Professional Biographies ACRAA Management Team
Katiane Araújo Lourido. Natural de Santarém – Pará.
Degree in Full Licentiate in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of Western Pará/UFOPA (2016). Master’s in Environmental Sciences, in the area of concentration of bioprospecting of natural products – UFOPA. Experience in extraction and bioactivity of essential oils. Teaching Science and Biology and environmental education.
Katiane is also the lead instructor and manager of ACRAA’s “ACRAA in the Schools” environmental education program. She is also a founding member and the current President.
Diêgo Figueiredo de Siqueira Simplício (Brazilian)
Email: diego@acraabrazil.org
Diêgo Figueiredo is Brazilian, graduated in Law from the University of Triângulo Mineiro (UNITRI, 2012), and registered with the Brazilian Lawyers Order under number 148.062 MG (2013). Diêgo trained for four years at three different institutions: at the Public Ministry of Claudio-MG (where he worked in the civil area); at the UNIFENAS Legal Assistance Center, in the city of Poços de Caldas-MG (also working in the civil area); and at the Public Defender of the State of Minas Gerais, in the city of Uberlândia-MG (where he worked in the area of criminal executions). During this same period he participated in a complementary course on Introduction to Business Management.
As a lawyer, he has been working for nine years emphasizing further studies in the field of Environmental Law. Diego is also a founding member of ACRAA.
B. Thor Smestad (Canadian) B.S.F.[1], M.Sc.[2], P. Ag.[3]
Email: thor@acraabrazil.org
Thor Smestad is a Canadian reforestation and ecosystem-restoration specialist. He began this career in 1981 as a tree planter in the mountains of British Columbia (BC), Canada, and then later, after completing a degree in forest resources management (1994), continued to work in BC as a silvicultural forester. This work involved managing projects related to all aspects of reforestation and forest management on the vast expanses of public lands in British Columbia.
In 1997 he returned to university to complete a Master of Science degree, specializing in soils. His master’s study was located in western Kenya, where he examined the soil fertility changes associated with short-duration agroforestry fallows (Smestad et al., 2002).[4]
Since completing his masters in 2002, Thor has worked throughout western Canada in the field of ecosystem restoration and soil erosion control. For a short period (2012 to 2016) he also operated his own native plant nursery and ecosystem restoration company.[5] Many of the projects completed during this period were in shoreline and riverbank restoration, and he is now known as a specialist in this area in BC. One of the most exciting projects during this period was the ecological restoration of a small peninsula near Nelson, BC. Here, for a three-day period in each of five consecutive years (2011 to 2015), Thor co-led an annual ecological restoration field-school for the local College’s Integrated Environmental Planning Program.[6]
At present he works seasonally (April-Nov.) as a senior ecosystem restoration specialist for an environmental consulting company in western Canada.[7] He spends his winters in the Amazon region of Brazil where he is a founding member of ACRAA.
[1] Bachelor of Science in Forestry. University of British Columbia (Canada). 1994
[2] Master of Science. University of Saskatchewan (Canada), 2002.
[3] Professional Agrologist. BC Institute of Agrologists (British Columbia, Canada).
[4] For published study results see: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1020501627174
[5] Treebear Native Plants. See https://Treebearplants.ca
[6] Selkirk College, Castlegar, BC. https://selkirk.ca/program/iep
[7] Lotic Environmental Services, Cranbrook, BC, Canada. See https://lotic.co/
Katherin Daniela León Pinto
My name is Katherin Daniela León Pinto. I was born in Lara-Barquisimeto, Venezuela. I am 27 years old.
From a very young age I have felt a strong connection with plants. When I was 5 years old my family traveled to Valencia-Carabobo where my grandparents lived, they work mono-cultivation with citrus, milky and bananas. One day I asked my grandfather to teach me to work the land; that was my first contact, which led me to discover that this is my passion. Since then, a large part of my life has been dedicated to plants.
My family was a bit nomadic so we traveled a lot. We were in various states of Venezuela; we lived in cities, neighborhoods and towns. In each place I met people who shared their knowledge of plants with me, and this is something that I really liked. Every time I had the opportunity I read books about plants, and learned a little about natural medicine among other things.
Like the plants, I felt a great connection with the animals in each place where we arrived, and I rescued the animals that I found on the street and cured them. Most of them were cured with plants, so I practiced my home remedies. Those are my passions, plants and animals.
Of course life goes by and the world goes around and in those turns I lived and learned many things, and I am still living and learning. Now I live in Alter do Chão. Since I arrived here my work with plants has deepened, living two years in Caminho das Pedras, a small community near Alter do Chão that works with agroforestry. There I learned to work with multi-cultivation, agroforestry, and the biodiversity in the humid tropical zone; and with the soil here, which is sandy. This has been a great challenge with great learning.
I have been part of ACRRA for three years now; that is where I work, practicing and sharing everything I have learned. I am still seeking knowledge about plants, including at times taking courses on the internet about agroforestry. Daki is a founding member of ACRAA.
Sula Gabrieli
Sula (Gaby) is a skilled nursery worker and medicinal plant specialist and is a member of the indigenous Maytapu people. Her ancestral community is the village of Pinhel that lies about 50 km to the south-west of Alter do Chão further up the Tapajós River. She assists Daki with the management of ACRAA’s nursery and works with her own knowledge of plants to add to what ACRAA can offer. Gaby is a founding member of ACRAA.
Thais Thayane da Silva Beltrão de Farias
Brazilian, born in Recife-PE, on 29.09.1993.
Thais is a technician in Business Administration, graduated from the Special Professional Center (2011). Also a makeup Artist – Embeleze Institute (2014), and eyebrow Designer – Center Take Free courses (2018).
Worked as an administrative and commercial assistant at the Objective Engenharia de Eventos in 2012. Commercial Consultant at the Academia Hi from 2013 to 2014. Receptionist and salesperson at the Academia Santé Club (2014 to 2015).
From 2015 to 2017, she worked in the Amazon region as a cook on tourist boats, leading the fusion of regional food with northeastern food.
Also in 2015, she worked as a bartender and cook at the Mãe Natureza Bar and Restaurant (Alter do Chão) and from 2016 to 2017 at the Alter do Chão Gastronomic Space Restaurant.
In 2019, she returned to work in the Administrative and Product Shipping sector at Ekilibre Amazônia.
Thais currently works as an artisan, cook, and secretary and project coordinator for ACRAA. She is also a founding member of ACRAA.
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