Irina Mashinski, founding director of CPT, is an award-winning educator and university professor with extensive experience in both high school and higher education. As a high school teacher in New Jersey, Irina has taught a wide range of subjects, including Mathematics and Science. She is the recipient of the prestigious Geraldine R. Dodge Fellowship Award for Alternate Route Teachers.

In addition to her high school teaching, Irina has lectured on geosciences, as well as  Russian history and culture at universities across New York and New Jersey.

Irina holds multiple advanced degrees, including a  M.S. (summa cum laude) and a Ph.D. in Science (Physical Geography and Paleoclimatology) from Moscow Lomonosov University. She also earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from New England College.

Beyond her academic work, Irina is the co-founding editor of the StoSvet literary project and co-editor of The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry (Penguin Classics, 2015).