Jodi Vender is the department's Coordinator of Undergraduate and Alumni Programs. Her duties include:
- Academic advising for undergraduate students
- Undergraduate recruitment, retention, and engagement
- Advising undergraduates and instructors on policies and procedures
- Curriculum planning
- Alumni engagement
- Geography education outreach
Jodi has coordinated the Department of Geography's undergraduate and alumni programs since 2005. Prior to that, she coordinated student programs and service learning for the Schreyer Honors College, taught community college in Philadelphia, and worked for the National Geographic Society's Geography Education, Communication & Advertising, and Editorial Research divisions. She has a B.A. in Spanish from Penn State and discovered geography through general education courses and honors thesis research. Jodi did a master's in geography at the University of Texas - Austin and doctoral work in geography at Penn State. She lives in State College with meteorologist-teacher-husband Jay Searles and children Caroline and Nicholas.