Meet the Team & Our Partners
The Team
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Director, Chesapeake Watershed Semester
Mel Skirkanich is the Director of the Chesapeake Watershed Semester at The Gunston School, where she also serves as Director of the Bay Studies Program and a science teacher. A licensed educator with a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Conservation from Virginia Tech, Mel brings both academic rigor and field expertise to her teaching. She has been working in the environmental education field for over 11 years, combining her deep knowledge of ecology with a strong foundation in classroom instruction. Mel is also the founder of the first chapter of the Youth Climate Institute on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where she empowers students to understand and take action on climate issues. In the summer, she develops curriculum for Horizons of Kent and Queen Anne’s County and directs the aquatics program—blending academic enrichment with outdoor exploration and water safety. Whether guiding students in the field, building curriculum, or leading climate initiatives, Mel is passionate about equipping the next generation with the knowledge and confidence to lead in a changing world.
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Head of School, Gunston
John Lewis has served as Gunston’s Head of School since 2010. As a passionate advocate for environmental education, during his tenure he has sought to further enhance the school’s renowned Chesapeake Bay Studies Program, was a primary founder of the Chesapeake Watershed Semester, and oversaw the development and implementation of the school’s first two Environmental Strategic Plans. He is also the creator and co-instructor of the innovative Environmental Leadership for Independent School Leaders conference hosted by AIMS, VAIS, and AISGW, and each spring he runs Gunston’s “From Colonization to Globalization” Bay Studies expedition. He earned his A.B. in English from Georgetown University, a Master’s in Teaching & Learning from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, and a second Master’s in Private School Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Advisory Board
Joe Janney, Chair, Gunston Board of Trustees, CWS2 Parent
Chris Cerino, Vice President Sultana Education Foundation, former Mayor of Chestertown, MD
Emily Beck, Head of Upper School, The Country School, Easton MD; Inaugural CWS Program Director
Patrick Shoemaker ‘03, President and Chairman, Cumulys Energy Services, Inc.
Jim Shifrin, Vice Chair, Gunston Board of Trustees; Engineering Manager, Dixon Valve, CWS2 Parent
John Lewis, Head of School, The Gunston School
Annie Richards ‘08, Chester Riverkeeper, ShoreRivers
Betsy McCown, Director, Echo Hill Outdoor School
Bart Merrick - Education Coordinator, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office
Mike Hardesty - Gunston’s Director of Facilities, former Associate Director of Staff and Programs for the Center of Environment and Society at Washington College
Our Partners
As a thematically complex and geographically broad educational experience, since the outset of the Chesapeake Watershed Semester, the CWS program has been enriched by a universe of institutional partnerships that have been involved in areas like program planning, resource support, advisory board service, student engagement, and curricular expertise. Each year we engage with a wider and wider diversity of partners, and nearly every segment of the Chesapeake Watershed Semester exists in partnership with one or more of the program partners listed below:
Environmental & Scientific Organizations
Educational Institutions & Academic Partners
Farm & Food System Partners
Funding & Philanthropic Supporters
Government & Public Sector Partners
Cultural, Heritage & Experiential Learning Partners
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CWS Humanities Instructor
Jules is a writer and educator from the Carolinas, who migrated to Maryland by way of Arizona. She earned a bachelor's in Marine Science from the University of South Carolina, where she worked in research labs modeling climate impacts on ocean processes. A lifelong passion for writing and literature led her to pursue a Masters of Fine Arts in Fiction at Arizona State University. While at ASU, Jules was a multi-modal instructor of English Composition and Creative Writing, the fiction editor for Hayden's Ferry Review, and the Science Meets Fiction resident at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg in Delmenhorst, Germany. She first began teaching high school four years ago, and uses her unique background to cross interdisciplinary boundaries and incorporate experiential education into her classroom. Jules loves to support student writing, and her students have received recognition from the Scholastic Writing Awards, National YoungArts, and Bennington and Adroit writing contests. In her free time, Jules enjoys bird watching, bike riding, and playing board games with too many rules.
