Dan Socha
Dan is an intern from the Peace Corps Fellows Program at Western Illinois University. He is a student in the graduate department of Political Science and has been interning at the Rural Community Assistance Program since the start of 2010. He earned his B.A. in History from Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts in May of 2006. Dan then served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in The Gambia in West Africa from 2006-2008. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, his work primarily focused on environment and natural resource management leading him to implement various projects ranging from poultry farming to value-added crop innovation. Upon completion of his Peace Corps service, Dan was accepted into the Fellows Program at Western Illinois University. For his first two semesters, he worked as a Graduate Assistant at the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs. During this time he assisted staff in conducting research in areas of wind power and sustainable agriculture. Dan's academic emphasis within the Political Science department is in Comparative Politics and International Relations. He has a particular interest in African political affairs and the modern struggle for liberal democracy. Since starting with the Rural Community Assistance Program, Dan has worked with many Illinois communities, specifically focusing on implementing the Illinois Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network into small rural areas. He has worked also to expand the number of communities that are actively engaged in projects involving the Rural Community Assistance Program. Dan is grateful for this internship opportunity and has found his time spent as a Peace Corps Fellow to be both rewarding and educational.