About Nature Niños New Mexico
Nature Niños' mission is to expand access to the outdoors, share all it has to offer, and invite youth and families who might not readily access the outdoors into a safe, inclusive, and welcoming community where we build skills and grow the next generation of conservationists, land stewards, and recreationalists.
We are an entry point to the outdoors for all who find themselves with any form of "nature nerves." We provide safe, inclusive, and welcoming spaces to invite youth and families to make their own connections and memories with nature. Our goal is to introduce and encourage all New Mexicans, of all ages, to explore and enjoy our lands and waters safely and freely. We spend time introducing youth to their eco-identity through the visual arts, music, theater, spoken word and other mediums while encouraging their creativity and personal expression. We expand access to the outdoors, share all it has to offer, and build skills to grow the next generation of conservationists, land stewards, and recreationalists.
The Nature Niños Approach
WE WORK to connect youth and families, across generations, to learning with nature and experiencing outdoor opportunities.
WE PROVIDE pay-as-you-can sliding scale opportunities, making free and low cost options accessible to reduce barriers of participation in outdoor recreation.
WE PARTNER with schools, teachers, and organizations across New Mexico to expand the horizons of outdoor education and uplift our collective work.
What We Do
Programming
Nature Niños' trusted, professional team offers many free and low-cost opportunities for kids and families including summer camp, day programs, family hikes, and events throughout the year. Together, across generations, we learn to fish, hike, shoot a bow, harvest and eat wild foods, track wild game, nature journal, and so much more. We spend time introducing youth to their eco-identity through the visual arts, music, theater, spoken word and other mediums while encouraging their creativity and personal expression. Whether you're an experienced explorer or new to the outdoors, there is a place that's just right for your family and we're here to help you find it.
School Partnerships
Nature Niños works with New Mexico schools to offer nature field trips to students K-12. These hands-on experiences are expert-guided and age-appropriate. We cover academic standards while also creating a memorable adventure, developing social-emotional skills, and connecting students to themselves, each other, and the natural world. Outdoor education has so many benefits that we'd love to bring to your school!
Teacher Workshops and Professional Development
In response to research, outdoor learning has become a priority for schools, districts, and public education departments across America. In 2021, New Mexico passed legislation in support of outdoor classrooms and professional development. The Nature Niños team has been preparing for this exciting new horizon. As New Mexico's lead for Project Wild, we pair decades of experience in outdoor education focused on public lands with partnerships across the country. We offer workshops, a toolkit, and professional development opportunities for teachers who are interested in developing research-backed skills in a peer-driven community of outdoor educators.
Youth Program Development & Consultation
Although we're headquartered in central New Mexico, our mission is statewide and we are working to provide extension sites throughout the state. We partner with communities and organizations across the state to advance their community-driven visions and plans for youth and family programs that connect the next generation to the outdoors and everything it has to offer.
Visit our Programming page to see all the amazing opportunities that Nature Niños is offering our New Mexico youth, from PreK to High School.
Recognition
Meet the Nature Niños Staff
Nature Niños is a team of staff dedicated to encouraging nature experiences and broadening our youth's knowledge in environmental conservation and preservation.
Sarah Candelaria is an outdoor enthusiast who most enjoys fishing, camping, hiking & hunting. Sarah is the Founder and Executive Director of Nature Niños. With years of experience in conservation with the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Sarah's two loves for the natural world and education come together within Nature Niños.
With a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education, Sarah was a NM PreK Consultant, an early childhood center director, and a public-school teacher. She also had the opportunity to work with EENM in their first fellowship class in 2020.
Sarah's extensive experience in management, program development, communication, and community engagement paired with her meaningful and concrete experiences in the world of education led to her development of the Nature Niños in 2019 to focus on providing outdoor outreach programs that connect underserved youth and their families to the natural world through experiential educational opportunities.
As the Nature Niños Program Manager, Laura focuses on the organizational infrastructure and programmatic realization. Laura is also the NM State Coordinator for Project WILD. After graduating from the University of New Mexico with a BA in Foreign Languages, Laura served with Americorps with the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps in Taos, NM in 2018 and Foodcorps in ABQ in 2020. These experiences led her toward Nature Niños where her love of the outdoors and dedication for sharing opportunities for personal natural connections combined. She is fascinated with all things related to food, likes to hike and practice photography.
