Education Committee

Dr. Andrea Suk

Dr. Andrea Suk coordinated the Education Committee’s December 2020 webinar survey. She is an assistant professor of inclusion at Salisbury University in Maryland and has been a PATH Intl. certified instructor since 2007. Andrea has been a high school special education teacher in Illinois, Arizona, and Texas. In that capacity, she received distinct recognition for her leadership as the ACE (Architecture, Construction and Engineering mentor group for high school students) mentor of the year in Phoenix, the Wal-mart Teacher of the Year (Glendale, Arizona), and is a Target Grant Field Trip recipient for bringing her students to a PATH Intl. premier accredited ranch to learn about and participate in Equine Assisted Services. In her doctoral studies work, Andrea conducted a single-case, multiple-baseline design, research study to identify if teaching individuals with disabilities to self-monitor their own riding goals, within the Equine Assisted Services environment, had an effect on attainment of their goals. Pictured is Andrea and Hank, the horse that she credits for connecting her love of horses and supporting individuals with disabilities (Central Illinois Riding Therapy).

When asked what made her interested in becoming involved with HHRF she shared “Throughout my doctoral program, I was inspired to conduct research at my local PATH Intl. centers based on my own ambitions. While I had a few advisors who were really supportive of my determination, there were others that denied the benefits of horse and human connections. At the PATH Intl. conference in Denver, I met Dr. Boyden (past HHRF Executive Director) at the HHRF table. He was the first person I encountered that not only knew about conducting horse and human research, but represented this whole network of individuals who not only share the vision in conducting research and supporting researchers, but also valued the need to enlightened the world on the benefits of horse and human connections. While I find great satisfaction in collaborating with like-minded individuals, I also hope that horse and human research results will eventually become “mainstream knowledge” in multiple fields…. so that future doctoral students with similar ambitions are not discouraged in their future research pursuits.

Andrea also shared that she enjoys traveling (most recently to Jamaica for an education conference / pre Covid), off-roading in her Jeep, and walking her dogs Zoey and Lady (both recues from Phoenix Az).

If interested in connecting with Andrea further please contact her at alsuk@salisbury.edu .

HHRF is always looking for passionate individuals who want to share in our mission and vision. We are interested in speaking with you if you are curious about serving on our Board of Directors, as an Ambassador, or joining one of our committees.