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Current Students
Second Year Students
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Seth Andrew Marsala-Bell Home town: Shirley, New York and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Education: B.A., Anthropology with a duel minor in Business Administration and Entrepreneurship, University of Florida Experience: In Costa Rica, Seth helped with a community development project on a self-sustained coffee farm created and managed by the local women. He has been very involved with community events. While an undergraduate, he was a member of Campus Diplomats and helped organize family weekend here at UF. He is a member of a March of Dimes Committee and currently works at Info Tech, Inc. Interests: Governance, Land Management, Sustainable Practices, Preservation of Native Civilizations Cultures and Reintroduction, Diminishing the Wealth Gap, Education, Ideology and Symbolism, Resource Management, Community Development, Micro-Finance, and creating equality on all levels. |
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Hans Goertz Home town: Tucson, Arizona Education: B.A., International Relations, Lewis & Clark College Experience: Hans served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mozambique, where he taught English, art and IT classes to secondary students. He was also involved in an agricultural extension project, setting up several model permaculture gardens. After returning from the Peace Corps, Hans worked for the International Organization for Migration in Haiti - first in the post-earthquake capital of Port-au-Prince, and then in a regional office in Les Cayes. During his tenure in Haiti, he worked on a wide range of activities, including community infrastructure development, watershed management, shelter construction, cholera prevention and hurricane preparedness and relief. Interests: Environmental education, natural resource management, sustainable agriculture |
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Raina Zantout Home town: Arlington, Texas Education: B.A., History with minors in Arabic and International Development, University of Florida Experience: Raina acquired global awareness at a young age due to her multi-ethnic background. She has traveled to, lived, volunteered, and studied in the Caribbean, Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and Asia. During the summer of 2010, she volunteered for an NGO in India, creating an internship program to fuel the NGO's self sustainability. She speaks French and Haitian Creole fluently and is currently continuing her study of Modern Standard Arabic. Interests: Education, children, agriculture, infrastructure, water, and health and hygiene |
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Antonia Lliteras Espinosa Home town: Artà, Spain Education: B.A., Political Science and English with minors in Economics and International Studies, Luther College. Experience: During her undergrad years, Antonia was very interested in international affairs, thus she took part in the Model United Nations club for three years. Furthermore, she volunteered in León, Nicaragua, where she worked with preschoolers in poor communities. After the Earthquake in Haiti, Antonia helped start a relief group on campus that raised over $17,000 and later participated in the writing, fundraising and implementation of a project for women in Haiti in cooperation with RARA bags. Antonia interned with the Fons Mallorquí de Solidaritat I Cooperació in Spain, where she helped supervise cooperation projects in Latin-America. She also had an internship with UNICEF Spain, where she looked at some development projects in Cuba and the Dominican Republic and helped write fundraising proposals for this organization, among other things. Interests: Development of women and children, social entrepreneurship, literacy, sex trafficking, holistic development, women’s rights, rights of the child, development project management, international cooperation. |
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Daniel Stirling Home town: Saint Louis, Missouri Education: B.A., English Education and Literature/Philosophy. Southeast Missouri State University. Experience: Dan has worked with organic framers throughout the world including family farm rice production in Central Japan, Fruit and holistic herb crops in Western Thailand and permaculture coffee farming in Costa Rica. Domestically, he worked with an eco-tourism firm that guided trips to Mount Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua and implemented a Sherpas scholarship fund. He has been involved recently with migrant worker education and labor relations in the wine-growing region of Northern California. Interests: Permaculture, education, eco-tourism, Randomly controlled trails in aid resource, micro finance, worker rights and health possibilities of genetically modified crops |
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Gentry E. Mander Home town: Dade City, Florida Education: B.A., International Studies and Spanish minor: Latin American Studies, Stetson University; J.D. Candidate: University of Florida Experience: As an undergrad, Gentry worked for the Amazon Alliance in Washington, DC as an intern with research focused on REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) initiatives made by the World Bank. During the summer of 2012, Gentry was a legal extern for the Secretariat for Environmental Matters of CAFTA-DR in Guatemala City. Also during the summer of 2012, Gentry studied rice production and watershed management practices while in Costa Rica. Interests: Sustainable water use and conservation, Economic incentives for sustainable initiatives, tropical epidemiology. |
