conservation Leadership Program. Paulina has a Master’s in Environmental Management from Duke University and a Bachelors in Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo (Canada).

ANDREA SANTY

Interim Director, Smithsonian’s Office of Academic Appointments and Internships, Smithsonian Institution

Andrea Santy is currently the Interim Director of the Smithsonian’s Office of Academic Appointments and Internships (OAAI). Prior to this role, she served for three years as the Director of Program Development for the Smithsonian Conservation Commons – an action network that applies cultural and scientific expertise to sustaining Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystems from. For the Conservation Commons, she helped raise $1 million for Earth Optimism and Working Land and Seascapes and contributed her expertise in conservation and capacity building to strengthen and develop partnerships.  Andrea joined Smithsonian after nearly two decades at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). At WWF she served as the Director of the Russell E. Train Education for Nature Program and contributed to the development of 2000+ conservation leaders across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Andrea brings more than 20 years of experience in international education and exchange, capacity development, and cross-cultural communications.  She holds a master’s degree in international communication from American University, Washington, DC and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Dayton, OH.

MARÍA MORENO DE LOS RÍOS

Vice President for Latin America of IUCN’s Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) and Program Manager for Hivos – All Eyes on the Amazon program – Regional Office for Latin America

María Moreno de los Ríos believes the strength of women’s collaborative work. María is a Spanish-Ecuadorian environmental biologist with more than 15 years of experience working in protected areas and indigenous territories in South America. With a degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, she holds Master’s degrees in Ibero-American International Relations and International Development Cooperation from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid and the Universidad del País Vasco/HEGOA. In both master’s degrees, she has studied in depth the gender approach in Development.
Among other programs, María coordinated the emblematic Araucaria XXI Galapagos Program (AECID), where she developed a specific line of work on gender violence and environment, or the National Biodiversity Strategy of Ecuador with the Ministry of Environment and UNDP. She was Governance and Equity Program Officer for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). She is currently Vice President for Latin America of IUCN’s Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) and coordinates the All Eyes on the Amazon program at the NGO Hivos.

In 2005, while living in a protected area, Maria became aware of the structural violence that women suffer. Since then she has been linked to gender and environmental issues: she is part of the Grupo Mayor de Mujeres, the National Coalition of Women of Ecuador, the Association El Parto es Nuestro and, since 2016, the Network of Women in Conservation of Latin America and the Caribbean (Grupo Núcleo) and its group in Ecuador.

ISLA TRONCOSO MEDEL

Head of the Gender Equality Unit of the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF)

Isla studied Landscape Ecology, and joined the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF), the institution that manages Protected Areas in Chile, in 2009. She was the first woman ranger elected by a public election in the Atacama region, and then had the opportunity to manage the Llanos de Challe National Park for seven years. During those seven years she completed a Masters degree in Natural Protected Areas.

Since 2017, she has worked in CONAF central office. In 2021, she coordinated the first meeting of women park rangers in Latin America. She is currently in charge of the national headquarters of the Section of Rangers and Security in the SNASPE (National System of Protected Wildlife Areas of the State of Chile), and since March has been the leader of the Gender Equality Unit of CONAF.

LORENA AGUILAR

Executive Director, Kaschak Institute for Social Justice for Women and Girls

Lorena Aguilar is a global leader passionate about human rights, inclusion, and sustainable development, with over three decades providing strategic contributions to national and international policies. In these three decades, she has been leading inclusive collaboration with government counterparts, UN agencies, international organizations, and civil society towards advancing inclusive and equitable sustainable development. Lorena has field experience in more than 50 countries across Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. Ms. Aguilar also served as Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica.