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The MVI staff are a dedicated group of professionals who come from many countries and walks of life. But all of them share a passionate commitment to the vision and mission of the Institute, the environment, the importance of sustainable practices and to the community. Every staff member is involved with multiple initiatives in the community. Almost all of them are at least bilingual (and in some cases trilingual) and have defined academic and community-based goals as part of their work plans.
Fern was born in the United States and grew up exploring the woods and streams of the Carolinas. She earned the titles of Master of Science in Biology, Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Environmental Biology with concentration in Sustainable Development, and Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Appalachian State University. As an undergraduate exchange student Fern fell in love with Costa Rica. She discovered her passion for education in graduate school while teaching biology and chemistry labs at ASU. As instructor of biology and adult high school science at Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute, and instructor of ecology and Spanish with Upward Bound at ASU, she further developed as an educator. Fern relocated to Costa Rica in 2011, and through 2014 taught field and classroom courses related to ecology and sustainability with Ecology Project International, University Studies Abroad Consortium, Universidad Véritas Center for International Programs, Earth Education International, and Hawai´I Pacific University. Her research experience includes lichens as indicators of air pollution, and quail and early succession songbird habitat management. Fern joined the Monteverde Institute team in June 2014, and through her work in the Academic Department has been able to learn more about her primary areas of interest: ecology, education, food, writing, and sustainability.
Seidy has worked for the Monteverde Institute since 2001. During all these years she have collaborated in different departments, starting in reception, Homestay Coordinator, Accounting Assistant, and now Financial Director of the MVI.
Seidy have lived most of her life in Monteverde, she enjoys this beautiful area.
She studied Management and loves working with numbers. Seidy also likes to share with students and people from different cultures. She feels very proud to work for an institution that believes in and practices sustainable actions, this way we can leave a better off world for future generations.
Selena is head of our Center for Community Initiatives department she has lived in different countries including Austria, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Mozambique, and traveled through several others. She finished her MBA in communication and management and has a passion for participatory communication for social change.
Selena has been living in Monteverde since 2010.
Larissa was born in San José and lived most of her life between Heredia and Alajuela. Three years ago she came to Monteverde and since the end of 2016 became part of the Monteverde Institute’s family in the Human Resources Department.
She is a business administrator with training in Human Resources. Larissa enjoys studying and working with topics related to transpersonal psychology, coaching, sustainability and climate change. Since 2016, she has participated with CORCLIMA in climate change projects for Monteverde.
Luisa was born in Guatemala from “tico” parents and grew up in Venezuela. When Luisa was 17 when she came back to Costa Rica to get her college degree. Luisa studied biology at the University of Costa Rica. When she graduated she immediately worked as an assistant in a project studying howler monkey population in Guanacaste. In 1991 and 1992 Luisa worked in Monteverde as an assistant to the tropical biology and EAP-California courses. From 1991 to 1998 she worked as a professor in the ecological tourism career at the University of Costa Rica in Liberia teaching Costar Rican Fundamental Ecology and Natural History. In 1994 she made a study about the altitudinal migration of the Myadestes melanops (Black-faces Solitaire) and their relation with the abundance of fruits it feeds off of in the Atlantic side of the Cordillera de Tilarán in order to get her master’s in biology at the UCR. In 1999 Luisa came back to Monteverde to work as a Field Biologist and academic course coordinator and have been living in Monteverde ever since. From 2002 till 2012 she spent time taking care of her family. Luisa works with bird ecology and has a special interest in altitude migration. Currently she has a particular interest in researching about long term Climate Change effects in bird population in the Cloud Forest. She also coordinates the MOSI project. http://monteverde-institute-blog.org/environmental/mosi-monteverde
Mary has been a member of the Monteverde Institute staff for many years and has held many different positions. As such, she has a profound understanding of the role of MVI in the larger community. Originally from Turrialba, in the Cartago region of Costa Rica, Mary has traveled extensively in Costa Rica and has an intimate knowledge of the complexities of facilitating academic programs in such a ecologically, socially and economically diverse country. She is currently completeing her license to teach English as a second language and is a voracious reader.
Jennifer Ugalde is a student of business administration, born and raised in Monteverde. Since 2015, she has worked with foreign students who come to study and learn about the culture in Monteverde. She started at the Monteverde Institute as Community Outreach Program Coordinator in December 2017. She loves learning from students, being in contact with homestay families and enjoys being part of the MVI staff.
Jenny Peña is a Public Health Program Coordinator at MVI. She is a historian and is currently working on her master’s degree program in gender and domestic violence at the University of Costa Rica. She was born in Guanacaste, province of Costa Rica, but has been living in Monteverde for the last fourteen years.
Her work with the Monteverde Institute began with the Family Life Program 10 years ago which focused on domestic violence prevention, and public health problems. She has developed and administered a number of self-esteem training workshops for parents, women, children and youth. Most recently in the past four years, Jenny has served as a course coordinator, delivering lectures on Costa Rican culture, society, gender and women’s issues, and as a teaching assistant with the Globalization and Community Health course.
Jenny also currently coordinates field research for a project on nutrition (The Impact of Economic Change on Food Habits and Nutritional Health in Monteverde, Costa Rica: Mixing Food Production and Tourism), initiateid in partnership with the University of South Florida and funded by the National Science Foundation. The purpose of this study is to examine the way in which participation in agriculture and/or in the tourism industry affects the type, quantity, and quality of food people eat, as well as, their nutritional health.
Finally, Jenny loves to work with the community, women and children. When she first started working with feminist organizations and women’s issues 17 years ago, she made a commitment to work toward preventing violence against women and families.
Marlene Leiton Campbell started working for the Monteverde Institute in May 1995. She contributed to the development of John and Doris Campbell Library in 1999 as a Library Service Coordinator with the training help of Jean Stuckey, Librarian for the Monteverde Community Library. She currently works as a Library Service Coordinator at the Institute.
She recently completed a course at the Universidad Instituto Tecnológico de Cartago to create the database of existing materials and information at the library. She has also worked for the last three summers with volunteers from the University of Vermont and University of Syracuse to digitize hundreds of search documents for public access through MVI’s Library.
Marlene was born in Monteverde, Costa Rica. She graduated from Monteverde Friends School, which is a primary and secondary Quaker school in Monteverde. During her high school years she was a member of the library committee at the community library at the Friends School. Marlene is also certified in Wilderness Advanced First Aid.
Randy, was raised in San José and studied Geography at the University of Costa Rica. In 2014 Randy moved to Monteverde after finishing his Bachelor Degree. He is in charge of the area of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Julio is from San Ramón de Alajuela, he is a Forestry Engineer, specialized in forest management and ecological connectivity. He has worked as the coordinator of Forest Connectivity and Biodiversity in the Rio Nosara Biological Corridor. Julio is also a certified trainer of the International Analog Forestry Network and have taught courses on analog forestry to communities in different parts of Costa Rica. He has worked as a project manager for the El Toledo Agroecological Reserve Foundation, in Guanacaste, promoting social-environmental development projects at a community level.
Julio is interested in topics such as forest development, biodiversity, ecological connectivity, ecosystem restoration, carbon inventories and forest ecology.
He works for the Monteverde Institute since 2018. What he enjoys the most from the Monteverde Institute is being able to do what he loves; working for communities and the environment.
Born and raised in Santa Elena, Aníbal is “Monteverdeño” at heart. In 2004 he was awarded a 9 month scholarship from the NGO “EarthCorps” to participate in an educational program on Environmental Restoration techniques in Seattle, Washington (U.S.A.).
Aníbal is currently working towards completing his bachelor’s degree in Geography (with an emphasis on land planning) at the National University of Costa Rica. He also works collaboratively developing and organizing geographic tours and lectures for university-level students. He has been working for the Monteverde Institute in various capacities since 2003. Aníbal has worked on several research projects and coordinated various academic programs, including the University of California’s Educational Abroad Program (EAP) and the Mt. Holyoke/Goucher semester-long program.
Aníbal has also coordinated the Sustainable Futures course, which is comprised of a consortium of universities that bring students from diverse design disciplines to learn about sustainable construction and development in Costa Rica. As part of the larger Sustainable Futures Program, he is also working on two other initiatives. The Greenways and Sidewalks projects are efforts to create trails and sidewalks to improve pedestrian safety and encourage healthy behaviors and activities. The database project, while still in its pilot stage, seeks to link and integrate data from various governmental and municipal entities in order to better understand the needs of the local community.
Anibal is also a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Out of all of my formal activities I love dancing, my Latino culture, and meeting people from all over the world.