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Ralston C. Reodica Home town: Palm Coast, Florida Education: B.A., Business Administration, University of Florida Experience: After graduation Ralston served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Fiji, where he spent two years as an ICT instructor at Dreketi High School and one year as a volunteer leader at PC/Fiji. Ralston considers this experience formative years in both his personal and professional life, and attributes it in furthering his interest in development and pursuing graduate studies. He has recently worked as a case manager with a social service nonprofit in workforce and economic development. Interests: ICT education, youth development, ecotourism, microfinance, economic development, social justice |
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Leandra Clough Home town: West Palm Beach, Florida Education: B.S. in Wildlife Ecology and Management with Minors in African Studies and International Studies, University of Florida Experience: Leandra served as a Linking Income, Food and the Environment Volunteer for Peace Corps Zambia. As a zookeeper at the Palm Beach Zoo, she worked on daily husbandry, breeding programs and conservation education for a variety of different species. She is currently the founder and president of IIM International, a non-profit organization that provides scholarships for secondary students, support for government primary school staff and students, and environmental fieldtrips for science clubs in Central Zambia. Interests: Wildlife conservation, Sustainable agriculture, Education, Microfinance and Income generation, Gender equality, and African languages, literature and culture |
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Jose Juan Perez Orozco Home town: San Pedro, San Marcos, Guatemala Education: B.A., Human Ecology, College of the Atlantic, Maine; A.A., Farm Administration, Simon Bolivar United World College, Venezuela Experience: Jose has a strong educational background in conventional and sustainable agriculture and has some independent research experience using ethnographic, statistical and GIS techniques. He has a strong interest on the potential of ecological agriculture as a sustainable development strategy, achieving the conservation of natural resources, food security, and community empowerment. Since late 2009 Perez has worked for Florida Organic Growers (FOG), a local non for profit, as a certification coordinator for FOG's Certification program, and as an Education and Outreach project coordinator promoting organic and sustainable agriculture through workshops, webinars and other projects. |
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Maria F. Checa Home town: Ecuador Education: B.A. Biology, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador; M.S. Entomology and Netamology, University of Florida Experience: Maria is currently pursuing a joint degree (PhD student in the Department of Entomology and Master student in the MDP program). She is a biologist that has researched for several years the different ecological aspects of butterfly communities from Ecuador, and is currently interested in researching the feasibility of community-based butterfly farming initiatives in Western Ecuador as a tool for sustainable development. Interests: Community-based initiatives |
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Jessica Jefferson Home town: Forest, Virgina Education: B.A., International Affairs with a concentration in Latin America Studies, University of Mary Washington Experience: As an undergraduate, Jessica worked with microfinance projects in El Progreso, Honduras and on public policy advocacy for InterAction. She has volunteered on sanitation and educational programs in rural Guatemala as well as interning in the emergency room of a hospital in Quito, Ecuador. She has also done extensive research on internally displaced populations and the women’s movement in Latin America Interests: Public health, Latin America, Water and Sanitation, Gender Empowerment |
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Sebastian Pazmino Home town: Quito, Ecuador Education: B.A. Landscape Architecture and Minor in Environmental Studies. University of Florida Experience: Sebastian was born and raised in Ecuador, and his interest in design and community engagement began in an early age. Sebastian has led and volunteered in a number of different NGO's in Ecuador and oversees. He has implemented educational workshops for teachers, leaders and students in Costa Rica, Haiti, Honduras and United States. During 2009 he worked as a Landscape Consultant for EARTH University- Costa Rica, creating a recreational park for a low-income community. Sebastian also studied Urban Design in Paris, France. His passion is to use Landscape Architecture as a vessel to unify communities and create jobs in Latin America. Interests: Poverty alleviation, education, job empowerment, Rural and Urban Landscape Architecture. |
