Welcome To the TEAM April Espinoza!
By Peter Metcalf
Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance is thrilled to officially introduce our new Stewardship and Engagement Specialist, April Espinoza. She joined our team at the end of August but due to the excitement of the Solenex lease retirement and ensuing Fall Gathering celebration, we’ve been a little delayed in properly introducing her to you.
April takes over from Jordyn Steele, who took a permanent position as an education specialist with Glacier National Park. April will continue to lead and develop our stewardship, education, and recreation programming and community outreach efforts, as well as take on more responsibilities for communications. Please join us in welcoming April to the Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance community!
April Espinoza on a bike/hike/ski trip into the Two Medicine area of Glacier National Park, Spring 2023. (Photo: Carly Monin)
April brings a great mix of professional experience, community connections, communication skills, and conservation passion to our team. Of particular note, April is a talented photographer with a keen eye for landscapes and nightscapes like the Milky Way. So, expect to see lots of good photos filling our social media and other news feeds in the near future, and not so many poor iPhone photos! She’s also an aspiring videographer. We are looking forward to helping her cultivate this interest by using more video to inform and connect people to our mission.
April is no stranger to many folks around here. Prior to joining Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance, she worked as the media specialist for Blackfeet Community College where she became widely recognized toting her camera at community events. She has also worked in Glacier National Park as a wrangler with Swan Mountain Outfitters and a boat captain in Two Medicine for the Glacier Boat Company.
April grew up in Los Angeles, California the daughter of immigrants from Mexico (to Peter’s chagrin she claims no interest in LA sports teams however). After graduating high school, she joined the Marine Corps where she served for four years in logistics before being honorably discharged. She then attended Colorado State University, majoring in Communications Studies while enjoying one of the more unique student-work jobs out there -- handling the university’s famed big horn ram mascot (she would parade the ram before football games, for example).
Fall colors in the Skyland area of the Flathead National Forest, September 2023. (Photo: April Espinoza)
Since moving to Montana, she has fallen in love with exploring wild public lands and is committed to defending intact landscapes from development or mismanagement. She can frequently be found hiking or biking around Glacier or on national forest land with camera in hand. She also revealed recently that “I LOVE chocolate chip cookies in case anyone likes to bake” although it’s still unclear if this means she likes to bake cookies, or just eat them. Either way, it is great to have April on-board to lead our stewardship program as well as to further our growing community partnerships across the Blackfeet Reservation and in surrounding areas.
If you’d like to get in touch to say hello, volunteer, or explore possible collaborations, April can be reached via email at april@glaciertwomedicine.org or via phone at 406-434-6223. Welcome aboard!