Jessie is from San José, lives in the community and has worked at the Monteverde Institute since 2015. Although she is a city lover, in Monteverde she found a place to learn about nature, community engagement, and conservation. Monteverde is an amazing living laboratory for human-nature-multicultural interactions she loves to observe and study. She is a Spanish philologist with a masters degree in Latin American Literature (fantastic literature), from the University of Costa Rica. Jessie has taught Spanish as a foreign language, Latin American Culture and Literature, and communication for ten years. Film junkie, book, cats and wine lover, her interests are gender, postcolonial studies, environmental justice, food security, urban-nature interactions, among others (politics, history, music, art, pop culture). At the Monteverde Institute she coordinates the Spanish Department, and is the academic coordinator for the Goucher & Mount Holyoke semester program. Jessie also directs the Spanish courses for the University of California Education Abroad Program (UCEAP). When she is not working she loves traveling, meeting people from all over the world, trying food and going to markets, and flânerie as much as she can.
Lilliam was born in Pérez Zeledón and has lived in Monteverde since 2004. In 2010, Lilliam started working with the Monteverde Institute teaching Spanish as a foreign language but in 2015 she joined our Human Sources Department. Now she works assisting our Academic Department. She enjoys working with people and participating in activities that promote sustainable practices.
Yadixa is a student of Business Administration with emphasis in Finance and Banking. She is originally from Tilaran but has lived in Monteverde for 12 years. She began her work at the Institute as an Accounting Assistant in November 2017, she loves numbers and nature, what better place than the Monteverde Institute to be in contact with both.
Hazel Guindon is a professional graphic artist, born and raised in Monteverde. She has worked teaching environmental education to local groups of all ages, and enjoys promoting sustainable initiatives. Hazel recently joined the Monteverde Institute team, but has been an active member of the community since her return from college in 2014.
Evelyn was born and raised in Monteverde, Costa Rica. She started her collaborations with the Monteverde Institute well before 2007 when she formally started working as its receptionist, course coordinator and later chosen to lead a new, launched program – Community Outreach Program. Interrelating more than 150 homestay families with various other Monteverde Institute’s projects and programs lead Evelyn to found, direct and sustain an innovative, acclaimed youth camp in 2012 that bridges the gap between local leadership and local youth – Campamento las Hormiguitas. The camp has proven to be a successful and long-lasting community event with its mission to “Develop healthy and educational links between Monteverde’s youth and its community members.”
Education, traveling and family are central to Evelyn’s life. She is an Earlham College graduate with an undergrad in Sociology and Anthropology. During her time in Indiana, she participated in Earlham’s first South Asia Program in 2005 where she had a chance to live in South India and Sri Lanka for four months.
Sofia Arce Flores has an undergraduate degree in Agronomic Engineering from the University of Costa Rica and a Master of Science degree from the University of Georgia (USA) in Conservation Ecology & Sustainable Development. Her Master\'s thesis included a major focus on applied Agriculture and Soil Ecology.
Currently, Sofia is one of the instructors of and coordinates the University of California Education Abroad Program at the Monteverde Institute, where students learn about tropical biology, agroecology and conservation in Costa Rica. Sofia, born and raised in San Jose, Costa Rica, is fluent in three languages and has a passion for reforestation projects and social aspects related to natural resource conservation.
Sofia is also a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Lilliam is originally from San Elena, but lives in San Luis. She has been our warm receptionist since 2013.
Leandro is from Tilarán (50 km away from Monteverde). He lives in Los Llanos and has been in charge of the technical support department for over 5 years.
Jorge comes from San Rafael (15km from Monteverde) but he currently lives in Cerro Plano. He has been working in our Maintenance & Construction Department since 2014.
Cinthya has lived all her life in San Luis. She works in our Cleaning & Kitchen Department starting in 2017.
Elieth is from Tilarán, but lives in Monteverde since 1994. She has worked for 7 years in our Cleaning & Kitchen Department.
“Rigo” as we call him, is originally from San Luis. He works with the Monteverde Institute since 2014. He is part of our reforestation program, but he also maintains our organic vegetable garden and takes care of the campus on weekends. He enjoys the working atmosphere of our institution and does the amazing gardening work around the campus.
Lorenzo has worked with the Monteverde Institute since 2015, he is origanlly from Upala but has been living in Monteverde for 27 years now. He is part of our Reforestation Program, and loves planting native trees.