Anna Switzer, PhD

PhD Education Program Design and Consultation | Teacher Professional Development, Adult SEL, Systematic Decision Making, Leadership Coaching, Experiential Ed | Author of the book License to Learn

I serve educational and environmental organizations and their leaders, expanding their abilities to achieve the results they dream about for their stakeholders. In all I do, I’m driven by concern for the wellbeing of people, communities, and the environment. I specialize in program design and in building positive and effective organizational cultures, bringing deep experience in progressive education, designing aspirational projects from scratch, and facilitation. As an organizational consultant and coach, I love guiding individuals and groups to develop their lifelong learning muscle. I bring unique expertise in systematic decision-making, applicable for many purposes including consensus-building. I also offer one-on-one personal nature-based coaching. 

For more, see annaswitzer.com.

Areas of Expertise:

Program Design

Community and Culture Building

Leadership and Leadership Coaching

Systematic Decision Making

Environmental Decision Making

Curriculum and Instruction Design

Group Facilitation, Active Pedagogy and Andragogy

Outdoor and Environmental Education

Science Education

Social and Emotional Learning

Trauma and Nervous System Awareness

Lifelong Learning

Project-based Learning

Individual Personal/Professional Coaching

My career spans classroom teaching (Physics, Oceanography, Earth Science), outdoor adventure instruction, curriculum and instructional design, guiding K-12 school transformation, school leader and teacher development, and educational research. Throughout my journey, I have contributed to multiple internationally recognized organizations. With Outward Bound, I led extensive wilderness experiences for people aged 13 - 75. At National Geographic Society, I coordinated a national online mapping project for citizen science data. For EL Education, I drove continuous improvement efforts in K-12 education in Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Oregon, and Washington. In addition, I have collaborated on international and indigenous projects: pioneering a Project-Based Learning secondary school in England, co-designing a field experience for college students in India, serving as the liaison between National Geographic and a multi-tribe organization cleaning up the Yukon River watershed, and supporting a school aiming to preserve a native language in New Mexico.  

Education & Certifications:

Ph.D. Education (University of Michigan)

M.S. Oceanography (North Carolina State University)

B.A. Physics (Kenyon College)

Professional Life Coach (Earth Based Institute)

Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (not current)