Student Engagement Director
Steffanie Munguía has been volunteering with environmental organizations since she was 11 years old and began providing environmental education programs in her central Florida community. Now she serves as CCL’s Student Engagement Director, increasing youth participation in CCL through several programs that equip young people with the skills and support they need to advocate for climate change solutions.
Steffanie is a proud BoriCubana (Puerto Rican and Cuban) who credits her passions for the environment and service to her early childhood experiences outdoors. In middle school, she began creating environmental programs to engage kids in her community in conservation, filling a critical gap in traditional science programs, and build a network of young conservation leaders. She took her work to her local and state-level Audubon affiliates, eventually coordinating a state-wide program for college students interested in careers in conservation. After focusing on avian ecology in undergrad, Steffanie became interested in the nexus of science and policy and pursued a master’s degree in International Environmental Policy to learn how to leverage science to address society’s most pressing issues, from climate change to environmental justice. She is now pursuing a doctoral degree at Florida International University in coastal wetland policy and management, focusing on the political, economic, and social factors driving decision-making in these critical natural carbon sinks.
In addition to her work with CCL, Steffanie continues to contribute to bird and habitat conservation as a researcher and youngest member of the National Audubon Society Board, and serves as a member of the National Parks Conservation Association’s Next Generation Advisory Council. Much of her work in these organizations focuses on engaging historically excluded groups in conservation. She lives in Miami, FL at the gateway to the Everglades on ancestral Tequesta, Seminole, and Miccosukee lands, and always looks forward to the next opportunity to be in nature, spend time with her partner and cat, sing and play ukulele, and Latin dance the night away.
