STAFF
Station managers, Lovett School faculty and staff, and members of the Ruiz family all work together to make visits to Siempre Verde informative, safe, interesting, and fun.
Alex Reynolds has been the executive director of Siempre Verde since July 2007. Prior to joining Lovett, Alex worked for the National park Service as a staff biologist on the Chattahoochee River and worked for the Atlanta Botanical Garden assisting with their plant collections in the Tropical Conservatory and the Fuqua Orchid Center, as well as serving as their international intern in Ecuador. He is a graduate of the Institute of Ecology at the University of Georgia with a BS in ecology and MS in conservation ecology. During his graduate thesis work, he studied orchids and their pollinators at the Maquipucuna Reserve and surrounding areas in Ecuador, and published an accompanying field guide to the area. Alex is an avid hiker and bicyclist, having both thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail and biked across the United States.
Diane Staats (station manager, 2013-14) graduated from Kenyon College with a history degree. She taught English in Quito, Ecuador in 2010 at Escuela "Raices" and Lima, Peru in 2011 through a Fulbright Teaching Grant. After finishing her summer work at Siempre Verde, Diane volunteered with Mary Ellen Fiewieger through November 2013 and then began teaching Spanish in Lovett's Upper School.
Sylvia Seger is a specialist in the education and application of ecological field study techniques and tropical conservation. She served as director of the Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation program for the School for International Training (SIT) and then as faculty with The Travelling School in South Africa in 2013. In addition, she has extensive field experience in ornithology, ethnobotany, and entomology. She was responsible for compiling and mapping the endangered species habitat range data in Ecuador’s Mindo Important Bird Area as part of the OCP oil pipeline dispute. She also recently published three online photo field guides on the Field Museum website, two on hummingbirds (Pichincha and Santo Domingo), one on primates (Orellana), and two more on bats (Costa Rica). She is currently working on her doctoral research in the Intag region with the Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar Ecuador.
Nelson and Mari Ruiz are the on-site caretakers of Siempre Verde. Nelson is from Santa Rosa. He is the son of former owner of the property now known as Siempre Verde. He has vast knowledge of the forest due to years of experience in that region. Nelson is an expert dealing with horses as well as construction, including alternative materials, such as bamboo. Mari is from Plaza Gutierez, the oldest town in the Intag--more than 100 years old. Mari heads up food services at Siempre Verde. She is an expert chef and arguably the best in Santa Rosa. Nelson and Mari have three sons: Junior, Edwin, and Jefry.
