ALVARO SANTORO
Universidad del Salvador, B.S., Environmental Sciences

While finishing his studies, Alvaro spent three years working on underground water and soil hydrocarbon remediation all around Argentina, his home country. As a result, he was able to help marginalized communities have clean water and healthy soil. After graduation, Alvaro joined the environmental affairs department at Toyota Argentina and traveled to Japan to become certified in Environmental Management and Communication. Upon his return, Alvaro participated in the implementation of a recycling system for the community; he spent two years training students of all ages about good environmental practices and sorting and revaluing their waste. Later on, Alvaro focused on the construction of green roof gardens and built his first thousand-square-foot roof garden at Toyota as a project to reduce the impact of the industry and as a green space for the community to enjoy and learn about gardening. This project encouraged him to move to Melbourne, Australia, for a year to continue learning about this practice. While in Australia he spent time traveling, snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, and climbing vertical walls in The Grampians National Park. Alvaro moved to the U.S. four years ago and became an Environmental Science Outdoor Educator. Today he works in a national park in California, minutes away from San Francisco, teaching marine biology, geology, and cultural history, among other subjects, to middle and high school students while hiking and having meaningful and empowering outdoor experiences. He is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese.

LEAH ROGSTAD
University of Vermont, B.A., Global Studies, minor in Spanish

While studying at the University of Vermont, Leah explored the complex relations between the U.S. and various Latin American countries, and she now loves bringing that learning to her students in the Spanish classroom. Through her time traveling and almost two years of living abroad, she has studied social anthropology in Mexico, worked at a Spanish immersion camp for high school students, taught English in Peru, directed an art camp, worked at a honey farm in Tuscany, and walked the 500-mile Camino de Santiago across Spain. She spends much of her spare time training for marathons, drawing and painting, hiking mountains, and learning French and Portuguese. Leah currently teaches Spanish at the Webb Schools of California, and this fall, she will move to Los Angeles to begin teaching Spanish at the Episcopal School of Los Angeles. Leah has led Community Service Peru and Middle School Costa Rica. She is fluent in Spanish and is learning French and Portuguese.