Faces of the Forest

Moisés Marcelino is Manager of the Environmental Department and General Operations who has worked at Instituto Terra for eight months. He comes from a long line of farmers, and so has a strong family connection to the earth. With a passion for beekeeping, he always knew he would work in nature.

Andressa Vicentino is a Seedling Producer and Tree Nursery Maintenance person, who has worked at Instituto Terra for seven months. In this very personal interview, she compares the whole process of watching a seed grow, caring for it, providing everything it needs, to being just like motherhood!

Elisângela Ferreira da Silva has worked at Instituto Terra for nine years. She is an Environmental Analyst in the seed laboratory and is fulfilling her dreams! She has always loved biology and dreamed of doing anything in that field for a living, so it’s a distant dream that came true.

Antônio Duque Dias grew up on a farm, all the way from planting to harvesting crops and raising cattle. Despite the work being tough and back-breaking, he found it gratifying, much like his forest maintenance and planting operations role now at Instituto Terra, where he’s been for the past 11 years.

José Luiz de Oliveira is a hard-working family man, who grew up surrounded by nature. Recently appointed as a Team Supervisor, he says this is the biggest challenge he has faced in the 18 years he’s worked at Instituto Terra.

Coming from a bigger city, Patrícia Fernandes Dantas Ferreira truly appreciates the beautiful surroundings in which she is now lucky to work, motivating her to continue the legacy of sustainability at Instituto Terra.

Arlon Mattos is a graduate of Instituto Terra’s education program, who is now working as an educator at Instituto Terra. He’s fulfilling his life’s passion for making a positive impact by teaching others about restoration of the forest.

Marilda Moreira grew up on her parents’ farm and spent her formative years helping out around the farm after school. Today, as Logistics Supervisor with over 20 years’ service at Instituto Terra, she still loves her job.

Artemio Teodoro de Andrade has worked at Instituto Terra for 17 years. His working life started on the railroads, which he says was his toughest job. Now, he is responsible for building maintenance, having helped build the offices and dorms that exist today!

Jeieli Capettini, Manager of Education and People, started working at Instituto Terra during her second year of college nearly 12 years ago. At first she was attracted by the well-structured way that Instituto Terra was driving change on different environmental and educational frontiers.

Otherwise known as ‘Queen Bee’, Kayla is responsible for the Meliponary School, as well as the practical elements of the Instituto Terra’s educational course. She says that working with nature is very rewarding, and that it shows us signs when we should spread awareness about the need to care for our planet.

Josiel Veloso Soares is a garden worker at Instituto Terra – his first permanent role since he was 14 years old. Having previously worked on all kind of plantations, he sees his role today as an opportunity to make a positive difference in the world.

Erika Furtado’s dream came true when she got a job in Instituto Terra’s tree nursery. Learning first-hand through hard work, she also increased her knowledge with training, and is now in a supervisory role. She hopes as the trees she and her team have planted grow, that they will inspire more people to love nature and the environment.

André Favaro is an environmental technical consultant with Instituto Terra. His job not only lets him achieve his dream of benefiting the environment. He hopes that by restoring worn out land to its natural state, he can also help local families to have a more sustainable future.