Catherine S. Williams

Career history

• 2008-present: Programmer/Analyst, WebLion, Penn State
• 2007-2008: Research Associate, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State
  • Implemented a major revamp of the Huck Institutes website. Built the site using a content management system (Zope/Plone) to enable dynamic updating. Radically revised the site's structure, design, content and technical platform to improve:
    • Findability, topicality, credibility and relevance of information
    • Compliance with web best practice
    • Ease with which scientists can contribute information to the site
  • Grant preparation and website development/management for Penn State's Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics (CIDD).
• 2004-2007: Research Associate, Biology Department, Penn State
  • Planning, delivery and evaluation of web-based education / outreach for the NSF-funded Ridge 2000 program. Developed the Ridge 2000 public outreach website, www.venturedeepocean.org, and managed it for 2 years (to Feb. 2007). Co-PI on NSF grant From Local to Extreme Environments: Deepening Earth Systems Science Understanding with GLOBE, a program to increase school-children's understanding of the deep sea and of the process of science (» more about this grant).
  • Grant preparation and website development/management for Penn State's Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics (CIDD). Organizer of the CIDD seminar series. Co-organizer of the 4th international conference and associated workshop on Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (May 2006).
  • Website development for Penn State's Action Potential Science Experience summer camps program and Eberly College of Science's Outreach Office.
• 2003-2004: E-marketing Planner, RSPB, UK
  Responsible for developing and implementing RSPB's e-marketing strategy — using digital technologies such as the internet and e-mail to find supporters, to build relationships with them, and to request & acknowledge support. Covered many core business areas, including supporter acquisition and retention, supporter relationship development and customer care, product / income stream development (e.g. regular / planned giving), and legal compliance (e.g. Data Protection, electronic privacy).
• 1998-2003: Market Research Executive, RSPB, UK
  Managed qualitative and quantitative research into attitudes and behaviors of a wide range of audiences — from children to farmers. Research areas included communications evaluation (e.g. member magazines, awareness-raising campaigns), and development of fundraising materials — via membership, planned giving, affinity purchases and other routes.
• 1997-1998: Statistician / Analyst, RSPB, UK
  Consultant to RSPB scientific staff on data collection and analysis methods; analysed field data sets.

Education

• PhD (1997) Foraging ecology of nectar-collecting honeybees and bumblebees. Zoology Department, Cambridge University, UK
• BA (Hons) First Class (1991). Natural Sciences Tripos, Botany Part II. Cambridge University, UK

Awards

• Thomas Henry Huxley award (for 1997) of the Zoological Society of London; a national UK award for original work submitted as a doctoral thesis.
• T.B. Wood Prize (1991) of University of Cambridge for outstanding examination performance in Botany.

Latest publications

• Thijs Kuiken, Edward C. Holmes, John McCauley, Guus F. Rimmelzwaan, Catherine S. Williams & Bryan T. Grenfell (2006) Host species barriers to influenza virus infections. Science 312: 394-397
• Grenfell B.T. Williams, C.S., Bjørnstad, O.B. & Banavar, J.R. (2006) Simplifying biological complexity. Nature Physics, 2: 212-214