Director
Katherine E. Comer Santos
Katherine is an Adjunct Professor at San Diego State University’s Geography Department where she earned her master’s degree. She also earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and Spanish Literature from the University of California at San Diego. Through a partnership with the San Diego Zoo’s Center for Research of Endangered Species, she wrote her thesis on nesting sea turtles at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. She has collaborated on sea turtle research in Baja California while working as the Research Coordinator for the Institute for Regional Studies of the Californias. Other international exchanges include a FIPSE-and Phi Beta Delta-sponsored internship with the University of Barcelona studying avian distributions, 2.5 years of volunteer work in sustainable agriculture with the Peace Corps, and living with a host family through a University of Connecticut study abroad program in Granada, Spain. Her personal interests are sea turtles, travel, surfing, and capoeira.
Contact Katherine E. Comer Santos
Bridge the Border Coordinator
Frances Kinney
Frances was raised in Ojai, California, and currently holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies with a minor in Spanish from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Her studies focused on endangered species protection, and Frances has experience in wildlife education, restoration projects, and coastal conservation. Frances is the Program Director for Ocean Connectors, a marine science education project of the nonprofit The Ocean Foundation. Throughout this program, Frances carries out innovative and unique educational activities in both the US and Mexico. Using different species of migratory marine life as case studies, Frances works to teach ocean conservation lessons to more than 2,500 underserved students per year. She dedicates herself to increasing the public’s awareness of the connection between terrestrial and marine ecosystems, thus demonstrating our own relationship to ocean health. Now in partnership with The Science Exchange, Frances will introduce the Bridge the Border program in San Diego.
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Host Family Coordinator
Elizabeth Giffen
Liz Giffen is the Host Family Coordinator and received her B.A. International Studies from Earlham College, Richmond, IN and her M.A. in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. While in college she studied abroad in Mexico, Kenya and interned in Colombia, where researched the impacts of the textile industry on Colombian women. Prior to her position at The Science Exchange, she worked as a Watershed Coordinator for the County of San Diego, and as an Environmental Analyst for Mooney and Associates consulting firm in San Diego. Previously, she was a Regional Coordinator for Westaff (Green Mountain Energy) and trained and managed ten field consultants and while directing the renewable energy marketing campaign in the San Diego area. Her personal interests are foreign travel and environmental advocacy. She is fluent in Spanish
Grants Coordinator
Dr. Sue Koscinski
Susan earned a Bachelor of Arts from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, with a major in Biology. In 1980 she received an MED in Learning Disabilities from the University of Georgia in Athens, GA. She taught in the public school system while entering and completing the Ph.D program at the University of GA. She received that degree in the Education of Exceptional Children in 1994. In addition to writing her dissertation and teaching, she published three articles in the Journal of Learning Disabilities and Learning Disabilities Research and Practice. Her personal interests are in travel and playing bridge.
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Operations Intern
Beth Whitman
Beth is also a research assistant at NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center where she is currently analyzing dive data of loggerhead and green turtles. She recently received her master’s degree in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia where she collaborated with The Nature Conservancy and wrote her thesis on hydrodynamics affecting larval transport and settlement onto intertidal oyster reefs. She also has a professional background in business management and holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Purdue University. Other projects she has been involved in include invasive plant surveys with the San Diego River Park Foundation, Purdue’s constructed wetlands study, and wildlife rehabilitation at the Wildcat Rehabilitation Center in Indiana. Her future goals are to become fluent in Spanish and pursue a Ph.D. in sea turtle ecology.
