LUCAS OSHUN | Director

Lucas has been working as an environmental education program developer and administrator since 2008 and he had led numerous reforestation efforts in Ecuador’s coastal tropical dry forest since 2010. Lucas has founded several environmental impact organizations including: Global Student Embassy, Regeneration Field Institute, and Los Arboleros Farm, our 70 acre bamboo and regenerative agroforestry operation in Manabi.

Currently, Lucas works as a full time supply chain consultant for Bamcore and Global Bamboo Technologies helping to develop sustainable sources of fast growing bamboo and eucalyptus fiber for structural panel fabrication. Whenever possible you will find him deep in the syntropic agroforestry fields at our farm, with his daughter on his back, pruning, checking on the health of trees, and envisioning a future of agriculture that resembles our natural forests.

RAISA TORRES | Operations Manager

Raisa Torres was born and raised in Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador where she has been an active advocate for environmental action and helped develop ecological education programs within public school systems. After studying environmental engineering at the Universidad Agraria de Guayaquil, she helped form the earthquake relief program, Bahia Beach Construction, and became RFI's Operations Manager. She ensures the logistics and coordination of our programs keeps students safe, healthy and maximizes their experience.

You may find her running, biking or swimming long distances, and being a super mom to Ayesha. Raisa continues to exemplify what it means to be a powerful leader in the local and global community.

Beth huggins | program DIRECTOR

Beth Huggins is a international program development specialist in rural resiliency and environmentally sustainability, originally from the United States. After studying chemical and materials engineering, she has spent much of her time supporting different international development projects. She loves the endless opportunities to learn from the diverse cultures, ecosystems and people around the world. Beth splits her time between Nepal, the US and Ecuador, supporting the development of programs for international students and participants that create learning opportunities while also contributing to more resilient, interconnected and abundant communities.

Dixon Olmedo | Farm Manager

Dixon is one of the two farm managers at Los Arboleros. Together, he and Darwin (both brothers) manage the groups of seasonal workers who help manage and harvest from our ~10 hectares of timber, turmeric and syntropic plots. Dixon grew up 5 minutes up the road, and worked in livestock and plantation agriculture operations before coming to RFI. His greatest dream is to see regenerative agriculture spread to other landholders in the area and grow the movement.

Darwin Olmedo | Farm Manager

Darwin is one of our two farm managers at Los Arboleros working with Dixon to manage year-round projects in trail building, tree pruning, harvesting and maintaining our timber, bamboo, turmeric and syntropic plots. Darwin also grew up in Pavón, 10 minutes up the road from the farm and worked seasonally with different farms for the 10 years before he came to farm. Both he and Dixon were present at the beginning in 2016 when RFI first came to Chone. His greatest dream is realize the institutes dreams of a full sized food forest with canopies filled with fruit and sustainably produced wood.

CRISTINA ValdiviesO | DESIGN ASSOCIATE

Cristina is an architect and designer based in Guayaquil, who's passionate about the relationship between cultural identity and the built world. After completing her BA in Architecture and Latin American Studies at Bennington College in Vermont, she returned to her hometown to further explore and understand her culture through an architectural lens. She believes that respecting the nature of materials is essential to the creation of authentic spaces imbued with a clear sense of place and culture. This led her to Ecuadorian vernacular construction materials such as guadua bamboo and wood, which she has steadily been incorporating into her practice.

JORGE LOOR | ARCHITECT & INSTRUCTOR

Jorge Loor is an architect from Guayaquil, Ecuador who has a passion for teaching and industrial design. During his studies he assisted Design Workshop class and Construction Materials class with an emphasis on bamboo, after graduating from the Faculty of Architecture and Design at UCSG in Guayaquil, he and two partners started a Study/Workshop specialized on metallic construction, exploring ways on shaping metals into various functional and sculptural pieces of multiple scales that have been exposed in London, Dubai and many countries of South America. As a practicing architect, he incorporates bamboo as a “green steel” in projects that reinterpret traditional construction methods, with a social impact component through sharing knowledge on sustainable practices and materials.

KELLY ZAMBRANO | TRIP GUIDE

Kelly was born and raised in Chone, Manabi. His family’s multigenerational farm is just a toucan fly from our site. Kelly joined the RFI staff team in 2021 inspired to see the positive change in his own community. Having studied high school in the US on an exchange program, he values the cross-cultural connections students make with his hometown. He is a farmer, a local leader, a machete swinger, tree planter, and husband and dad to the cutest family. We love having Kelly’s local expertise whether it is about local culture and history or how to properly plant a tree.