About Us
We founded LLAVES: KEYS TO BILINGUAL CONSERVATION to fill an essential niche:
Foreign language training for our Spanish- and English-speaking colleagues
that is customized for work-related use.
Why?
For better communication and collaboration with each other,
and with the local communities they serve.
In keeping with our passion for conservation,
we donate a portion of our profits
to conservation projects throughout the Americas.
Meredith G. Morehouse, M.E.M.
Hi everyone! I'm an international conservation specialist and it's the migratory birds of the Americas that shaped my heart - and career path.
Being able to interact with colleagues in both English and Spanish was key to opening doors to project collaborations and, best of all, lifelong friendships.
I already knew I wanted to help other colleagues do this when I saw Christy's "Spanish for Birders" class. It was fate! We've been building LLaves for you ever since, from Maine and Spain.
Brief Bio:
* B.S. International Environmental Studies, Spanish minor.
Rutgers University-Douglass College,
New Jersey, USA. 1995.
* Masters of Environmental Management (MEM), Duke University, North Carolina, USA. 1998.
* 9 years grants program coordination and communications experience at U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Division of Bird Habitat Conservation.
* 9 years shorebird conservation and
outreach / education experience at Manomet, Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN).
* 5 years foreign language teaching experience (English, Spanish).
Christy Esmahan, Ph.D.
Hi everyone! I'm a birder, scientist, writer and translator, and I also taught for many years. But most importantly, I'm passionate about conservation. I taught my students about the importance of preserving the environment and when I lived in Austin, Texas, I was on the Board of Directors of Travis Audubon and led the Advocacy Committee.
That's why I was so excited when Meredith contacted me about forming LLaves to help conservationists better communicate with one another. I am currently living just north of Madrid, Spain.
Brief Bio:
* B.A. Microbiology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA. 1986.
* Ph.D. Molecular Biology, Universidad de León, León, Spain. 1994.
*M.A. Education, Universidad de País Vasco, Bilbao, Spain. 1997.
* 15 years teaching experience
(high school and university levels):
-Life Science
-Earth Science
-Physical Science
-Biology
-Chemistry
-Physics
-Environmental Science
-Genetics
-Spanish
* 13 years technical translator experience.
ABOUT OUR NAME & LOGO
"LLAVES" (pronounced YA-behs) are "keys" in Spanish.
And, within that word is "aves" - meaning "birds".
As passionate birders, having our company name include birds made perfect sense!
The concept for our logo design was created by Dr. Keith Morehouse, an ornithologist and artist (and Meredith's husband).
We loved it!! And just added a few playful head feathers to give it a whimsical flair that, for the record, Dr. Morehouse feels is totally unnecessary.
Final kudos go to our close friend & graphic-artist guru, Pierina.
We owe the final design's simplistic beauty entirely to her expertise and creativity.
