Our Team
We are five members who represent Puerto Rico, Colombia, Argentina, Costa Rica and the United States.
Tania Goicoechea
Environmental Educator, Costa Rica.
ania Goicoechea (she/her) is an environmental educator, born and raised in Costa Rica. Since childhood she’s had a fascination for understanding how the world around her works and what her role in this intricate system is. Her first love was astronomy and space; she even pursued a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with the hopes of becoming an astronaut. But when she finished her B.S., she decided to do a 180 to focus on learning about the planet we live in and contribute to our collective battle against climate change. Her personal experiences informed her choice to use education as her preferred means to influence her surroundings and contribute to her communities. In 2012, she traveled to New York City to pursue a Master’s Degree in Environmental Conservation Education at NYU. For the next eight years, she worked with audiences of K-12 students, teachers and other educators on a myriad of urban environmental education projects. Her experience as the program manager for the NYU Wallerstein for Urban Environmental Education and Sustainability gave her the opportunity to sharpen her skills as an educator and a leader in this field. She hopes to continue her work by helping to create a two-way street between her two worlds; New York City and Costa Rica — and on a bigger scale the U.S. and Latin America.
Geovani Caldero
Environmental Educator, Puerto Rico.
Geovani Caldero (He/him) is an Environmental Educator and a Solar Workforce Instructor born and raised in Puerto Rico. His motivation to work in the solar industry started while working at Solar One, a non-profit organization based in New York City. With more than 3 years of experience as Environmental Educator and Instructor, he has designed, developed, and implemented a variety of educational programs. His motivation consists of providing life changing skills and opportunities to under employed or unemployed individuals from underrepresented communities. Geovani is the co-founder of CLEA and holds a Bachelor's degree in Secondary Education with a major in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras, and a Master degree in Environmental Conservation Education from New York University.
Bruno Estrada
Environmental Educator, Nueva York.
Bruno Estrada is a Queens, New York native with Latino roots using he/his/him/they/their pronouns. He is currently a Bilingual Environmental Educator working for a NYC based non-profit focusing on educating the next generation of new yorkers on sustainability and what that means in the urban context. He wasn’t always passionate about sustainability or climate science, but in 2014 that changed after arriving in the Dominican Republic to be sworn in as a Healthy Communities (HC) Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV). As a PCV he found a passion for sustainability. Since his time in the Peace Corps he has continued to explore his passion for climate science, sustainability and education. Working in a non-governmental organization and he supported health sciences and infrastructure specifically around potable water. He continued to learn from his travels in South America exploring his roots and learning from permaculture experts, indigenous activists and community historians. He is one of the founders of Coalición Latina de Educadores Ambientales (CLEA, Coalition for Latinx Environmental Educators) where we hope to support formal and informal educators with resources for environmental education in Spanish. Bruno believes that culturally responsive and equitable STEAM education is essential for a more sustainable future.
Mónica Rivera Rosado
Environmental Educator, Puerto Rico.
Born in Puerto Rico, Mónica (She/her) was raised to have great love for her country. Close to completing her undergraduate studies at home, she found her way to a local youth grassroots leadership program that helped her discover another one of her passions: teaching. After 4 summers volunteering at this program, Mónica went abroad to pursue graduate studies in Environmental Education at New York University. She has enjoyed engaging youth in hands-on, experiential learning on topics such as climate change, ecology, and environmental justice, as well as identity, privilege, and leadership development. After graduating, Mónica moved back to Puerto Rico, ready to support historically marginalized communities in their fights for social and environmental justice. Bringing her passions for country, youth, and teaching together, Mónica currently works as an educator with a local nonprofit.
Santiago Florez
Environmental Educator, Colombia.
Santiago (He/him) was born in Colombia. He is an anthropologist and MA in Environmental Conservation Education. He has worked as an educator in schools in Bogota and New York. He has worked in different non profit organizations and most recently in the American Museum of Natural History. He also served as Science Educator at CityScience where he created and taught content from gardening to birdwatching for populations living in homeless shelters. Received Award for Environmental Services from New York University in 2016. Nominated for 2016 Office of Global Studies Student Leadership award at New York University. He is a passionate birdwatcher and has written articles for Audubon magazine and other publications, his work can be found in his Instagram account @bacata_natural