Staff & Volunteers
Staff
Richard David Tejeda
Founder & Executive Director
Richard Tejeda is a naturalist with over a decade of experience working with diverse populations in environmental education. As an adult, Richard realized that when in nature, his state of consciousness was at peace. Rather than focus on the trauma of the past, or concerns of the future, he was able to stay focused on the here and now.
He holds degrees from West Valley College in Park Management and from San Jose State in Environmental Studies with a minor in sustainable water resources. He is up to date on Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core and has worked for California State Parks, Open Space Authority, Santa Clara County Parks, Valley Water, and the Monterey Bay Salmon & Trout Project and is now the founder and executive director of Saved By Nature, an organization that helps all members of the community find peace in nature.
Richard is the first documented person in Santa Clara County to be rehabilitated by nature and is recipient of the 2020 Environmentalist of the Year Award from Santa Clara County League of Conservation Voters, and the Bay Nature Magazine 2022 Community Hero Award. Today, you can find him leading guided hikes in parks and preserves for Saved By Nature throughout the South Bay and beyond.
Elexis Padrón is an artist, California Naturalist, educator, and deeply curious human hailing from the small Central Valley town of Sanger, California. She earned her Bachelor’s Degrees in Art and Community Studies from UC Santa Cruz, where she fell in love with printmaking and scientific illustration. After a couple of years of working with an arts-education nonprofit in LA, she relocated to the Bay Area to teach hands-on science-based lessons in an outdoor classroom for TK-5th graders. She then spent a year as a Senior Park Aide for Interpretation at Butano State Park and Half Moon Bay State Beach before joining Saved by Nature as a Natural & Cultural Resources Interpreter.
Elexis brings with her a passion for helping people deepen their connection with nature through fun experiences and artistic practices, and the belief that humans are not separate from nature, and that strengthening that relationship is crucial to moving forward in our current climate.
She enjoys spending her free time reading a good fiction book, nature journaling, dancing, camping, and learning new creative pursuits to add to her collection of hobbies she doesn’t have time for.
Lillian Silva
Program Assistant
Coming soon.
Community Nature Guides 2022
Dawn Theirl
Community Nature Guide
Bio coming soon.
Carlos Marquez
Community Nature Guide
Bio coming soon.
Denise Smith
Community Nature Guide
Denise Smith is native to the San Francisco Bay Area. She has worked with agencies such as National Park
Service, City of Fremont, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, San Mateo and Santa Clara County Parks and the City of San Jose parks and neighborhood services. Here Docent experience is with East Bay Regional Parks - Ardenwood Historic Farm, and Open Space Authority Santa Clara Valley. She has a BA in Recreation Management from San Francisco State University. Her passion is people and educating them on the natural and cultural history of the bay area. She loves the relaxing and stress reducing aspects of being in
nature. If you don’t see her in parks, you can find her at a car show which is a hobby of hers.
Leslie Anido
Community Nature Guide
Bio coming soon.
Pamela Campos
Community Nature Guide
Bio coming soon.