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Author: Luisa Vargas

Finding my true calling

por Sebastian Moreno

My parents were born in Colombia and moved to the United States when they were teenagers. Because they had me in their early 20s, they had to grow up incredibly fast. I was born New York City and when I was 12, my parents decided it was more affordable to live in a house in Pennsylvania than cram four people in a one-bedroom apartment in the city. Growing up in a city and moving to the woods was a big change for me. I didn’t really appreciate living in the middle of a forest. I did spend a lot of my time in the backyard, but never exploring the four miles of uninterrupted forest behind our house. It was only when I reached high school that I began exploring the outdoors with my friends

After high school, I went to college to pursue a degree in pharmacy. Honestly, how I decided to pursue a career in pharmacy is still a mystery. Looking back, I think I chose that career because, as a pharmacist, I would be helping people, which is something I have always enjoyed. Also, I was pretty excited that I would be making a lot of money one day. What 18-year-old doesn’t love that idea?

“While I was on my hikes, I found myself asking all these how and why questions pertaining to nature.”

Sebastian Moreno

Pharmacy school sucked for me. I felt like I didn’t fit in with my peers and the classes were a total drag. I sabotaged my grade by not studying and putting in the effort to do well in classes. Due to my poor academic standing, I was kicked out of the pharmacy program. I found myself without any real direction and not quite sure what I wanted to do with life. I found solace being outside. I took this time to clear my head and think about what my next steps were going to be.

While I was on my hikes, I found myself asking all these how and why questions pertaining to nature. This piqued my interest and after talking to a few professors in the biology department, they suggested I take a population and evolutionary biology course. I really wasn’t sure what I would be learning but I figured what was the worst that could happen?

I loved the course, my peers, and my professors! Everything I was learning made sense to me. I was engaged in the classroom and my grades were significantly improving. My professors saw the eagerness in me, and I was presented with ecological research opportunities. First, I worked in a lab looking at squirrels and acorn dispersal. Although it was fun and interesting, I really wasn’t interested in working with small mammals. I then started working in a lab that studied birds. There, I learned valuable field work techniques and basic ecological concepts.

“My thesis looked at how large concentrations of urban vacant lots in St. Louis impact bird diversity. While working in this city, I was exposed to more than just birds.”

Sebastian Moreno

From my time in this lab, I knew I loved ecology and birds. But that was about it. I wasn’t quite sure where I saw myself working nor did I feel like I had enough experience to find a decent job. Graduate school seemed like a good way to continue improving my knowledge, skills, and narrowing my interests. I decided to pursue a master’s degree. My thesis looked at how large concentrations of urban vacant lots in St. Louis impact bird diversity. While working in this city, I was exposed to more than just birds. I got a first-hand experience of social and environmental injustices. This opened my eyes to a whole new world of ecology I was not familiar with. Although it was a bit too late to change my thesis, I knew my next chapter in life would incorporate these new interests. Again, with my newly found interests, I felt like I didn’t have enough experience to qualify for the jobs I was interested in. So back to school it was for me! Currently, I am pursuing a PhD. My goal is to mix my interests of birds, people, urban areas, and ecology together to create a project. While conducting my research, I also want to serve urban communities by connecting them with nature and empowering them to create positive changes within their community.

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Sebastian Moreno is a second year PhD student at the University of Massachusetts. He is interested in the intersection between wildlife and people. Sebastian‘s research looks to improve on the community science experience and lower the barriers that may prevent underrepresented individuals from participating in such programs. When he is not working on his dissertation, Sebastian is outside hiking, birding, or practicing falconry with his American Kestrel.

Lifelong Connection

por Cristina Gamboa

I was born and raised in the Central Valley of CA (close to eastern side of the Sequoia national park). My earliest and fondest memories of being outdoors are camping with my family every summer for as long as I can remember. If I imagine hard enough, I can still smell my mom making homemade tortillas at 5am in the morning to make papas and huevo taquitos for us to take on the road before we headed off in a VERY packed car. I come from very humble beings and we were not able to travel as many families do over the holidays and summer months. To be honest, I didn’t really know that was a thing until I was older. For our family, I could always count on our weeklong camping trip in the summer to Lake Nacimiento. It was filled with mischief between my brothers and I and simple good fun as a family.

As I got older, being outdoors and taking on adventure has meant different things for me. While in college and in graduate school, being outdoors was an inexpensive way to continue to see the world around me. It has allowed me to make some amazing friends, see some amazing places, and I loved to feel like I was taking my family with me by sending them postcards from my travels. After hearing of my trips my mom would (and still does) respond with “aye mija, que bonita”. I felt proud to show them the places I was going.

“The majority (90%) of my patients are Latinx and many farmworkers. It is hard for them to find time to be outdoors for leisure. After a long day working in the fields the last thing they can imagine doing is being outdoors “for fun”.