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Taryn Devereux Home town: Clearwater, Florida Education: B.A. in Religion, with minors in Spanish & Arabic, University of Florida Experience: For three years Taryn worked with Children Beyond Our Borders, a Gainesville-based non-profit that seeks to alleviate the effects of poverty on internally displaced youth in Colombia. She served on the UF Executive Board and participated and helped lead two service trips to Cartagena, Colombia, where she also did research for her Senior Thesis on social change and empowerment given the religious context for the region. She wrote grants and prepared materials for a more recent project, Nuevos Horizontes, a vocational education program in Medellin, Colombia. Taryn has worked with a variety of other NPOs, including Project Place, a resource center for Boston’s homeless population, and Libros de Familia, a tutoring organization in Alachua for the children of migrant farmers. Before starting the MDP program, she was on the founding board for the Magic City Bicycle Collective, the first community-driven, bicycle repair education center in Miami. Interests:Ethnography, Gender Studies, Religion and Development, Liberation Theology, Youth Education, Public Policy. |
Alumni 2013
 | Name: Sky V. Georges Home town: Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Miami, Florida(DRC) Education: B.A., Criminology with a minor in English, University of Florida Experience: Sky has co-lead multiple mission trips to his home land, Haiti, working with orphanages, schools, jails, villages, churches, and hospitals. Sky was also one of the UF students who started the earthquake relief project for Haiti, Gators United for Haiti. He served as the president of the organization, raising over $93,000. Interests: Youth empowerment, Education and Literacy |
 | Name: Sydney Nilan Home town: Portland, Oregon Education: B.A., Political Science, International Studies, & Spanish, University of Oregon Experience: After graduating from the University of Oregon, Sydney spent a year in South America travelling, working, and volunteering with various organizations, including a Women’s Cooperative in Ecuador involved in local artesanía and organic farming; and a home for children affected by HIV/AIDS in Bolivia. Upon her return she worked for the US Census Bureau, promoting and recruiting for Census activities within the Spanish speaking community. Most recently she worked with a community educational project in Guatemala. Interests: Holistic approaches to development, Nutrition and agriculture, Natural resource conservation, Ecotourism |
 | Name: Sheldon Wardwell Home town: Palmdale, California and Smithfield, Utah Education: B.S., Political Science & International Relations Certificate, University of Utah Experience: In the summer of 2009, Sheldon worked as a research associate for the Rwanda Governance Advisory Council in Kigali, Rwanda, focusing on East African Governance. During his time in Africa he also traveled to Juba, South Sudan for research concerning the international refugee regime. Sheldon has volunteered in Guatemala and worked on mine reclamation projects in West Virginia. Interests: Forcibly displaced populations, Agriculture development, Natural resource management and Arabic |
 | Name: Marliz Arteaga Gómez-García Home town: Pando, Bolivia Education: MA: Higher Education. Amazon University of Pando. Pando, Bolivia. BS: Environmental Engineering. EMI University (Military School of Engineering) La Paz, Bolivia. Certificate in Teaching of Basic Skills and Higher Education. Amazon University of Pando. Pando, Bolivia. Experience: Marliz has worked as a lecturer at the Amazon University of Pando, Natural and Biological Science Area, since 2007. She has taught Environmental Management, Assessment of Environmental Impacts, Environmental Legislation, Environmental Economics, and Environmental Education. She has also worked in public and private institutions like: local government in Pando, CARE international in Pando, CARITAS in Pando, and so forth. In Fall 2010, she was a visiting scholar in the UF Sociology Department and in the Center for Latin American Studies. Interests: Environmental education, climate change, environmental services, conflict management |
 | Name: Indah Waty Bong Home town: Pontianak-West Kalimantan, Indonesia Education: B.A, Agriculture, University of Panca Bhakti Pontianak Experience: Indah volunteered and worked for Madanika, a local non-governmental organization in West Kalimantan, from 2000 to 2008. Her experience ranges from writing and editing some of the organization’s publications and media campaign materials, and organizing and facilitating capacity building trainings and workshops in environmental and conflict resolution areas. During that time, she also assisted a research on non-timber forest product (NTFP)’s potentials and its development planning strategies in district of Melawi in West Kalimantan. She spent 6 months participating in an intensive exchange-volunteering program organized by British Council and Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO). In the program, she was involved in multicultural and environmental programs at a local school and a community forum in Birmingham-UK; and a landslide management and early warning system program at a local environmental NGO in South Sulawesi-Indonesia. The last couple of years, Indah worked as a community forest development local expert for a Forest and Climate program, a cooperation program between Deutcscher Entwicklungsdienst (DED)/German Development Service and Forestry Department of Indonesia. In 2010, she received a scholarship from Ford Foundation International Fellowship Program to commence her graduate studies in the Master on Development Practice Program at the University of Florida. Interests: Non-timber forest product, community development and conservation, conflict resolution, food sovereignty, photography, travelling, rain, dried leaves, reading, food, orang-utan |
