Staff
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Dr. Edward Abeyta: Director |
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Dr. Edward Abeyta is the Director of K-16 Programs at UC San Diego (UCSD) Extension. Prior to joining UCSD Extension in 1995, Edward began his service at UCSD as a counselor for the Early Academic Outreach Program serving underrepresented students in San Diego high schools and later assumed the role of Registrar and Director of Academic Services at UC San Diego Extension. Dr. Abeyta has a B.A. from the University of New Mexico, an M.A. from the University of San Diego and a Ph.D. in Post Secondary Adult Education from Capella University. Edward has been recognized from UCSD and the UC Office of the President for his involvement in staff diversity and development initiatives. In 2008 Edward was selected to a two year term as the Staff Advisor to The Regents. He currently serves on the UC Diversity Commission, Post-retirement Task Force, and The Regents UC Commission on the Future. Originally from New Mexico, Dr. Abeyta and his wife Candi have lived in California for over 20 years and currently reside in San Diego. He is an active member in the San Diego community as a member of LEAD San Diego and board member on the City of San Diego Citizens Review Board on Police Practices, San Diego Workforce Advancement Committee, and Herb Klein Leadership Roundtable. Edward is also a founding board member of the newly established San Diego Urban Discovery Charter School and is deeply involved in programs servicing foster youth, veterans, and other youth development programs.
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Robie Wittman: Program Manager |
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Robie Wittman has 20 years of experience at the University of California, San Diego providing project management, strategic planning, and operational support in department areas including: Anesthesiology, Epidemiology, Extension Office of the Dean and UCSD Global CONNECT. Prior to joining UC San Diego, Robie was an investor relations specialist and stock plan administrator for Websense, the global leader in Web filtering software. In August 2010, Robie leveraged her combined experience in the public/private sector and higher education by assuming the role as the UCSD Extension K-16 program manager. Her program portfolio includes the UCSD LAUNCH undergraduate program, Academic Connections Research Scholars and Studies, College Exploration courses and High School Independent Studies.
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Dr. Pamela Surko: Principal Investigator |
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Dr. Pamela Surko is the Principal Investigator for the "Global Environmental Leadership and Sustainability" courses, in conjunction with The Kohala Center on the Island of Hawai‘i. Dr. Surko was formerly the Director of Research for Public Programs, for UCSD Global CONNECT's research activities from 2007 through 2010. Her artificial intelligence and data mining expertise contributed to Global CONNECT's quantitative research programs. She received her Ph.D. in experimental high energy physics from UC Berkeley; taught and did research in the Physics department of Princeton University; changed fields to artificial intelligence and became a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories; then joined Science Applications International Corporation in San Diego, where she was an SAIC Technology Fellow.
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Susan Moerder: Instructor |
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Susan Moerder is the Science Department Chair at Francis Parker School in San Diego. She joined the Parker staff 28 years ago after receiving her M.S. in Marine Science from Iona College in New York, eight years of teaching in the Bronx, New York and five years teaching in Vail, Colorado. Her love of science has led her to be a coach for the school’s Ocean Sciences Bowl Competition team, advisor for the school’s SMART (Student’s Modeling a Research Topic) Team, and a workshop facilitator for UCSD’s Super Computer Center teaching their summer CONTIG (Conference on New Teachers in Genomics) workshop for high school science teachers. Susan also serves on the Advisory Board of CASL (California Association of Student Leaders), working with the student State Board, teaching leadership skills and planning and implementing two 3-day leadership conferences for almost two thousand high school and middle school student leaders annually. Susan has been recognized for her excellence in teaching with Stanford University’s Teacher Tribute Award and Parker’s Mulliken Award For Excellence in Teaching.