We’d love to meet you in person, and welcome you to Paraguay. Before that happens, take a few minutes to get to know us.
Our team in Pilar
Dr Rebecca Smith
executive director
Becca obtained her undergraduate degree in Zoology from the University of Edinburgh, her Masters at Roehampton University and her PhD in Conservation Science from the University of Aberdeen. She has previously worked with captive and wild primates in Namibia, Panama and Puerto Rico. She studied the hooded capuchins of Laguna Blanca and has published several papers on their behaviour. She has presented her research at conferences in Asuncion, Chicago, Nairobi and Durham. She is a National Geographic Explorer and received the Lawrence Jacobsen Education Development Award from the International Primatological Society. She is currently studying Capuchin monkeys in San Rafael National Park, and the urban Howler monkeys of Pilar.
Jorge Ayala Santacruz
Education Coordinator
Jorge grew up in rural Paraguay close to Rancho Laguna Blanca. He joined Para La Tierra in 2010 as a forest guard after completing his forest guard training with Fundación Moisés Bertoni. In 2013, he started working with our environmental education programme and co-founded Voces de la Naturaleza in 2015. In 2016, he travelled to Mexico for training in participatory environmental education with HUNAB and received the Charles Southwick Conservation Education Commitment Award in 2019. In 2023, he participated in the International Visitors’ Leadership Program on Volunteerism and Civic Action.
Jorge is in charge of our Eco-Leadership for Sustainable Development Program and provides training in environmental education for the Peace Corps Paraguay. He’s also leading our research and conservation projects with the endemic Pilar tuco-tuco.
Natalie Brimson
deputy director
Natalie achieved a BSc Econ in sociology from Cardiff University in 2005, followed by a PGDip in advertising in 2007. She then pursued a 15-year project management career within marketing, product development, and financial roles. In her spare time, she volunteered with several UK conservation charities that saw her survey hedgehog and butterfly populations in London’s Royal Parks, monitor water quality across the city’s rivers, and deliver nature-based education to under 18s. In 2022, Natalie quit her corporate career to pursue her passion for nature. After three months in the Peruvian Amazon, studying butterfly host plant usage, she embarked on an MSc in wildlife conservation at UWE Bristol. In 2023, her thesis led her back to the Americas to investigate the breeding preferences of a critically endangered Costa Rican tree frog.
Matthew Owen
Intern and Research Superviser
Matthew obtained his MSci in Zoology from the University of Exeter. While there, he enjoyed taking classes in wildlife disease and primatology. This led to the development of his internship project here at Para la Tierra, studying the rates of parasitism in the black-and-gold howler monkeys across a range of anthropogenically disturbed field sites, which he has developed further while working here. He enjoys fieldwork, where he gained plenty of experience during his time in Sumatra studying wild orang-utans, and lab work, where he spent most of his time during his final year at University.
In addition to studying parasite rates in howlers, Matthew also supervises our interns’ research projects.
Nicole Stepan
Museum curator
Nicole is an American biologist who received her BSc. in ecology and evolution from Minnesota State University and has been impassioned with conservation of invertebrates ever since. In 2020, she participated in a state-wide survey of pollinators across the tall grass prairie of North Dakota. After graduation, she travelled to Utah to track and tag monarch butterflies during their migration west. In late 2022, she conducted a 3-month survey of butterflies of Ñeembucú through Para La Tierra, followed by a 2-month internship with our entomology collection. She joined us as museum curator and taxonomist in mid 2023.
As museum curator, Nicole will create display quality specimens for the collection and increase knowledge of the biodiversity found in Paraguay.
Mikel Redin Hurtado
INTERN AND RESEARCH SUPERVISeR
Mikel obtained his BSc. in Biology at the University of Navarra (Spain) and continued with his MSc. in applied ethology at Linköping University (Sweden), where he specialised in primatology. For his thesis, he investigated the taste responsiveness to sugars in white-faced sakis and extended his research with rhesus macaques at the IFM. His studies have pushed him to work with several neotropical primate species both in field-research and ex-situ conservation centres in Costa Rica and Spain.
Mikel is supervising our interns’ research projects and conducting social behaviour studies which could be applicable to primate conservation.
Rocio Moreno
COCINERA
Rocio was born and grew up in Huamitá, a small village about an hour from Pilar. She moved to Pilar when she was 16 for school and work. Rocio has been part of our team since Para La Tierra moved to Pilar in 2017. She takes care of the house and the culinary well-being of our staff and interns. Next to her job, Rocio has been studying to finish her ‘Bachillerato’ in basic sciences.
Delia Duarte
COCINERA
Delia is from Guazu-cua’, a small rural community around 40 km east of Pilar, and moved to Pilar in 2015 for her studies and work. She holds a degree in educational sciences from the University of Pilar. Delia joined Para La Tierra in February 2022, and has been taking care of the house and cooking together with Rocio since then.
Board of directors
Paul Smith
President
Paul obtained his undergraduate degree at University of Liverpool and his Masters at University of Southampton. He has been studying the fauna of Paraguay since 2003. He founded the online community faunaparaguay.com and has published over 100 articles on Paraguayan wildlife. He is a Board member of the conservation organisation Fundacíon Para La Tierra and is actively involved in inventory projects all over Paraguay. He is categorised as a Level 2 Investigator by PRONII/CONACYT.
Joseph Sarvary
board member
Joe obtained his undergraduate degree in Biology from Tufts University in Massachusetts. He spent a semester studying in Buenos Aires, where he learned to speak Spanish and was Para La Tierra’s first intern in 2010. He is a Rufford Foundation Small Grants for Conservation recipient (2012) for his project studying the ‘Ecology of the Endangered White-winged Nightjar’. Joe is also a ‘One Young World’ ambassador (2017) presenting his project ‘Voces de la Naturaleza’ at the global conference in Bogotá, and a 2018 North American Association for Environmental Education 30 under 30 awardee for his work in developing the programme for children in Paraguay..
Karina Atkinson
board member
Karina obtained her undergraduate degree from University of Glasgow, and Masters from Miami University. She is a Rolex Awards for Enterprise winner (2012), Young Alumnus of the Year (2013, University of Glasgow), Global Conservation Fellow (2015, Miami University) TEDx University of Glasgow Fellow (2016), and Woman of the Year (2017, Valle de Aosta). She is the co-founder of Para La Tierra, running projects and field stations in multiple locations in Paraguay. She has published widely, mostly in the field of herpetology, and is actively involved in science, conservation and education projects. She is categorised as a Level 1 Investigator by PRONII/CONACyT.
Adam Betuel
Board Member
Adam has a BS in zoology from Ohio State University and studied the White-throated Sparrow while a graduate student at Indiana State University. He has conducted avian field research across the eastern United States and Paraguay. In 2015, Adam became the first conservation director for Atlanta Audubon. Adam is also the president of Teal Birding Tours. He has been published multiple times, served as a journal reviewer, has led birding tours across the United States and internationally, and loves connecting people to nature through the lens of birds.
Sergio Lahaye
board member
Sergio has a keen interest in data, renewable energy and sustainability models. With a background in hospitality management, he has 20 years’ experience in sourcing and developing business relationships. Sergio has a proven track record in leadership and team building, with an emphasis on sales and marketing strategy. He’s a lover of good food and good beer.
