Staff

Alonso Santos-Gonzalez was born and raised in Fresno, CA and has been traveling and working in the conservation corps field for the past 4 years. He has led crews through the Mojave Desert and spent 5 months in the backcountry of Kings Canyon National Park, where he learned trail building, backpacking and wilderness living skills.  Alonso completed his first summer with ARC as an instructor in 2023 and is continuing on as the Central Valley Program Facilitator. Alonso enjoys spending time outdoors, playing guitar and being with family and friends. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelors of Science in Conservation and Resource Studies with an emphasis on Water Resource Management and acquired his Wilderness First Responder Certification in 2023 through NOLS.

Heather joined ARC as a summer field instructor in 2023 and then, soon after, as Summer Program Manager. Heather earned her B.A. in Ecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill but owes the depth of her knowledge to the 2,000+ nights she has spent in the wilderness as an outdoor educator and mountain guide. She has instructed for the National Outdoor Leadership School, helped build outdoor education curriculum for several schools, and co-founded an education-based guiding company in the Sierra. She has taught in Australia and less venomous places like Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Alaska, and, of course, California. Heather has been a Wilderness First Responder and Leave No Trace Master Educator since 2010. She is consistently inspired by the written works of Robin Wall Kimmerer and Brian Doyle. Outside of work, find Heather trail running, crafting, or snacking.

Itzel Roman(she/her) joined the ARC team as a summer instructor in Tahoe this past summer. After the summer course she transitioned to be a full-time Program Facilitator in Tahoe-Truckee for the academic year. Itzel started her career in outdoor conservation/ education in 2018 as part of the trail crew for Eastern Sierra Conservation Corps (ESCC). She continued her development with ESCC and has led trail crews in 2021 and 2022. Since 2018 she has been Wilderness First Aid certified and in 2022 earned her Wilderness First Responder certification. Her experiences in living in the backcountry for months at a time have nurtured her passion to care for the land and introduce others to the beauty of the Sierra Nevada. Other passions are rock climbing (all kinds!), spending time with family and friends, and spending time with her pup WYSIWYG /wi-see-wig/. She is also an optimistic reader and her current favorite book is “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. 

Melany is ARC’s Central Valley Program Coordinator in Firebaugh and Dos Palos. She was an ARC 2016 summer graduate and attended retreats after graduating. Melany was born in Guatemala and moved to the US when she was 4, and has always dreamed of becoming an art teacher. She is currently a full-time student, and in her free time, she loves to draw, sew, and read fictional pieces of literature. One of Melany’s favorite art pieces is Among the Sierra Nevadas by Albert Bierstadt, and one of her favorite books is Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. 

Valerie joined the ARC team late fall of 2022. In 2017, Val received her B.S. in Recreation Administration from Fresno State University and has worked with different communities in both Fresno and Tulare Counties to develop recreational programs for the youth. She has also worked with other non-profit organizations coordinating fundraising events and marketing strategies. In her spare time, Valerie enjoys guiding local hikes in both Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and finds pleasure through hiking, backpacking, photography and swimming. Valerie admires the vulnerability and courage that ARC youth display and she is motivated to have more youth tell their personal stories. Valerie has been influenced by her favorite author and podcaster, Brené Brown.