Susan Hindinger Joins VCE

Susan with daughters Brooke and Dory

Susan Hindinger begins this week as VCE’s new Associate Director. Susan brings expertise in program planning and management, grant proposal development, and budget management. She’ll provide strategic support to the executive director and the staff biologists. And her presence will allow VCE Executive Director Chris Rimmer and former Associate Director Kent McFarland to focus more on their research and other initiatives.

“Having managed an astonishing array of successful projects during VCE’s first seven years, the staff has reached a point where it can benefit from support that will give scientists more time for science,” said Hindinger. “I’ll essentially be the ‘offensive coordinator’ for a successful team that had been coaching itself as it played the game.”

Susan holds degrees in geology and field ecology, and has a permanent sweet tooth from a short stint as a pastry chef. Most of her career has been in environmental non-profits, as grantor and grantee alike.

Susan lives in Weathersfield with her husband Todd and daughters Dory and Brooke. She loves steep learning curves, the fluty song of the hermit thrush, the smell of freshly mowed grass, sand between her toes, and cooking for a crowd. She also has a particular fondness for spiders.

“With her deep natural history roots, strong connections in the conservation community, and solid grasp of non-profit management, Susan brings a terrific skill set to VCE,” said Rimmer. “Plus, we’re delighted to have a spider expert on board.”

Bryan Pfeiffer

Bryan Pfeiffer, a VCE research associate, is a writer and field biologist whose articles and essays have appeared in Orion, Aeon Magazine, The New York Times, Field & Stream, The Progressive, Northern Woodlands and lots of other places. Bryan was lead field lepidopterist for the Vermont Butterfly Survey and is co-coordinator of the Vermont Dragonfly and Damselfly Survey. He teaches writing to graduate students in the Field Naturalist Program at the University of Vermont.