 | Name: Dave Pittman Home town: Atlanta, Georgia Education: B.A., Anthropology with minor in Business Administration M.Ed., Social Studies Education Experience: Dave began his professional career in 2001 as an archaeologist with Brockington and Associates, Inc. Working on cultural resource management projects alongside biologists, ecologists, and land developers informed his interest in land management and land use design. With the blessing of his boss he shifted careers into secondary education. From 2004 to 2011 he taught at Northview High School, the most ethnically diverse public high school in Georgia. Since 2004 he has taught U.S Government, World History, U.S. History, and AP Human Geography during the school year while returning to Brockington for his archaeology fix over his summer breaks. Interests: Governance, Capacity Building, Education, Gender empowerment, Land management, Eco-Tourism, Historic preservation |
 | Name: Ramin Gillett Home town: Bamenda, Cameroon Education: B.A., International Studies, University of North Carolina Experience: After graduating from college, Ramin went to Tanzania and served as a scholarship coordinator for a small private secondary school in Iringa. In 2008, he went to South Korea where he taught English to middle and high school students. More recently, Ramin has been involved in the Junior Youth Program in Brazil, which engages this age group in a process of individual and community transformation. Ramin is passionate about finding new and innovative methods of engaging local communities to take charge of their own progress. Interests: Rural Entrepreneurship, Gender Equality, Education, the Role of Science and Religion in Human Advancement |
 | Name: Nícolas Vasconcellos Home town: Guayaquil, Ecuador Education: B. E., Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral Experience: Nícolas worked in the Centre of Rural Research as field assistant in the Agricultural extension program for the production and agricultural management of the crops in the communes San Rafael, San Vicente, Cerezal and Sube y Baja; in Santa Elena Province, Ecuador. He worked with the application of Field schools (ECAs) for the commune people to learn about managing crops that usually grow in the area. Planning focus group meetings with the people from the commune in order to collect data and evaluate their learning level. He defended his graduate thesis project in “Analysis of the effect of agricultural extension in the San Rafael commune, Santa Elena Province; regarding the growing of proper crops from the area and evaluating the life quality of the inhabitants of the San Rafael commune.” Interests: Sustainable resource management, Social policy and agriculture in developing countries, Rural development |
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Angela Reid Quashigah Home town: Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania Education: B.S., Primate Behavior and Ecology with a minor in Biology, Central Washington University. B.A., Anthropology, Central Washington University Experience: Angela has always loved and appreciated nature, and her main interest as an undergraduate was in conservation. As an undergraduate she worked with chimpanzees who speak sign language. Her interests, however, also extend to health. Between 2008-2009, she worked on a hospital ship, the MV Mercy, along the coast of West Africa before beginning her graduate studies. Interests: Integrated approaches to development, Cultural heritage protection in Africa |
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Stephenie Chatfield Home town: Orange Park, Florida Education: B.A., Business Administration, B.S., Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, University of Florida Experience: Stephenie’s undergraduate experience involves leadership positions with numerous campus organizations including the Southern Scholarship Foundation and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In the summer of 2010 Stephenie worked with Kujali International and she spent 12 weeks teaching English and reading comprehension at Hananasif Secondary School in Mkuranga, Tanzania. Stephenie also has international experience providing medical clinics to rural populations in Honduras. Interests: Water and Sanitation, M&E Systems, East Africa |
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Jennifer Carr Home town: Gainesville, Florida Education: B.A., Wildlife Ecology & Conservation, University of Florida Experience: Jenny worked for the U.S. Geological Survey for two years assisting with a sturgeon-monitoring project on the Suwannee and Apalachicola Rivers. During her time with USGS she embarked on two research collection cruises in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2007 she worked as a research assistant for the Sea Turtle Conservancy's 3-month Leatherback tagging program in Tortuguero, Costa Rica. She has also volunteered at Glover's Reef Marine Research Station at Middle Caye, Belize where she assisted with tagging and underwater videotaping sharks. She worked for three years as a Library Page for the Alachua Co. Public Library. She became the Executive Director of the Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center in Costa Rica in February 2013. Interests: Sustainable resource use, women empowerment, education and literacy, conservation and ecotourism in Central America. |
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Dan McQuillan Home town: Calgary, Canada Education: Bachelor of Arts in History from McGill University Experience: Having been raised in both Canada and France, Dan’s interest in international affairs began at an early age. He studied history and political science at McGill University spending his year abroad in Hong Kong. Upon graduation, he spent a year and a half with a Catholic NGO in Honduras and there he managed the organization's community development fund and spearheaded an agricultural plan which built on his five summers of ranching experience in Colorado. As part of the University of Denver’s MDP Dan spent the past summer working on an agricultural high school capstone project in the Ecuadorian Amazon. He has now joined the inaugural cohort of the UF MDP program to connect with a wider group of practitioners, students and academics focused on just and sustainable development. Interests: Project Management, Agricultural Development and Poverty Alleviation |
