Director
SCHUYLER HEDSTROM
Dartmouth College, B.A., English
While at Dartmouth, Schuyler spent two semesters abroad, studying Spanish art history in Barcelona and drama with coaches from the Royal Shakespeare Company in London. After performing and teaching theatre in San Francisco for two years, he moved to Madrid to teach English and acting to Spaniards. Now in his 14th year in Madrid, Schuyler teaches English and runs a bilingual theatre company. A Vermont native, Schuyler enjoys hiking, swimming, and yoga. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and Central America. This is Schuyler’s 18th summer with Putney. He has led Cultural Exploration Australia New Zealand, & Fiji; Cultural Exploration Switzerland, Italy, France, and Holland; and Community Service Hawaii. He has directed Middle School Costa Rica for three summers, and Putney’s programs in Madrid and Barcelona for 11 summers. Schuyler is fluent in Spanish and Italian.
Art & Architecture
MARIA GABRIELA (GABY) FLORES
Brown University, B.A., International Relations & Italian Studies, Rice University, M.Arch., Architecture
While at Brown, Gaby focused on Italian literature and politics. She spent a year studying abroad in Bologna, immersed in Italian arts and culture. While there, she traveled all over Spain, Italy, and Greece, visiting Barcelona for the first time and discovering her admiration for the architecture of Gaudí. Gaby now works as professor of architecture at the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Architecture helping students develop designs in tropical architecture and has a private practice in San Juan. Last summer, Gaby led a group of first-year undergraduate architecture students on a summer study trip to France, touring some of Le Corbusier’s most renowned buildings. Gaby is fluent in English, Spanish, and Italian, and is proficient in French.
Spanish Language
LUCIA DONATELLI
Brown University, B.A., Hispanic Literature and Culture, University of Massachusetts Amherst, M.A., Hispanic Linguistics, Georgetown University, Ph.D., Spanish Linguistics
While at Brown, Lucia spent her summers teaching science and creative writing to bilingual middle school students with Breakthrough Collaborative Santa Fe in New Mexico. Lucia’s first extensive trip abroad was during her junior year in college, when she spent a semester studying literature at the Universidad Autónoma in Madrid. Lucia returned to Spain for three years to work for Boston University in Madrid and Benjamin Franklin International School in Barcelona, where she lived for two years. She has also traveled to Cuba, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Colombia with Spanish-language programs. Lucia currently teaches an advanced Spanish course at Georgetown, integrating the history, culture, politics, and language of Spain. Lucia is fluent in Spanish. She has twice led both Putney’s Language Learning Spain and Language Learning Ecuador & the Galápagos programs.
Travel Photography
LEO CARRIZO
The Ohio State University, B.A., International Studies, B.A., Spanish, The Ohio State University, M.A., Spanish Literature and Culture, Ohio University, M.A., Photojournalism
While pursuing his master’s degree in Spanish literature and culture at The Ohio State University, Leonardo traveled to Spain and Mexico to learn about and photograph the people and their cultures. There he photographed a wide variety of historical landmarks and cultural traditions unique to those countries. After this wonderful experience Leonardo earned a master’s degree in photojournalism and documentary photography from Ohio University. During this time he partnered with the Tropical Disease Institute to work on a photo documentary in Loja, Ecuador. His photographs were donated to the program and made into an exhibit called “The Faces of Chagas.” After this project, Leonardo went on to do photojournalism internships at The Houston Chronicle and The Columbus Dispatch. In 2010, he traveled to Cusco, Peru, to photograph a nonprofit organization helping orphans and children with disabilities. More recently, he has worked as a conservation photographer, documenting wildlife, biodiversity, and conservation at the Yasuní Research Station in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Leonardo has over 10 years of teaching experience in higher education. He taught Spanish courses at The Ohio State University. Currently, he teaches multimedia journalism, photojournalism, visual communication design, and user-centered design for the School of Communication at OSU. He also mentors student photo editors working at the university’s student-run newspaper The Lantern. Leonardo is a faculty member of OSU STEAM Factory, an interdisciplinary group of professors, researchers, and lecturers focused on academic collaboration between science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. In addition, Leonardo continues to do independent photography work and has taught visual storytelling workshops in Ecuador and the U.S. Leonardo is fluent in Spanish and has led National Geographic Student Expeditions to Ecuador and the Galápagos in 2015 and 2016, and Peru in 2016.
Program Assistant
RYANNE FUJITA-CONRADS
Reed College, B.A., Sociology
While at Reed, Ryanne’s studies focused on Spanish and the sociology of race and immigration. During college, Ryanne taught hands-on science classes to sixth graders and led ESL tutoring sessions for Portland day laborers. She spent six months studying sociology and Spanish in Barcelona, Spain. Ryanne served as student leader of the Ecuador Service Project at Reed and spent a summer volunteering in a small Kichwa community in the Andes. After graduation, Ryanne earned a grant from her alma mater to intern with a small nonprofit in La Manzanilla, Mexico, teaching ESL courses for local children and adults and coordinating a summer arts and English program. She then lived in rural Thailand for a year, where she enjoyed teaching English to high school students, traveling through Southeast Asia, and learning about Thai language, history, and culture. Ryanne currently works full time at Putney Student Travel, where she organizes programs in Costa Rica and Ecuador, and is a member of our Outreach Team. Ryanne is fluent in Spanish and has led Putney’s Community Service Ecuador and the Galápagos, Community Service Costa Rica, and Middle School Costa Rica programs.