"Susanna Was Fabulous!"

Editor's Note: In 2006, the world lost two wonderful women in a tragic case in the U.S. Northwest. Susanna Stodden and her mother, Mary Cooper were slain while hiking in the Cascade Mountains. We will leave the sad details of the case to other sites to cover. For now, we wish only to honor the memory of this mother and daughter who touched so many lives. For those of us here at Pacific Science Center, the loss is especially sad as Susanna was one of our beloved teachers. What follows is a tribute written by Apryl Brinkley and her colleagues who worked closely with Susanna at Pacific Science Center's Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center.


Pacific Science Center's staff and board are deeply saddened by the sudden loss of Susanna Stodden and her mother, Mary Cooper. We extend our deepest sympathy to the Stodden family during this incomprehensibly hard time. As the news of this tremendous loss spread among those who had the privilege of working with Susanna over the past four years, it became profoundly clear that she had touched many with her kindness, her smile and gentle spirit.

Susanna took on several roles with the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center, beginning in 2002. She brought to the program a passion for educating future generations on the importance of Earth stewardship. At the Mercer Slough, she led countless field trips and summer camps where her enthusiasm for sharing her knowledge about water ecology, Earth sciences and native plant species was contagious. The feedback from participating teachers was always positive and can be summed up by these quotes, "Susanna was fabulous! The kids were interested and involved. They were eager to answer her questions. She is the best teacher I have seen in the two years I have been coming here. Her enthusiasm is what kept us going on a 90 degree day!"

Susanna's had an even bigger impact as a mentor with the Taylor Creek portion of the Mercer Slough's Lake Washington Watershed Internship Program. The program seeks to assist teens in becoming more informed about their community by increasing their basic knowledge of the local watershed, learning scientific water quality monitoring methods and then sharing their knowledge by leading activities with 4th graders in local elementary schools. During her time with the program, Susanna mentored over 20 teens from the South Seattle and Renton areas, led field trips for more than 250 fourth graders (some of whom had never been to a stream before) and spent countless hours with the interns restoring the Taylor Creek area. Her impact as a mentor and role model for the teens she worked with was far reaching. In speaking with some of the interns, the thoughts and impressions of Susanna were quite moving to hear. Many talked about her unflappable smile and enthusiasm. She nurtured each of them and always remembered details about their lives and interests. The interns were awed by her patience with kids, her knowledge of the local watershed and her ability to make a wet, muddy day at the stream - fun!

Susanna was such a wonderful individual. Her passion for the outdoors and educating future generations was evident in everything she did. She spent much of her time outside of work learning more about native plants and volunteering at Taylor Creek events. She was always willing to share a new hiking spot or a laugh and she made you want to be a better person. We all feel so privileged to have known Susanna. Her presence will be deeply missed.

Editor's Note: Susanna was also active with the Audubon Society which has published another article honoring the memory of this very special woman.