Dr. Susan Szewczak
Grant Administrator

Susan Szewczak is the Executive Director of the Eastern Sierra Institute for Collaborative Education. As a consultant and facilitator, her work focuses on developing innovative collaborative programs. These partnerships link public schools with academic communities from institutions of higher education, as well as resource agencies, non-profit organizations, and communities of the Eastern Sierra Region. Over the last six years, Dr. Szewczak has developed a successful undergraduate internship program in the natural resources that emphasizes student self-responsibilty for outcomes and understanding the many faces of science found in natural resource professions. In addition, Dr. Szewczak is the lead facilitator for an interdisciplinary initiative that explores the use of science in building natural resource collaborations. Dr. Szewczak is currently developing new programs that focuses on building the capacity of the local rural community to improve science education in 6th-9th grades. Components of this program include teacher professional development, outdoor science education, and applications of computer-aided scientific inquiry in student research projects.