Dara is an Herbalist and Geographer with a passion for native plants, public lands, and community engagement.  She is the founder and primary instructor of the Albuquerque Herbalism bioregional herbal studies program and the author of the book The Ecology of Herbal Medicine (University of New Mexico Press). She is a graduate of Dr. Tieraona Low Dog’s Foundations of Herbal Medicine Program and is currently a Geography and Environmental Studies PhD candidate focusing on plant-people relationships at New Mexico State University.  Additionally Dara has many years of fieldwork and resource management experience with the National Park Service and well as a long history of community volunteer service with the City of Albuquerque Open Space and the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program (BEMP).  She is also a former board member of the Native Plant Society Albuquerque Chapter, an instructor in UNM’s Sustainability Studies + Holistic Health + Curanderismo programs, a mother, gardener, and lover of wild places.

Kiley is an herbal student of 10 years with Albuquerque Herbalism with an ever growing love of the natural world around her. Originally born and raised in North Carolina, she grew up in the woods of the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains camping and exploring with her family. Her family inspired her to learn and know about local plants around her. Today the exploration of the plants around her continues in New Mexico as she learns and passes on knowledge to her two children and family. She currently is active in the Yerba Mansa Project as Secretary and Newsletter Editor, and has also assisted with editing Plants of the Middle Rio Grande Bosque Field Guide and Restoration Field Days.

Laura (she/her) is an educator and herbalism tinkerer. Originally from Indiana, Laura became smitten with the mountains and big skies of the west on family camping and backpacking trips. She has a BA in elementary education from Goshen College and an MA in Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies from the University of New Mexico. She is currently the field trip coordinator and one of the elementary educators for the Yerba Mansa Project. She loves getting to watch kids explore, play, and deepen their connection to the Bosque.

Cyndi is a Mother, Bilingual Educator, Environmentalist, Artist, Dancer, Musician, and Practitioner of Folk Medicine and Herbalism. She specializes in Art and Nature, and connecting to Nature. “We are not here to master the Earth.  We are here to belong in community with all of Nature and receive the abundant blessings Earth provides for us, in gratitude.  We are honored to be caretakers of the Animal and Vegetal and Mineral “Kingdoms”, in turn, they care for us and our lives are enriched with Beauty”.  Cyndi is our current Care Coordinator for the restoration project in the south Tingley wildlife pond areas.  Shrubs making a comeback are Currant, Wolfberry, Hackberry and False Indigo which provide forage for our local riparian habitat community. “It is rewarding to grow alongside our Rio Grande and witness success in our efforts at restoring from human impacts and rewilding our urban river forest, for the health and benefit of all”.  Cyndi has been hand carrying water to new plantings for the past two years and monitoring the health and self-sustainability of them over time.

Toni Gentilli is an artist, anthropologist, and curator who is passionate about community land tending, and teaching ethnobotany, ecology, and place-based art in the bosque. She has a BA in Anthropology and Art History, an MA in Museum Studies, and an MFA in Photography. From 2000–2010, Toni was an Archaeologist and Cultural Resources Project Director for an environmental planning firm in Arizona. From 2016–2021, she was the Residency Director at the Santa Fe Art Institute where she curated exhibitions and public programs engaging a variety of social and environmental justice issues. Presently, Toni is Curator of Exhibits at the UNM Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. Outside work, Toni enjoys foraging and lovingly cultivating botanicals that she transforms into pigments, hydrosols, incense, weavings, paintings, and camera-less photographs. Through this intuitive process of creative exploration that bridges art, science and embodied knowing, Toni celebrates the entanglement of plant and human wellbeing.

iusti (they/them/elle) is a body work practitioner born and raised here in Southern Tiwa territory. they have studied healing work over the last decade, including amateur herbalism and medicine making. iusti is also involved in various community organizations, aware of the need for environmental, racial, and healing justice as the foundation for shifting our relationship to the places we inhabit. they have a love for mountains, rivers, and newly sprouting plants. 

Liz Gallagher (they/them) grew up surrounded by creosote on Mescalero Apache lands (Alamogordo, NM). Following their interest in the living world, concern about climate change, and desire to bridge the human-nature divide created by capitalist, settler-colonial systems, they received a B.S. in Biology and an M.A. in Sustainable Communities. They’ve lived in Southern Tiwa lands since 2017, where they first took a deep dive into the bosque with BEMP and Valle de Oro NWR. Since then, they have grown to love the bosque and the river even more, and they are happiest when they are learning and sharing about these amazing ecosystems with others. In their spare time, they go on walks in the bosque (go figure), spend time with friends, family, and community, and cry a lot (it’s a good thing).

Retired after 40 years in the local workforce. 

I am excited to join the Yerba Mansa Project to contribute toward the reintroduction of native plants and shrubs to the Rio Grande Ecosystem.

Hello there, my name is Myrna Ramos. I was born right here in New Mexico, momma bear of one cub. Background is in film and digital media though currently getting a degree in Environmental Science. Most of my digital work has been around conservation/wildlife  and business. I am a lover of the land and here to be its helping hand. I will be working on content creation/ social media and assisting with events. 

Bio coming soon…

Admin Team:

Dara Saville: President, Director

Kiley Spurlock: Secretary, Admin Coordinator, Newsletter Editor

Paula Worley: Treasurer

Terri Tucker: Grant Writing Coordinator

Myrna Ramos: Administrative Support

Aurora Craig-McBride: Community Outreach

Sharon Hagaman: Community Outreach

Field Staff:

Cyndi Bemis: Restoration Site Caretaker, Team Coordinator

Remy Gutierrez: Restoration Site Caretaker

Rachel Nelson: Restoration Site Caretaker

Eli Cone: Restoration Site Caretaker

Educators:

Laura Shank: Education Program Coordinator, Elementary Education Specialist

Toni Gentilli: K-12 Educator

iusti remer-thamert: K-12 Educator

Liz Gallagher: K-12 Educator

GIS (Data Collection & Mapping):

Rick Altenberg: GIS Team Coordinator

Video & Photography:

Amari Becker