Sara Williams Email & Phone Number

Sarasota, Florida, United States

Postdoctoral Researcher in the Coral Health and Disease Program

Independent contract position with Dr. Erinn Muller.

I taught the Bocas del Toro, Panama portion of the Ocean and Coastal Processes class to the Three Seas Program Masters Students. This is a 2 week field course where I led morning dives for underwater labs and lectured in the afternoon. The class covered topics in biomechanics, fluid mechanics, and ecology on coral reefs.

Marine Science Center, Nahant, Ma

My responsibilities include maintaining and caring for the coral microcosm system that I designed and built, using the Unisense underwater meter system and oxygen and pH microelectrodes to measure the dynamics of the coral gastrovascular system, building and maintaining the lab’s Autonomous Underwater vehicle fleet, purchasing supplies and overseeing lab accounts, and managing lab projects including graduate students, undergraduates, and volunteers.

Assist Instructors with dive classes

St. Croix, Usvi

In collaboration with the National Park Service, we are studying the impact of Caribbean Yellow Band Disease (CYBD) on major reef-building coral species around Buck Island National Monument Park in St. Croix, USVI. We have completed one two week field session already, where we surveyed ~40 10 m x10 m quadrats for CYBD and coral cover. I was responsible for locating diseased corals, taking their measurements, photographing the diseased corals, and laying transect lines.

College Of William And Mary, Williamsburg Va

My responsibilities included setting up weekly labs for students, overseeing animal care and tank maintenance, answering questions during labs, lab clean up, and organizing lab practicals. I became adept in caring for a wide variety of marine invertebrates including animal collection and feeding.

Mote Marine Lab, Sarasota Fl

I used advanced spatial statistics applied to epidemiology to better understand coral disease dynamics on two species of major reef building corals in the Caribbean. I also developed a disease transmission model in the programming environment, R. During this project I developed skills in coral identification, using statistical modules in R, Coral Point Count with Excel extensions image processing software, and further advanced my skills in MATLAB. During the summer of 2013, I obtained funding from the College of William and Mary to return and continue working on this project.

Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

As the SeaBotix ROV technician, I worked with local high/middle school students to use the ROV to survey the Cornwallis shipwrecks off of Yorktown beach. During this project, I performed ROV maintenance that included making repairs to the system, I deployed and recovered the ROV from a fishing pier, and I assisted with general survey operations.

Grand Isle, La

The project worked on robot communication and control law algorithm development to coordinate assessment of oil contamination in a coastal marsh by autonomous marine vehicles. The VIMS AUV and an Autonomous Surface Vessel developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology were used in a demanding field environment. I gained experience in AUV operations, made a bathymetry profile of the study area using eonFusion, and used eonFusion to visualize data collected by the robots’ sensors.

Richmond, Virginia Area

Summer Lifeguarding Job

Carried tanks, set up equipment, organized divers, acted as a safety diver, helped with classes.

College Of William And Mary, Williamsburg Va

I was awarded the HHMI Scholarship in my freshman year of college to work with Dr. Ashley Haines on 16S rRNA analysis of Streptococcus parauberis in wild finfish in Chesapeake Bay, USA. I learned PCR and gel electrophoresis methods.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Ecology, Evolution, And Marine Biology

PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology.

Bachelors Of Science, Physics (Honors), Biology, Marine Science, 3.28

Activities and Societies: Society of Physics Students, President of SCUBA club, Swim Club Relevant Coursework: Principles of Biology (full.

High School

Activities and Societies: National Honors Society, Spanish Honors Society, Thespians