Olivia Martinez
Board President
Liv is Kickapoo, Pyramid Lake Paiute, Spanish and Portuguese. She is a
Native American Community Academy (NACA) alumni who graduated in 2019.
During high school, Liv was a Rocky Mountain Youth Corps member, providing
services and training for New Mexico public lands. She was also able to participate in a
U.S. Forest Service Internship where she developed and taught life science curriculum
for elementary school students. After high school she studied at Fort Lewis college until 2021. She also worked as a Pre-K teacher at East
Gate Kids Learning Center, working with young children ages 3-5 years old. Liv has
been working with Nature Niños for a year now, leading various forms of outdoor
exploration for ages 4 to 17. She loves teaching, archery and nature!
I was born and raised in Tampa,FL. Growing up in a big city I didn't explore much of the outdoors so within moving to New Mexico It became a passion to explore the plant and wildlife that surrounds us. I've spent the last 6 years wandering around the southwest and working as an assistant pre-k teacher and a private nanny. Working alongside Nature Niños has allowed me to work with the community, educate our youth, and continue to learn about our wildlife.
Amanda Darby
ABQ Lead Educator
Amanda A. Darby was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and joined the Nature Niños team in 2023. Childhood years were spent adventuring all over the southwest with her family of artists and educators, soaking in everything our natural landscape has to offer. With a professional background in real estate and insurance, she has always found a way to stay rooted in nature. After a move to Long Beach, California in 2013, Amanda discovered therapeutic horsemanship and began volunteering with the amazing animals, families and riders living with a variety of emotional, physical, and cognitive challenges. This was the catalyst to start her own family and with them, she returned to her home state in 2021. Through the growing eyes of her son, Amanda's view of how to maximize positive impact has deepened and found traction in the outdoors. It is a life's passion for her to do the right things, at the right time, for the right people- this includes Mother Earth and our future leaders. Nature Niños is a perfect platform for sharing her knowledge, heart, and natural connection with our youth!
Adam C. Okoye
ABQ Assistant Educator
Adam was born in Ankara, Turkey and spent his formative years living there and in multiple U.S. states. He has traveled to multiple countries and continents, learning much about various cultures and natural life. His education varied from private, public, international, parochial, as well as home schooling. After moving back to Albuquerque, he completed his high school education at Sandia H.S. and obtained an AA degree from Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, NM. His love of nature, prehistoric life and wildlife influenced his choice of college. While at Mesalands he was able to take paleontology and natural science courses as well as participate on dinosaur digs and volunteer at the Mesalands Dinosaur Museum and Natural Science Laboratory. Adam has volunteered at the Albuquerque Biopark, Botanical Gardens, and Aquarium, and has also volunteered and received training from the Valle De Oro Wildlife Refuge. He is an Eagle Scout, and his interests include the outdoors, nature, conservation, paleontology and Anime. He is passionate about sharing his knowledge and educating youth about nature and the preservation of endangered species.
Chan Dreyer
ABQ Assistant Educator
Chan is one of the assistants at Nature Ninos. They're super artistic, enjoys crocheting, likes to paint, make jewelry, and hopes to become a tattoo artist one day. They also enjoy spending time outdoors by skating, hiking, taking their siblings out to a park, or just to go out to take pictures. Chan grew up in a large family with 6 siblings, mom, and aunt in a small farm town in Illinois, then all moved to Albuquerque in 2018. They have several pets like rats, rabbits, a guinea pig, a poodle, snakes, bearded dragon, fish, and a turtle. Chan enjoys teaching people about the outdoors and loves telling facts about bugs and animals in hopes that others will learn to be interested in the animals or creatures that are outdoors.
Laura Flores has been an educator for over 12 years and is now joining the Nature Niño's team as the Communication Coordinator. She has always had a strong connection with the outdoors stemming from camping and gardening with her parents and sisters at a young age. She loves that she is able to take what she has learned and share these traditions with her own family. Laura's desire to share safe, fun, and accessible opportunities is deeply rooted in her community. In her free time, she continues to volunteer for Latino Outdoors and Mana de Albuquerque. By providing outdoor connections to the youth of New Mexico she feels she is creating a love for her state, deeper awareness for local and global conservation, and joyful experiences which will continue for generations.