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Camila Pazos Home town: Colombia, South America and Weston, Florida. Education: B.A., Sociology. B.S., Psychology, University of Florida Experience: Camila has been involved in various leadership, service, and multicultural organizations at UF including the Gator Homeless coalition and has worked as a teaching assistant for Social Theory and in the Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership and Sustainability summer program at UF. In 2010, she worked as a project manager for a social initiative at a private company, XmarteK LLC. Interests: Social entrepreneurship, Education, Social policy and Health in Latin America |
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Erica Lyn Trejo Home town: Freeport, Florida. Education: B.A., Family, Youth, and Community Sciences with minors in Spanish and Nonprofit Organizations, University of Florida Experience: Erica has volunteered in Nicaragua on a project to ensure the provision of water to the community in El Porvenir Interests: Improving communication and coordination strategies between small local organizations and larger international NGOs or bilateral donors. |
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Elihu Isele Home town: Ballwin, Missouri Education: B.S., General Agriculture with a minor in Sustainable Agriculture, University of Missouri Experience: Since 2002 Elihu has made his living from agriculture with a focus on organic vegetables. For his senior capstone project he volunteered for three months on four farms in Japan through the WWOOF (Willing Workers On Organic Farms.) He has also worked on an artisanal goat dairy/fromagerie, as well as, raising beef, eggs, and pork on other farms. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi from '07-'09 where he was an Environment Volunteer in Nkhata Bay, in the Northern Region of the country, working primarily with a beekeepers Cooperative. His focus was on sales, financial stability, capacity building, grant writing and project planning/implementation. He also had secondary projects with tree nurseries, fuel-efficient stoves, as well as training numerous Peace Corp groups in beekeeping. Interests: Micro-finance, Sustainable agriculture, HIV/AIDS |
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Tshibangu Kalala Home town: Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Education: B.S., Agricultural Engineering, Evangelic University, Goma, DRC Experience: Tshitshi has consulted on an ongoing basis for HEAL Africa, designing agricultural programs for women survivors of sexual violence. He has also worked for the World Food Program and for UNICEF in designing and implementing development focused programs throughout eastern Congo. Interests: Disaster management, Food security in Africa. |
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Greyson Nyamoga Home town: Morogoro, Tanzania Education: B.S., Forestry at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), Morogoro, Tanzania. M.S.C., SUA Postgraduate Diploma, Poverty Analysis Experience: Greyson is currently employed by Sokoine University of Agriculture as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Forest Economics under the Faculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation. He worked as a forest officer for the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resource and Tourism from in 2007-2008. Between 2004 and 2006 he worked as a loan officer for FINCA, Tanzania. He attended a training course in Botswana on Community Based Natural Resource Management-CBNRM testing the Dash-Board methodology in June, 2008. Interests: Livelihoods, Microfinance, Community based natural resource management |
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David Morrissey Home town: Tallahassee, Florida Education: B.A., Environmental Studies and Urban & Regional Planning, Florida State University Experience: Before beginning his M.A. studies at UF, David worked as an Environmental Educator for the State of Florida and has served as the Executive Director of an organization addressing issues of poverty in rural Florida. His interest in social and environmental justice have led him to Guatemala and Haiti, and fueled his ongoing interest in hunger and housing in Tallahassee. Interests: Water and sanitation, Natural resource conservation, Urbanization |
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Kristen Augustine Home town: Pensacola, Florida Education: Dual B.A., Women Studies and International Studies, University of West Florida Experience: Since 2008, Kristen has worked as a legal assistant for the Office of State Attorney in the Felony Intake Department. She is also an organizer for the North West Florida local convening chapter for the National Organization of Women (NOW). As an organizer for NOW, she has worked on several projects including drafting the chapters by-laws, finding foster homes for pets of women seeking refuge at a shelter and the creation and maintenance of a career closet to provide women with the professional clothing for job interviews and court appearances Interests: Poverty, Gender and development, Human rights, Transnational feminism |
