Alison Cawood

Dr. Alison Cawood is the Director of Public Engagement at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC). In this role, she oversees SERC’s environmental education, citizen science, and professional training programs, and works to make SERC science relevant and accessible to a wide range of audiences. She is the director of SERC’ Research Experiences for Undergraduates and Research Experiences for Teachers programs, directs the Science to Go program in partnership with local libraries, and works on a wide variety of projects with topics ranging from archaeology to water quality to soil microbes. Prior to working at SERC, Alison worked as an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego and as an instructor with Reality Changers, an educational non-profit that provides mentoring and tutoring for first-generation college students. Alison earned her Ph.D. in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, where she was a National Science Foundation GK-12 Teaching Fellow. She earned bachelors’ degrees in Marine Biology and Hispanic Studies from the College of Charleston.

Stories from this author

Three adults wearing chest waders laughing and in silly poses. They are standing on sand behind a line of plastic bins filled with water.

When the Chesapeake Bay Serves as Your Research Laboratory and Inspiration for the Classroom

Teachers and environmental researchers alike learned something new about their fields of expertise in this unique professional development opportunity.

Since the start of the pandemic, people all over the world have increased their time spent with nature. (Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute)

Connecting (and Reconnecting) with the Natural World

Smithsonian educators provide tips for making the outdoors your very own curiosity-sparking classroom.