Our Team

Susan Connell

Expedition Director/Leader

Susan Connell has for twenty- five years led small groups on trips worldwide, focusing on archaeology, cultural anthropology, marine biology, and history. Susan has designed and led scientific and cultural expeditions to Sicily, Turkey, Israel; the Canadian High Arctic, the Red Sea, and to remote regions of the Amazon. She designed and led tours to augment deep-sea-explorer, Dr. Robert Ballard's expeditions in the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Black Sea, and off the coast of Ashkalon, Israel. Susan’s interest in indigenous cultures has helped create trips to visit the Berbers in the Sahara, the Bedouin in the Sinai and Jordan, the Innu in Labrador, the Ashuar in Ecuador, the Inuit in the Canadian High Arctic, the Maya in Guatemala; and the hill tribes in Yunnan Province, China, Tibet, Laos, Nepal, and Cambodia. Susan lives in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and Stonington, CT.

Maria Giese

Producer/Filmmaker

Maria most recently co-produced the Nina Menkes hit feature documentary, Brainwashed: Sex-Camera- Power (Kino Lorber 2022). In 2015, after four years of activism in the Directors Guild of America, she became the person who instigated the biggest industry-wide ACLU and federal investigations for women directors in Hollywood history. She is now a subject of five books and three feature documentaries including This Changes Everything (Netflix 2019) and Half The Picture (Amazon 2018) which describe her tireless work advocating for women in the film industry, the ramifications continue to resonate globally. In The New York Times, Manohla Dargis referred to her work as “a veritable crusade.” Previously, Giese wrote and directed award-winning features and short films including When Saturday Comes (1996) starring Sean Bean and Pete Postlethwaite, and Hunger (2007). She holds a Master’s degree from UCLA’s Graduate School of Theatre, Film and Television and is currently attached to write, direct, and produce multiple feature films.

Juan Carlos García

Expedition Director/Leader

Juan Carlos has worked in the travel and conservation world for more than 25 years. He started his professional career as a naturalist guide in the Amazon Rainforest, expanding his work over the years. For more than a decade he managed several conservation and ecotourism programs for international NGOs, including The Nature Conservancy and The World Wildlife Fund - WWF. Juan Carlos has extensive field experience, spending significant professional time over the years with field assignments in the Amazon Rainforest and the Galapagos Islands. Juan Carlos established his tour operator in 2005, Trek Ecuador, to help connect responsible travelers with unique and authentic travel experiences in Ecuador and in the Amazon Rainforest, and since 2017 works as a consultant for The Pachamama Alliance and Fundación Pachamama, to strengthen ecotourism as a tool for conservation and sustainable development, as well as to reduce the human footprint in the areas in the Amazon Rainforest where travel takes place.

Belén Paez

President of Fundación Pachamama

Belén Páez, Ecuadorian ecologist, specializes in guiding transitions toward regenerative economic models and designing innovative governance and financing mechanisms for bioregions and indigenous territories in Latin America. Faced with the widespread loss of biodiversity, the expansion of extractive industries, and the increasing threats of fires, droughts, and floods, her work focuses on creating ecological, economic, social, and political systemic solutions to protect life on Earth. She also anticipates emerging trends and develops strategies to tackle future challenges. 

With over 28 years of experience protecting the Amazon, Belén has worked closely with indigenous communities to implement sustainable economic alternatives that have improved their quality of life while helping to conserve millions of acres of tropical rainforest. Through her leadership at Fundación Pachamama and Pachamama Alliance, efforts have successfully halted the expansion of extractive industries and reduced deforestation in the south-central Amazon, one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. 

Belén’s impact extends both locally and globally, where she leads projects in bioeconomy, ecotourism, renewable energy, ecosystem conservation, climate justice, maternal and child health, and human and nature rights. Her ability to bring attention to the Amazon on a global stage has made it a central issue in international forums focused on indigenous rights, climate change, and innovation. Her efforts have earned her recognition from many organizations, including being named one of the 100 Latinos most committed to Climate Action in 2021. 

Currently, Belén is the President of Fundación Pachamama and Vice President of Pachamama Alliance. She also serves as General Secretary and board member of the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance, which works to protect 86 million acres of bio-culturally rich tropical rainforests in Ecuador and Peru, in partnership with 30 indigenous nations and peoples. She is a member of the Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA) and serves on the boards of Protection International (PI) and the Ecuadorian Sustainable Environmental Investment Fund (FIAS). 

Belén Páez is a prominent voice in blending ancestral knowledge with innovative solutions, leading the way toward a regenerative and equitable future that honors both nature and indigenous communities. 

Hayden Brooks

Expedition Founder and Advisor

For over 30 years, Hayden has championed environmental causes that enhance parks and integrate nature into children's lives at the national, state, and local levels. He has served on the Boards of the International Children & Nature Network, National Recreation & Park Association, Texas Children in Nature and as Commissioner for the Austin Parks and Recreation Department. Hayden retired in 2021 as Director of American Realty Corporation's Asset Management Group where for 30+ years he oversaw dozens of real estate partnerships including millions of square feet of office, industrial and retail space. Hayden's academic credentials include a Bachelor of Architecture in Urban Planning from the University of Virginia and a Master of Business Administration in Real Estate Finance from the University of Texas. Hayden, together with his wife, split their time between residences in Austin, Texas and Otovalo, Ecuador