Dr. Mara Huber is an educational leader and cognitive psychologist whose work reimagines how experiential learning can be designed, scaled, and sustained to expand opportunity and social impact—particularly for youth in low-resource, high-potential contexts. She currently serves as Senior Director of Instructional Innovation and Transformation at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), where she leads institution-wide efforts in curriculum design, assessment, faculty development, and instructional innovation.
Dr. Huber is the creator of the PEARL Experiential Learning Framework, a reflective and competency-driven model informing educator training, curriculum development, and assessment across global higher education and community learning ecosystems. Her work sits at the intersection of experiential learning, sustainable development, and instructional AI, with a focus on connecting education to real-world opportunity, workforce relevance, and community regeneration.
Beyond her university role, Dr. Huber serves as a senior advisor to experiential learning and regeneration initiatives in Nigeria and Uganda, and she supports governments, universities, and community innovators to design learning models that translate talent into impact. She is Lead Principal Investigator on a Spencer Foundation Vision Grant focused on cultivating equitable experiential learning ecosystems through collective storytelling in Africa, and she has held prior leadership roles including Associate Dean for Undergraduate Research and Experiential Learning and Founding Director of the UB Experiential Learning Network.
Her scholarship and practice appear in peer-reviewed publications and policy-oriented venues. She is the author of Experiential Learning and Community Partnerships for Sustainable Development: A Foundational Model for Climate Action (Routledge, 2024). Dr. Huber earned her PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University at Buffalo and a BA in Psychology (magna cum laude) from SUNY Geneseo. Her current focus centers on empowering young people to cultivate their talents, create opportunity for themselves and others, and contribute to community and planetary regeneration through education that is experiential, equitable, and future-ready.