Maria Trevino, Community Planning Fellow

Maria Trevino is a Community Planning Fellow in New Mexico. She focuses on building a community network of state environmental educators, engaging partners with projects that address youth in stewardship. She also strategizes outreach efforts and community event planning, along with working on site plans for local greenway systems.

Courtesy of Maria Trevino

What is your first or favorite memory with being outdoors?
I had a front yard growing up in Juarez, Mexico where I would spend hours in my garden and at a nearby park finding ladybugs, not recreating but landscaping. Landscaping to me is understanding how plants, water, land, earth, soil, and sun, work together while taking into account components of the environment that produces life to regenerate itself.

What inspired you to take on this fellowship?
While studying for my Masters in Environmental Building Design, I took a land conservation course where we learned about birding, sustainable agriculture, and other land conservation topics. I became interested in conservation and I wanted to get exposed to environmental planning.

How does your cultural heritage impact the work you do?
I’m from El Paso, Texas and I have a project that is in Texas, so I am pretty much working in my own community. I feel more connected to my roots and being able to apply my knowledge into the community that I grew up in. Using cultural identities and events from my background and implementing them into the community, is a gateway to connect with the community and projects.

What do you hope to do after this fellowship? Do you want to remain an environmental steward?
Yes! I really like working for the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program. I’ve been exposed to working learning in a multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach. This method is important when your work is focused on environmental or community planning and it is something I would like to continue doing.