Susan Cox, a conservation education coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service in Durham, New Hampshire, began her career as a forester specializing in forest health. Later, she became interested in pursuing a career that specifically involved adult learners, so she earned a master’s degree in adult education.
Susan promotes learning about forests and the environment by forging partnerships between natural resource professionals and educators within the 20-state northeastern region. She incorporates PLT’s hands-on curriculum to provide educators with teaching strategies and science content so that they, in turn, can train teachers, youth program leaders, and students. Susan helps advise the U.S. Forest Service in its education and outreach mission. She helped design and deliver programs for teachers and other educators in several other states, including teacher forestry tours in Maine and watershed institutes for teachers in New York.
Nationally, she has advised the Council of State Science Supervisors on incorporating environmental education into state science standards and other policies to enhance science literacy and instruction. In New Hampshire, she is part of a team working on developing a statewide environmental literacy plan. Susan has helped New Hampshire PLT design and implement “A Forest for Every Classroom,” a year-long professional development series for middle and high school educators that uses place-based education to foster student understanding of—and appreciation for—the forested lands in their communities. Susan is past president of New Hampshire Environmental Educators, the state’s professional environmental education organization, as well as an active participant in the NH Science Teacher Leaders Group.
“Susan is extremely gifted in her ability to collaborate and bring about change in environmental education at the national, regional, and local levels, and across diverse organizations.”
– Esther Cowles, Executive Director, New Hampshire PLT
Susan was named National PLT Outstanding Educator in 2010.
Vanessa Bullwinkle
Vanessa Bullwinkle
