Sarah Elena Dillabough

Sustainability Specialist, Creosote Collaborative

Sarah Elena has spent more than five years in sustainable project management. She was born and raised in El Paso. She received her B.A. from Austin College (Sherman, Texas) with majors in Environmental Studies and International Relations, and a minor in French. She graduated Summa Cum Laude. As an undergraduate, she studied in France, Morocco, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Bhutan, and traveled to many other countries. She is fluently trilingual in English, Spanish, and French. Sarah Elena served as the Co-Chair of the Student Sustainability Fund at Austin College and as the Co-President for Think Green Campus Awareness, working at the Little Traverse Nature Conservancy, interning with Texas State Senator José Rodríguez, and serving on his Environment Advisory Board. She also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member for the City of El Paso’s Resilience + Sustainability Department, as the Food Donor Relations Manager at the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank, and as a French translator (ongoing).

Anne M. Giangiulio

Associate Professor of Art Graphic Design at UTEP

Anne M. Giangiulio is an Associate Professor of Art, Graphic Design at The University of Texas at El Paso. She earned her BA in English from Villanova University and an MFA in Graphic and Interactive Design from The Tyler School of Art and Architecture of Temple University in Philadelphia. In between, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English as a foreign language in the West African archipelago of Cape Verde. She is an avid traveler—her favorite trips include multiple excursions to Italy, where her father was born, as well as adventures to see pandas in Chengdu, China, and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. She has slept on mud roofs alongside drying monkey skulls in Djenné, Mali, gone on safari in South Africa, taught a summer design workshop in Tokyo, and drunk mango lassis in Lhasa, Tibet. She is also an award-winning designer with an extremely active practice. She created the current Frontera rising-sun logo in 2007. As a Girl Scout leader, this mother of two has organized arroyo clean-ups in Kern Place twice a year since 2015. Originally from Wayne, Pennsylvania, she has been a proud El Pasoan and desert dweller since 2004.

Marty Loya

Owner of Growing with Sara Farm, LLC

Marty and Ralph Loya own a six-acre farm in Socorro, TX called Growing with Sara Farm, L.L.C. They have kept the family farm in operation and in the family for over 100 years. They grow the food with great care and planning and then donate it to a local food bank to help their community address the lack of fresh healthy foods for low-income families. Marty Loya has over 30 years of experience in software development, customer services, and project management areas. She has special expertise in software systems structure, engineering, and design. Marty attended UTEP and studied Electrical Engineering. She recently obtained her PMP (Project Management Professional) certification.

Diana Moy

Park Interpreter / Volunteer Coordinator, Wyler Aerial Tramway State Park

Diana Moy was born and raised in the El Paso-Juarez border region; since her early years, she was exposed to and interested in nature and the environment. She has a B.S. in Environmental Science with a concentration in Biology from the University of Texas at El Paso. Throughout her professional career, she has worked in conservation and environmental education in several local environmental consulting companies. She has worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Upper Mississippi River Fish and Wildlife Refuge, and she is currently employed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department at El Paso’s Wyler Aerial Tramway State Park, affiliated with the Franklin Mountains State Park.

Erica Rocha

Co-Founder of G128

Erica Rocha co-founded G128 along with her business partner Mrs. Ana Detzel, an AP Environmental Science Teacher at a local high school. G128 is an organization focused on working against single-use plastic, non-recyclable and hard-to-recycle items. Although still in its embryonic phase, the organization has already been active around the City. Erica has had several speaking engagements where she raises awareness of the growing single-use plastic issue and offers alternatives to disposable products. In January 2019 she organized a community cleanup of a ten-mile stretch of Transmountain Road that connects I-10 to US54 with over 135 volunteers. She has appeared on multiple news and radio programs both in El Paso as well as Cd. Juárez, Mexico. Currently, Erica and Ana are making strides to bring a waterless recycling facility—the first of its kind—to the United States. They are working tirelessly trying to partner with EPISD and have El Paso be the epicenter of this innovative technology.

Richard Teschner

Donor and editor

Richard Teschner, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics and Spanish who taught full-time at UTEP from 1976-2010 and has been teaching part-time since then, is the author of six books and the co-author of 18. He’s been active in El Paso land conservation and land-related politics since 2003, and the neighborhood-based movement that succeeded in conserving Resler Canyon, now owned by Frontera. Originally from Milwaukee, Richard is known for his puns and his love of editing. He enjoys working with neighborhood associations including the Segundo Barrio’s Southside N.A. Since 2011 he has been an honorary member of the Northeast Side’s Castner Heights N.A., the first that backed the campaign to permanently conserve Castner Range. Richard has served as President of the City of El Paso-sponsored Neighborhood Coalition, encompassing 80 separate Associations. In 2014 he began working with an Austin lobbyist to obtain a new Franklin Mountains State Park Visitor Center, funded the following year by the Legislature and opened for business in May 2020. For his activities and donations, Richard has received City of El Paso awards such as the Conquistador, the Star on the Mountain, the Lifetime Achievement (El Paso Environmental Services), and Frontera’s own Rock Solid.

Dr. Amy Wagler

Amy Wagler, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Mathematical Sciences at UTEP. Though her professional activities are not directly related to ecology and preservation, she is passionate about the preservation of natural spaces, particularly in the border region, and she is thrilled about working with Frontera to promote knowledge and appreciation of our natural environment.

Christopher Gad

Arriving in El Paso in 1954, Chris grew up mainly in central El Paso. He graduated from Austin High, Texas Tech, and UTEP with a degree in secondary education, and the University of Texas for a law degree. For over 30 years he taught at various high schools including Austin, Jefferson, and Irvin. For much of this time, Chris was also the Dan Fielding of El Paso as a night prosecutor for the City of El Paso. After teaching, a full-time job of 7 years ensued as a prosecutor with the City. Today he is the municipal prosecutor for Horizon City, Clint, and San Elizario.

While an educator Chris went on field trips with students to McKittrick Canyon, Trinity Site, and White Sands, thoroughly enjoying them all. He still enjoys hiking almost every day and looks forward to experiencing the mountains, terrain, and natural sites of the El Paso area.