Genevieve (She/Her) started out with a career dream of becoming a radio host. While living in Arizona, she fell in love with the desert and began seeking opportunities that would involve being outdoors. She joined an AmeriCorps field crew in fall of 2009 and never looked back. Since then, she's held a myriad of outdoor positions including trail maintenance, stream habitat ecology, watershed monitoring, wildlife surveys, and even bat mortality monitoring! She's lived in 9 different states and in Central America, and is always looking for more travel opportunities. On her days off you can find her hanging out with her son, baking, or doing yoga.

Joy (She/Her) grew up in El Paso, TX and developed a passion for nature and the outdoors during camping trips to nearby Ruidoso, NM and summer vacations visiting National Parks with her grandparents. Graduating from UT Austin with a degree in Zoology, Joy’s professional career spans wildlife research, animal science and more recently, work as an administrative coordinator for a nonprofit nature preserve in Austin. Joy worked closely with interns and volunteers in this position and is excited to support the IP program at Conservation Corps New Mexico. Personal contribution is very important to Joy, and she was a volunteer Texas Master Naturalist for 6 years, participating in land stewardship and public outreach. She hopes to continue volunteering in the Southwest and completed Certified Interpretive Guide training in preparation for leading hikes. When she’s not working or volunteering, Joy can be found hiking with her dog Luna, practicing Spanish or summoning the courage to ski one day.

SamJean (She/Her) joined AZCC/CCNM in 2019 as an individual placement intern, working with the BLM New Mexico State Office in development and outreach programming. The opportunities in her internships gave her the privilege to travel all over the state. Fostering relationships between federal agencies and local communities throughout NM was the foundation of her service for public lands. The chance to become a part of the staff for CCNM became available in 2021, currently she is an IP Program Coordinator for CCNM. Originally raised in the hill country of central Texas. She now calls the Chihuahuan desert home for her family. As an artist herself, she has always found a way to incorporate the arts into her passion for land stewardship and reconnecting peoples with the natural world. Much like the medley of colors in a southwest sunset, it takes us all to see the big picture of possibility. 

My name is Valerie Herrera (She/Her), I am the Administrative Specialist with the Las Cruces office since November 2021. I am very happy to be a part of this wonderful organization! My professional background is in Non-medical homecare for the elderly. I have really enjoyed moving into the direction of being a part of an organization that gives back to our community. I was born in Phoenix and raised in Tucson, Arizona and moved to Las Cruces in 2014. My husband and I have three kiddos and two very rumbustious golden retrievers, two horses, three sheep, and one cow. My family and I very much love the outdoors, we do a lot of camping and enjoy our 1 acre homestead. My hobbies are canning (food preserving), gardening, cooking/baking and of course spending time with my family.

My name is Kimberly (She/Her) and I have always had an interest in conservation work and spending time outside. After graduating with my bachelor’s in biology from New Mexico State University, I worked a couple of various field jobs doing a little bit of everything: trail work, kayaking, backpacking, and ecological surveys, until getting the opportunity to work a little closer to home in Las Cruces for CCNM. Being born and raised in New Mexico; I really appreciate any opportunity I can get to work in the southwest and help preserve the land that I grew up in.