Instructor Profiles

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Dr. Richard Beal
rebeal@esf.edu

Dr. Richard Beal has been working in ESF Outreach since 2001 and is currently the Associate Director of Educational Outreach and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Environmental and Forest Biology. Rick Teaches The Global Environment (EFB 120) in the fall and spring Semesters and acts as the Primary Mentor for High School Teachers who also teach Global Environment through the ESF in the High School program. Rick is currently Co-PI on a three-year $1.4 million grant from the NSF that brings college research into Central and Western New York high schools and middle schools through the ESF Science Corps. Rick worked two years prior to his appointment in Outreach with Dr. Charlie Hall on projects involving biophysical economics and simulation modeling. Rick has been active in several outreach projects during his time at ESF. He participated in committees that developed both the new Urban Ecology Minor as well as the Urban Ecology course. He has worked on developing a distance version of EFB 120 (Global Environment) and has taken part in recruitment efforts that focus on urban and minority students.

Rick is a board member for Project Watershed and is a member of the Onondaga Lake Partnership Outreach Committee. In addition, he holds a steering committee post for the Greater Syracuse Scholastic Science Fair and is the Director at Large of Environmental Science for the Science Teachers Association of New York. Rick received a BS degree in biochemistry from the University of Buffalo in 1991 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the same institution in 1997. He was a Peace Corps teacher in Eritrea (East Africa) from 1997 to 1998 and has over ten 10 years of experience in coaching soccer. He is currently the faculty advisor to the ESF Club Soccer Team. Rick is interested in hiking, snorkeling, as well as both playing and coaching soccer.

Dave Eichorn

David (“Dave”) Eichorn is a Meteorologist of 30 years experience. He was formerly with WSYR TV Syracuse for 20 years specializing in lake effect snowstorms and atmospheric patterns which produce them. Dave now holds adjunct positions at SUNY Oswego and Onondaga Community College where he teaches Introductory Meteorology, Advanced Forecasting, Broadcast Meteorology. He is a full member of the American Meteorological Society, has a specialized background in mesoscale atmospheric modeling and lake effect snow forecasting. As a Meteorologist, Dave has won awards for severe weather coverage of the superstorm of March 1993, Hurricane Gloria, and for educating the public in the science of Meteorology. Dave recently made a career change and is perusing a new career in Environmental Science. Since January 2006, he has given dozens of talks and presentations on climate change with a meteorological perspective to thousands of Central New Yorkers. Dave has worked with SUNY-ESF speaking with Syracuse City School District students at the “SUNY-ESF/SCSD Environmental Challenge” science fair and in 2008, moderated SUNY-ESF’sseminar series “CNY's Response to Global Energy and Climate Change Challenges” working with community leaders across all of Central New York on local efforts toward the mitigation of our carbon footprint. He is focused on global weather patterns and potential regional impacts as a result of climate change. Dave brings to the classroom a broad meteorological, regional and global climatological perspective.

Virginia Collins Williams

Virginia (Ginny) Williams is a recent graduate of SUNY ESF. She graduated in May 2009 with a Masters in Environmental Interpretation, and is currently the Educational Resource Director at Cayuga Nature Center. In addition to a background in environmental interpretation and natural history education, Ginny also has experience in environmental engineering, hydrology, and teaching instruction. She went to Cornell University for five years, completing her undergraduate degree in Biological and Environmental Engineering, and a Masters in agricultural and biological engineering with a focus on environmental engineering. She has done a number of interesting projects that look at how technology and design can better our built environment. She has worked with SUNY ESF Outreach in several different capacities over her 5 years at SUNY ESF. Most notably, she worked as part of the ESF Science Corps team as a Teaching Fellow at Fowler High School. She loves learning about and teaching others about hydrology and the environment, especially in the context of stormwater management.

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Dr. Chuck Spuches
cspuches@esf.edu

Chuck Spuches is Associate Dean for Outreach and Instructional Quality at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), and an adjunct associate professor in the Syracuse University graduate program in Instructional Design, Development, and Evaluation.

Recent ESF Outreach team projects include:

• ESF in the High School, a school/college collaboration program with partnerships throughout Central New York and Rochester, and New York City;
• An expanded faculty-driven continuing professional education initiative;
• Continuing professional education certificate programs in the areas of Engineering Design, Bioprocess Engineering, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Renewable Energy supported, in part, by a U.S. Department of Labor grant;
• The ESF Science Corps, established with support from a National Science Foundation grant; and
• ESF SCIENCE (summer camps investigating ecology in neighborhood and city environments) supported, in part, by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant.

In addition to his administrative duties, Spuches teaches traditional classroom and online courses on educational project management, planned change and innovation, college teaching, and university outreach.