Raymond Gutteriez

Update: After three years of bumming around working various field jobs, I am now a graduate student, attending SUNY-ESF, where I work through the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. It took a long time to find the right program for me, but I did. This is a exciting time in my life, looking forward to the next few years, and what they'll bring my way!

Hi all! I am currently an ecology bum. After graduating from California State University at Fresno I have been working as a field tech on various research projects throughout California and on the island of Hawai'i. Currently, I am serving as an AmeriCorps member with the Sierra Foothill Conservancy. My position title is Conservation Assistant and that means I do basically EVERYTHING! My main charge is running the education and outreach programs for the Mariposa Area (which I love!), but I also get to use my coveted Biology degree when writing management plans for the various preserves SFC owns, conduct conservation easement monitoring, lead hikes and botany/birding classes and do research for and help write grants.

My interest in the environment comes from my heritage. My ancestors come from the Sierra Nevada foothills and the San Joaquin Valley. For thousands of years they lived as part of these landscapes as stewards tending to the land that gave them sustainance. Now, like my ancestors I am a steward working to protect my ancestral lands and the planet. I am merely beginning my journey, and there are many challenges that await me along my path. I am determined and committed to reminding society that we are a part of the natural environment as much as it is a part of us. As human beings we have the ability to care for all things, and with that ability comes a choice: to learn how to be stewards of our local environments and attempt to find balance or to exploit and consume ourselves into societial suicide.

I find myself being drawn to the intersection where environmental science, social science and public policy meet, that is where the world functions.