She attributed family health problems to urban pollution and said she felt "suffocated" by upper-class social norms.

[4][7] The group first focused on raising awareness at schools in the Sierra Gorda, holding environmental education events that featured theater and music, including Ruiz Corzo's singing and playing of the accordion.

[2] Over time, drawing on Ruiz Corzo's "imposing charisma", GESG generated grassroots support for environmental practices (recycling, reforestation, etc.)

It was finally successful in May 1997, when President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo established the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve over about 385,000 hectares (950,000 acres) of land, one-third of Querétaro state.

[2][3] As director, she helped set up compensation for locals protecting the ecosystem of their land instead of using it for activities like subsistence farming.

[4][7] The Ecologist magazine wrote in 2016 that Ruiz Corzo "manages to speak to large audiences without fear and she almost always ends a speech by singing".