Tulare County Office of Education

Meet the SCICON Staff

Dianne Shew is the SCICON Program Specialist, overseeing all Interns, Naturalists and Specialists. She began at SCICON in 2000 as the Forestry Specialist. Under her care, the SCICON Tree Nursery continued to expand, including a tree seedling program that gives out hundreds of tree seedlings to schools on Arbor Day and during other special events. Dianne and her husband own and operate Balch Park Pack Station in the Sierras during the summer. She has three children and is very active in the Springville community and with the Springville School Board. You can contact Dianne by e-mailing her at programspecialist@ocsnet.net.

Mary Eberle is the Museum Specialist for SCICON. At the Phyllis Wall Museum & Library, students study an array of SCICON's wildlife, plant and geologic specimens. This is one of the finest museums of natural history in the valley! She, along with her husband, Chris (a science teacher), and son, Fletcher, have studied natural history from Alaska to the Galapagos Islands. You can ask Mary questions about the specimens in the museum by e-mailing her at cob@ocsnet.net.

Tracy Delperdang is a naturalist at SCICON. The trail she leads and teaches each day is called the Salamander Trail. On the Salamander Trail her students visit Bear Creek and learn about all forms of aquatic life, from aquatic insects to salamanders. Tracy received her Bachelors degree in Biology at the University of Iowa. Besides teaching about aquatic life to students, she loves animals! Tracy is a skilled wildlife rehabilitator. Her house is also home to four horses, four dogs, one pig, two chickens, one duck, three tortoises, one possum, one cockatoo and innumerable cats and fish. In the picture above, Tracy is holding the star of the Salamander Trail, a California Newt. Tracy has to always be alert, as occasionally VERY LARGE salamanders are spotted on her trail! You can ask Tracy questions about salamanders or other aquatic life by e-mailing her at salamanderchick@yahoo.com.

Brenda Cox is the SCICON Activity Specialist. She leads various trails in the afternoons and assists with the evening programs such as campfire, night hikes, folk dance, new games or scavenger hunt.

You may e-mail any SCICON staff member at scicon@ocsnet.net. Just include the staff member's name in the subject line of your e-mail message.

Employment possibilities at SCICON

Tulare County Office of Education
SCICON
P.O. Box 339
Springville, CA 93265

Rick Mitchell, Administrator
(559) 539-2642
fax: (559) 539-2643

Please direct web site problems or comments to tcoeweb@tcoe.org.