resume

Goal:

I am passionate about what I am doing now: creating educational materials and presentations to teach about evolution in ways that empower people to live joyfully in the present and sustainably for the future. My goal is to build on my 12 years web design experience to continue creating user-friendly, interactive and content-rich websites that help people understand the world so they may thrive in it. I would love to collaborate with an innovative and energetic team to create insightful, engaging and accessible web sites and other educational tools that provide users with awesome interactive animations, insightful video and powerful tools to help people communicate.

Education:

Ph.D., Microbial Ecology with minor in Educational Technology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1995.

B.S., Journalism with minor in Science. Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, 1985.

Work History:

Teacher of Evolution and Curriculum Developer (2004-Present)
Developed and taught "Exploring Evolution" for University of Colorado’s Science Discovery and in informal educational settings. Created Epic of Evolution web site, curriculum, and Tree of Life poster and Flash interactive, and hands-on activities including Evolution Beads activity and Tinkering with DNA activity.

Web Designer (2002-Present)
Independent web designer. Designed, implemented and consulted on variety of web sites.

Web and Multimedia Producer (1994 – 2001)
Michigan State University’s Department of Environmental Engineering and Communication Technology Laboratory.  Collaborated with scientists, educators and other multimedia producers. Created information architecture, conceptualized overall designs, developed content, wrote copy, created graphics, narrated, and programmed CD-ROM and various web sites.

Researcher, Microbiology (1989 -1994)
Michigan State University. Discovered evolutionary relatedness (phylogenies) of diverse 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate degrading bacteria; tracked their evolution via gene transfer; and mapped their global distribution.

Biology Instructor (1990 -1993)
Michigan State University. Taught classes in general biology, microbiology and microbial ecology.

Professional
Skills:

Communication and Teaching Skills
• Skilled in teaching, encouraging, and inspiring students, coworkers, and clients. Friendly disposition and sense of humor.
• Able to listen to and collaborate synergistically with teachers, scientists, artists, writers, engineers, computer programmers, business people, and others to translate their ideas into rich web experiences.
• Skilled in writing and editing.
• Experienced at public speaking.

Creative Skills
• Over 12 years experience in design, development, and implementation of engaging, informative, and user-friendly web sites.
• Fluent in all aspects of web production, including design of site architecture, user interface, navigation, menus and site maps, creating page layouts, optimizing graphics, writing code.
• Able to create hands-on learning activities that engage the mind.  
• Expertise in photography and digital graphic arts.
• Experienced in creating print materials.
• Some experience producing video, audio and interactive animations.

Investigative and Analytical Skills
• Proficient at analyzing, synthesizing, and integrating complicated and diverse information to create easy-to-use web sites and hands-on educational activities.  Adept at translating a “whole-picture” vision into engaging, useful, interactive media.
• Skilled at organizing and managing large amounts of data, including photos, contacts and project tasks using databases and spreadsheets.
• Experienced in observing end-user experience and analysis of web traffic statistics to optimize the web experience.
• Extensive knowledge in areas of evolution, molecular biology, microbiology, ecology, science education, mind-body fitness, and applying science to everyday life.

Presentations and Publications:
(select list)

Russell, Catherine, 2007. "Tinkering with DNA: Hands on activities to learn about DNA's role in evolution." Workshop and presentation to National Science Teachers Association meeting in Denver, October, 2007.

Russell, Catherine. 2007. "Tree of Life" poster. This colorful poster depicts the relationships of all life on Earth based on DNA evidence. Available at Zazzle.com. Presented to NSTA meeting in Denver, October, 2007.

Russell, Catherine, 2007. "Evolution Beads: Guide to Understanding the Epic of Evolution." This guide lists the times of major events in the Epic of Evolution and provides spaces for students to describe their unique beads that tell the story of the Epic of Evolution. This guide has been used by students in Exploring Evolution workshops.

McGowan, C., R. Fulthorpe, A. Wright, J. Tiedje. 1998. "Evidence for interspecies gene transfer in the evolution of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid degraders." Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64:4089-4092.

note: my unmarried name was McGowan.

Hobbies:

Music; writing; hiking; dancing; photography; videography; landscaping;

Community Involvement:

• Epic of Evolution Presenter
• Website producer at Community UCC
• Bear Creek Elementary School web site co-producer
• Assisting in teaching literacy and science to students at Bear Creek Elementary
• Cub Scout den leader
• Secretary of Earth Action Team at Community UCC
• Community Garden Designer