Todd Caplan

Restoration Program Director

Albuquerque, NM

October 29th, 2025

Westies gather in a brightly lit class room at the University of New Mexico after waking to a cold morning in Albuquerque. Here we warm up while meeting with ecologist Todd Caplan. Originally from Nevada, he has lived in the area for the last 30 years doing work in New Mexico, Arizona, California, and also internationally through an office in Papua New Guinea. Todd started his career in alpine forest ecology, but after he moved to New Mexico transitioned into riparian ecology which helped him obtain a job working for the Santa Ana (Tamayomi) Pueblo. At the Pueblo he found some of his most rewarding work, building a department to bring educational, economic, and developmental opportunities to the tribe. During his seven years in this role, Todd also helped put together and execute a plan for the largest native vegetation restoration project along the Rio Grande flood plain. He has continued his dedication to restoration ecology, creating functional riparian habitat through consulting work. This includes a wide variety of restoration, mitigation, and monitoring projects around ground and surface water, soil health, mine drainage, native vegetation regrowth, rivers and flood plains, and more.

During our time together, Westies learned the significance of the river and flood plain interactions along the Rio Grande. Todd shared with us that “river and flood plains are one and can’t be decoupled without significant ecological impacts.” He taught us that to restore them, “it doesn't matter thinking outside of the box, it's about recognizing the box is changing.” There are alterations to the environment that are irreversible and require creative solutions to reach a point of long-term viability. Todd has dedicated his work to exploring and applying these solutions while educating others of their importance.

by Zandra Bakken