Faces & places
STEM Santa Fe was honored in February as the Nonprofit of the Year for the New Mexico Excellence in STEM Awards. This is the inaugural year for the New Mexico excellence in STEM Awards — STEMYS. The awards are hosted by Air Force Research Lab New Mexico and are designed to celebrate those in the state doing great things in regards to STEM education. Honorees include students, teachers, mentors, advisers, schools, businesses and nonprofits.
STEM Santa Fe advocates for, develops and provides STEM programming, mentoring and resources for all youth, especially under-represented groups in science, technology, engineering and math programs.
Creative Santa Fe has hired Pascal Emmer as its events and programs manager.
Emmer’s career has been dedicated to working at the intersection of art and social justice, according to a news release. He brings 20 years of experience in advocacy and cultural programming concerning AIDS activism, LGBTQ justice, health care and housing equity, and work to end mass incarceration. Emmer holds a master’s degree in sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a bachelor’s degree in art history from McGill University. He is a ceramic artist whose work explores themes of space, fractals and speculative futurism.
Audubon New Mexico recently appointed Paul Tashjian as its associate director of freshwater conservation. Tashjian will further bolster Audubon New Mexico’s innovative freshwater conservation program to address the many challenges the state is facing regarding declining river flows and the impact that has on birds, other wildlife and New Mexicans.
Effective Monday, Tashjian will lead Audubon New Mexico’s multifaceted Freshwater Conservation Program, along with Beth Bardwell, director of conservation.
Tashjian comes to Audubon New Mexico with more than 26 years of hydrology experience from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Southwestern Region. His expertise includes water management and water protection for wildlife, river restoration, water law and wetland workshop coordination.
Tashjian earned a Bachelor of Science in anthropology with a minor in geology from Colorado College, and a Master of Science in geology from Temple University. He is a member of the board for the New Mexico Water Dialogue and the president of the Albuquerque Bosque Chapter of Trout Unlimited.