Rivers & Birds is excited to welcome an Executive Director team!
After 25 years as the Executive Director, Roberta’s time with Rivers & Birds has been a wonderful journey and it is time to pass the leadership baton.
Gwendoly Pieper and Leo Levy are our next generation of leadership starting in November of 2024.
Outgoing Director / Founder
Roberta Salazar
Passion for her cultural roots and natural heritage in New Mexico, combined with a professional understanding of nature, inspired Roberta to found Rivers & Birds 25 years ago , afte her 17-year career as a wildlife biologist for the federal government.
"Celebrating Earth with others through outdoor experiences in nature, we honor life in a way that is joyful, meaningful, and connects to the spirit of all life. Teaching the interconnection of living systems is key to sustainability.”
Co-Executive Director
Gwendolyn Pieper
Gwendolyn was raised on a farm in Arroyo Seco. Growing up at the base of the Sangre de Cristos she came to love the mountains, rivers, and diverse landscapes of northern New Mexico. Her dad, an acequia commissioner, showed her how acequias maintain both land and culture, while her mom taught her about local flora and fauna–lessons that enriched her understanding of ecology and sense of place. As a former Rivers & Birds’ student Gwendolyn helped to plant cottonwoods along the Rio Grande. She enjoys visiting those trees now and sitting beneath their shade.
After graduating from Taos High, Gwendolyn completed a Bachelor’s from Cornell University and a Master’s from the University of Hohenheim in ecology. On school breaks, she returned home to work as raft guide and ski coach for Taos Winter Sports Team. Gwendolyn loves working with kids and teaching them about ecology and environmental stewardship in the best classroom available—the outdoors!
“Learning about the place I’m from has allowed me to care more deeply about protecting it. Through Rivers & Birds, I look forward to providing students with experiences to learn about, explore, and care for their home and participate in the vibrant traditions of Earth stewardship in Northern New Mexico.”
Co-Executive Director
Leo Levy
Leo grew up exploring the dappled woodlands of Southeastern Pennsylvania. The love he learned for the natural world inspired him to keep on exploring, bringing him on adventures from the northern reaches of Quebec to the high mountains and lush rainforests of his father’s homeland in Ecuador. That love has also kept him coming back to Northern New Mexico, where he has found a second home rich in beauty, history, and culture.
Coming from a household where English, Spanish, and German were spoken, having lived in dense cities and sparse countryside, Leo is practiced at communicating across and within cultures. He has developed those skills through a Bachelors in Multimedia Storytelling from Cornell University and a Masters in Sustainable Design and Visual Communication from the ecosign Academy of Design in Cologne, Germany.
“Working with Rivers & Birds, I hope to find common ground through imaginative storytelling, helping us address issues that impact us all: the strength of our communities and the integrity of our environment.”
Graphic Designer / Illustration
Jesse Furr
As a young person raised in Taos County, Jesse is thrilled to help show our community all of the great work Rivers & Birds does through graphic design and illustration. Jesse has helped to enhance Rivers & Birds’ class workbooks in order to ensure that the next generation of Earth Stewards has engaging learning materials for years to come. He also illustrated a fun series of animal stickers that we are thrilled to be able to share with everyone.
"Being a student in Rivers & Birds’ Watershed Learning Project at the end of elementary school really opened my eyes to how people and public lands interact in powerful, positive ways."