We are an international team of community members, farmers, students, researchers, and educators.
Together we are dedicated to our shared passions: honoring Mother Nature, preserving indigenous ways of living and knowing, responsibly adapting to climate change, engaging in meaningful community-based research projects, and sharing our knowledge as we continue to learn and grow.
OUR TEAM
Martha Caranqui
Codirector of Operations (Ecuador)
Martha Caranqui is indigenous Kichwa-Puruwa. She is the president of the community of Caliata, currently serving in her second term. She is a teacher with several decades of experience, specialized in adolescents and continuing education. She was part of the cooperative organization Hambi Kiwa (Herbs that Heal), founded by Rosa Guaman. As part of Hambi Kiwa Martha systematized several guides on Andean medicinal plants and their uses. Martha was part of the field team for our project about sustainable diets in view of planetary health.
Mabel Pintag
Codirector of Operations (Ecuador)
Mabel Pintag is indigenous Kichwa-Puruwa. Mabel is an agronomist that studied at the University of Chimborazo. She has worked in applied research projects since 2007, when she was part of a pilot project to reduce anemia in children under the age of five. Later she worked as part of the field team in a study on health, well-being and aging among indigenous populations. She has worked with international organizations and with the provincial government of Chimborazo. Recently she was the field director of the project about sustainable diets in view of planetary health. She has done training in agroecology and nutrition with Heifer International.
Amaya Carrasco
Director of Operations (USA) & Cofounder
amayacarrascot@caliatainitiative.org
Amaya is a PhD student in Food Systems with a specialization in Agroecology at the University of Vermont, United States. She is a current member of the Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative (ALC) and the Gund Institute for the Environment. She has combined work experience in the local and central government of her country, Ecuador, in areas of international cooperation, development, climate change, public policies and project evaluation. In addition, she has worked with grassroots organizations, NGOs, and as a researcher in the fields of sustainability, climate change, food justice, urban agriculture, agroecology, and well-being. She also has hands-on experience in urban farms, school gardens, and green roofs. Currently she collaborates in the Collaborative Crop Research Program’s (CCRP) Agroecology Support Project, which seeks to strengthen agroecological knowledge and capacities in Africa and South America. Amaya aims to reimagine the rural sector in Andes and its relationship with cities by moving from a resources extraction paradigm to a harmonic relationship of reciprocity with Mother Nature (Pachamama).
Carlos Andres Gallegos Riofrío
Research Coordinator
carlosandres.gr@caliatainitiative.org
Dr. Carlos Andres Gallegos-Riofrío is an interdisciplinary researcher that combines behavioral, social and life sciences, arts and communications, with fifteen years of applied research experience and community work. He is a Postdoctoral Associate in Nature and Human Health in the Gund Institute for Environment in University of Vermont, where he is working with indigenous populations in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia to understand the well-being and mental health effects of disconnecting from traditional agroecosystems. Carlos Andres is a Faculty Associate at the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies in Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL). Finally, Carlos Andres collaborates with Dr. Lora Iannotti (WUSTL’s E3 Nutrition) and Dr. William F. Waters (Universidad San Francisco de Quito), acting as the social marketing specialist for Ecuador’s pilot “Mikhuna Project: Evolutionary Maternal Nutrition.”
Brianna Arnold
Communications & Outreach Coordinator
info@caliatainitiative.org
Brianna’s appreciation for community-based agriculture first arose while WWOOFing in Costa Rica in 2014. Her passion has grown over the years through working on farms and studying agroecology abroad and on unceded Abenaki land in Vermont. In 2017 she spent four months traveling in Ecuador and Peru and fell in love with the culture and music of the Andes. Brianna carries a strong interdisciplinary background, having received a B.S. in Plant Biology and minors in Anthropology and Latin American & Caribbean Studies from the University of Vermont. She served as an Undergraduate Research Fellow for two years with the Agroecology & Livelihoods Collaborative, where she led teams in conducting field research at local farms. In addition to supporting the Caliata Initiative, Brianna works with children as a Nature Mentor and she enjoys playing music and engaging in environmental activism.
OUR COLLABORATORS
Community Associates
Uminia Mayu Caranqui Pintag
Ruben Absalon Morocho Chinlle
Roberto Villalobos Pucuna
Milka Koya Heredia Caranqui
Mery Juana Pucuna Cabadiana
Estela Pintag Lema
Edith Caranqui
Beatriz Pintag Pintag
Andy Pintag Pucuna
Adela Caranqui
Abrahan Villalobos Pucuna
Joaquin Caranqui
Acadamic Allies
William F. Waters
Lora L. Iannotti
Florencio Delgado Espinoza
Antonio Riofrío
Alex Rivas
Media & Visual Arts Allies
Santiago Cornejo
Gabriel Ludeña Maruri
Geovanni Verdezoto
Malu Burneo
Alejandro Velasco
Institutional Partners
Institute for Research in Health and Nutrition – Universidad San Francisco de Quito
E3 Nutrition Lab – Washington University in St. Louis
GR8 Creative Agency
REINO FUNGI