Now, as a physician being outdoors has become a necessary means to decompressing. I like to think of it as my place to recharge and hiking as my moving meditation. Of course, my to do lists creep into my head but mostly I am able to appreciate the beauty around me and return to work refreshed to care for my patients.

Currently my husband and I are in Utah. He’s remote teaching and I’ve been getting into solo mischief in the Slot Canyons for Escalante Grand Staircase and doing day hikes in Bryce NP.

There are so many health benefits to being outdoors. I practice in Watsonville, CA as a Women’s Health physician. Obesity is on the rise in young women and Latinx community in general. I routinely encourage my patients to be more active. The majority (90%) of my patients are Latinx and many farmworkers. It is hard for them to find time to be outdoors for leisure. After a long day working in the fields the last thing they can imagine doing is being outdoors “for fun”. But I encourage them to do what they can and find a housemate to go for a walk with and catch up.

Connecting the Generations

por Marilyn López

I often think about my family trips to Guanajuato, Mexico. Growing up, my parents, younger brother, and I would make the 16-hour drive from Houston every summer to spend time with my paternal grandparents, aunt, and uncle.

We traversed las sierras de Tamaulipas into the low mountain ranges of San Luis Potosi until finally reaching the distinct clay brick and concrete houses del Cerro Gordo, Guanajuato.

This is where I learned to play in the dirt, developed a taste for nopales, and realized that different types of maíz existed (or as the saying goes, “sin maíz, no hay país”). My fondest memories include going grocery shopping with our colorful bolsas de mercado and stopping by la paletería y nevería afterward for a quick indulgence. Back en el rancho, I would help my tía y abuelita wash clothes outside by hand using la tabla, and then hang them up to dry. We would tend to the chickens, horses, and goats with the utmost love and care. Food never went to waste, and water was used wisely. I became aware of the human-nature relationship and our profound responsibility to preserving our environment.

These early childhood experiences in connection with physical and human geography, which were critical to my understanding of the self and the world around me, are only but recuerdos now. It has been 20 years since I last visited my second home. I’m now left to figure out: how do I build a connection for my 3-year-old daughter to the outdoors y con sus raíces mexicanas, when we live more than 2,500 miles away from family and nuestra Madre Patria?

“This is where I learned to play in the dirt, developed a taste for nopales, and realized that different types of maíz existed”

Marilyn López

As a second-generation Tejana through my mother, but first-generation Mexican American through my father, my Chicana identity was formed by way of having what Gloria Anzaldúa calls a “forked tongue” (the ability to speak Spanish and English), through the practice of cultural Catholicism, being raised in a predominantly Latino community, Tejano home cooking, and Mexican images and symbols plastered throughout our home. Thus my identity and resilience were so exquisitely preserved I never had a reason to question it, but for my daughter, who was born and is being raised in the Pacific Northwest, how do I build that same foundation? Because to me culture and nature are intertwined.

Our family’s journey in reconnecting with the outdoors and bridging that cultural and spiritual gap began by first recognizing that Latinxs remain significantly underrepresented in outdoor participation and the environmental movement’s leadership. Not to mention a report published by the Center for American Progress states that “people of color, families with children, and low-income communities are most likely to be deprived of the benefits that nature provides” (July 2020). With this in mind, my husband and I sought out local Seattle organizations and public events focused on connecting Latinx youth and their families to engaging and meaningful experiences in nature. The only ones we found intent on creating access and opportunity to these particular spaces were Latino Outdoors and Washington Trails Association (in partnership with LO).

“Our family’s journey in reconnecting with the outdoors and bridging that cultural and spiritual gap began by first recognizing that Latinxs remain significantly underrepresented in outdoor participation and the environmental movement’s leadership”.

Marilyn López

As a result of Washington’s COVID-19 social distancing measures, we’ve ventured outside more than usual. From bicycle rides in North Bend to camping in Olympia to trail hikes in Anacortes, my husband and I have been intentional about providing our daughter with rich opportunities to explore the outdoors. Children are already natural explorers, so our goal is to integrate nature and outdoor play into our daily lives. Since playgrounds have been temporarily closed, we started going on bicycle rides around our neighborhood in the evenings and going on family-friendly trail hikes on weekends. I started running regularly, and now my daughter enjoys running alongside me too.


Back in May, the Hispanic Access Foundation (HAF) released its 2nd Annual Congressional Toolkit and policy recommendations, where it noted that “recent polls have shown that Latinos care deeply about the environment, a sentiment that is rooted in a culture and history of taking care of the land for future generations.” As reflected in my own experiences, environmental stewardship and conservation are ingrained en nuestra cultura. For now, I want my daughter to grab puños de tierra, breathe in the reassuring smell of fresh pine, and engage in curious play, but ultimately, I hope to raise my daughter to be an environmental justice chingona who will embrace her abuelita knowledge and view the disruption of settler colonialism as a moral obligation.