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Kathy Williams

Williams Research
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kathywilliamssdsu.weebly.com

kathy.williams@sdsu.edu

office: 619-594-4358


Kathy S. Williams

  Professor
Department of Biology,
College of Sciences

Ph.D., Stanford University
(1981, Population Biology)


Affiliations
Ecology Program Area (EPA)
Joint Doctoral Program in Ecology with UCDavis
Evolutionary Biology (EB) Program, co-member
SDSU Center for Research in Math and Science Education (CRMSE)

Research interests

Insect/plant interactions: examining effects of food quality on insect population dynamics; determining ways to improve habitat quality for threatened and endangered insects; using insects as indicators of biodiversity and habitat restoration.

Science Education: exploring origins and impacts of Science Faculty with Education Specialties (SFES); developing and using Conceptual Assessments in Biology (CABs) for formative and programmatic assessment; increasing opportunities for undergraduate research and independent studies (PLURIS project) designing curricula, modifying teaching methods, and increasing student engagement at the undergraduate level, and measuring the effects of those changes.
 

Representative publications
(*indicates co-first authors listed alphabetically, †† PhD student)

Bush*, S.D., M.T. Stevens*, K.D. Tanner*, K.S. Williams.* 2017. Origins of Science Faculty with Education Specialties: Hiring Motivations and Prior Connections Explain Institutional Differences in the SFES-Phenomenon. BioScience 67: 452-463.

Eaton, CD, D. Allen, LJ Anderson, G Bowser, MA Pauley, KS Williams, and GE Uno. 2016. Summit of the Research Coordination Networks for Undergraduate Biology Education. CBE-Life Science Education 15(4) mr1; doi:10.1187/cbe.16-03-0147. Winter 2016

Bush*, S.D., J.A. Rudd II*, M.T. Stevens*, K.D. Tanner*, K.S. Williams*. 2016. Fostering change from within: Influencing teaching practices of departmental colleagues by Science Faculty with Education Specialties. PLoS ONE 11(3): e0150914. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0150914.

Bush*, S.D., N.J. Pelaez*, J.A. Rudd II*, M.T. Stevens*, K.D. Tanner*, K.S. Williams*. 2015. Misalignments: Challenges in cultivating Science Faculty with Education Specialties in your department.  BioScience 65(1): 81-89. Published online Nov.26, 2014.

Bush*, S.D., N.J. Pelaez*, J.A. Rudd II*, M.T. Stevens*, K.D. Tanner*, K.S. Williams*‡. 2013. Widespread distribution and unexpected variation among science faculty with education specialties (SFES) across the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 110 (18): 7170–7175. (‡ corresponding author)

This article is also the subject of the Feature Current Insights Recent
Research in Science Teaching and Learning in CBE—Life Sciences
Education Vol. 12, 332–335, Fall 2013.

Fisher, K.M., K.S. Williams, J.E. Lineback††. 2011. Osmosis and diffusion conceptual assessment. CBE—Life Sciences Education 10 (4): 418-29. Winter 2011.

Derting, T., K.S. Williams, J.L. Momsen, T.P. Henkel. 2011. Education Research: Set a High Bar. Science 333 (2 September 2011): 1220-1221.

Bush*, S.D., N.J. Pelaez*, J.A. Rudd*, M.T. Stevens*, K.D. Tanner*, K.S.Williams*.  2011. Investigation of Science Faculty with Education Specialties (SFES) within the Largest University System in the United States. CBE—Life Sciences Education 10 (1): 25-42.

   This article also appears in the CBE – Life Sciences Education Highlights of 2011 special edition, pp. 86-103. And it was also named by Science (vol 332:14; 1 April 2011) as an Editors’ Choice: Highlights of the Recent Literature.

Bush*, S.D., N.J. Pelaez*, J.A. Rudd*, M.T. Stevens*, K.D. Tanner*, K.S. Williams*, and W.B. Wood*. 2010. A Role for Postdocs in Undergraduate Education. Science 327 (29 January 2010): 522-523.

Bush*, S.D., N.J. Pelaez*, J.A. Rudd*, M.T. Stevens*, K.D. Tanner*, K.S. Williams*. 2008. Science Faculty with Education Specialties. Science 322 (19 December 2008): 1795-1796.