EDUCATION

Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology Ph.D., 2020

 

College of William and Mary, Williamsburg VA
Physics with honors B.S., January 2014
Advisors: Dr. Bill Cooke and Dr. Mark Patterson

APPOINTMENTS

Postdoctoral Researcher in the Coral Health and Disease Program at Mote Marine Laboratory (Fall 2020-Current)

I support Mote’s coral health and disease research while working under Dr. Erinn Muller by conducting advanced mathematical modeling and statistical analyses, mentoring interns and other staff members, leading experiments, and conducting coral reef field work.

Coral Health and Disease Modeler at Mote Marine Laboratory (Fall 2019)
I support Mote’s coral health and disease research by conducting mathematical modeling and statistical analyses on data collected by programmatic projects.

Instructor on Record for NU Three Seas Program (Spring 2019)
I taught half of the Ocean and Coastal Processes field course to the Three Seas Masters students. The course took place in Bocas del Toro, Panama for 10 days and covered fluid mechanics and marine biomechanics on coral reefs. The second half of the course was taught on the island of Coiba in Panama by Jim Leichter.

Teaching Assistant at Northeastern University (Fall 2016, Spring 2017, 2018, 2020)
I assisted with the Oceanography (Fall 2016, Nahant MA), Ocean and Coastal Processes (Spring 2017 & 2018, Panama), and Biostatistics (Spring 2020) classes.

Research Technician at Northeastern University Marine Science Center, Field Robotics Lab, Dr. Mark Patterson (February 2014-July 2015)
My responsibilities included 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.

Teaching Assistant (unpaid) for Invertebrate Zoology Lab with Dr. Jon Allen, College of William and Mary (Fall 2013)
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.

HONORS AND AWARDS

Northeastern University Dissertation Completion Fellowship (2020)

Northeastern Graduate Research Fellowship (2018): 
Project Title: Resistance and Resilience of the Network of Coral Hosts and Symbiont Associations on a Reef Scale in Bocas del Toro, Panama

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Short Term Fellowship (2017):
Project Title: Resistance and Resilience of the Coral Holobiont Network on a reef scale in Bocas del Toro, Panama

NSF Graduate Research Fellow (September 2015-August 2020)
Project Title: “Modular Organism Connectivity: New Approaches to Understanding Resource Sharing”

Florida Protect Our Reefs Grant, Co-PI (2015)

Senior Honors Thesis with Dr. Mark Patterson, College of William and Mary (August 2012-May 2013)
Project title: “Using an Electrical Network Model to Simulate Gas Flux in Perforate and Imperforate Corals: Calculating the Time Constant of Mixing in Gastrovascular Fluid Compartments.”

NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates internship with Dr. Erinn Muller at Mote Marine Lab in the Coral Reef Ecology Lab (Summer 2012, additional funding from the College of William and Mary for continued research in 2013)
Project title: “How does the spatial distribution of Montastrea annularis and M. faveolata impact Caribbean yellow band disease?”

HHMI Scholarship Research with Dr. Ashley Haines, College of William and Mary (Spring 2010)
Scholarship awarded to work with Dr. Ashley Haines on 16S rRNA analysis of Streptococcus parauberisin wild finfish in Chesapeake Bay, USA.

PRODUCTS

Williams, S.D. and Patterson M.R. 2020. Time Scales of Mixing in an imperforate scleractinian coelenteron. Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology. Virtual. Oral.

Williams, S.D. and Patterson M.R. 2020. Time Scales of Mixing in an imperforate scleractinian coelenteron. Preprint on BioXiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.03.281709. 

Williams, S.D. and Patterson M.R. 2020. Resistance and robustness of the global coral-symbiont network. Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2990.

Williams, S.D. and Patterson M.R. May 2019. Resistance and Robustness of the Global Coral-Symbiont Network. Network Science Society, NetSci19. Burlington, VT. Oral.

Williams, S.D. and Patterson M.R. January 2019. Resistance and Robustness of the Global Coral-Symbiont Network. Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology. Tampa, FL. Oral.

Williams, S.D. July 2018. Resistance and Robustness of the Global Coral-Symbiont Network. The 2018 International Symbiosis Society Congress. Corvallis, Oregon. Oral.

Williams, S.D. March 2018. A Weighted Link Removal Model to Simulate an Environmental “Attack” on a Coral Reef Mutualism Network. CompleNet 2018. Boston, Massachusetts. Poster.

Williams, S.D.,and K. Ji. 2016. Six Degrees of Bleaching: A Weighted Link Removal Model for the Coral-SymbiodiniumMutualism Network. 13^thInternational Coral Reef Symposium. Honolulu, Hawaii.

Williams, S.D.,M.R. Patterson, L.W. Carpenter, and E.H. Gladfelter. 2015. Calculating the Time Constant of Mixing in Gastrovascular Fluid Compartments of Perforate and Imperforate Corals.44^thBenthic Ecology Meeting. Quebec City, Quebec.

Williams, S.D.2013. Using an Electrical Network Model to Simulate Gas Flux in Perforate and Imperforate Corals: Calculating the Time Constant of Mixing in Gastrovascular Fluid Compartments.Undergraduate Honors Thesis. College of William and Mary. Virginia. Available at: https://catalog.libraries.wm.edu/Record/3766088

Williams, S.D., and E.M. Muller. 2013. How does the spatial distribution of Montastraea annularis and M. faveolata impact Caribbean yellow band disease dynamics?42^ndBenthic Ecology Meeting. Savannah, Georgia.

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Surface Support Team Member for Fabien Cousteau’s Mission 31 at Aquarius Reef Base, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (June 2014)
I used microsensors to study the in situoxygen dynamics of the gastrovascular system of Montastraea cavernosaand helped with the other research projects.

Field Assistant for Dr. Erinn Muller in St. Croix, USVI (January-February 2014)
In collaboration with the National Park Service, we studied 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 completed one two-week field session, where we surveyed ~40 10 m x10 m quadrats for CYBD presence.

Paid Undergraduate Researcher for NSF Marine Archeology Project with Dr. Mark Patterson, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (November 2011-March 2012)
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, deployed and recovered the ROV, and assisted with general survey operations

Undergraduate Research for NSF Robotics Field Work with Dr. Mark Patterson, Grand Isle, LA; Virginia Institute of Marine Science (July 2011)
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.

Synergistic Activities

Graduate Student Association, Northeastern University Marine Science Center
I was the outreach coordinator for the group from 2017-2019 and president 2019-2020. During my term as outreach coordinator, I started a series of Science cafés to bring science out of the lab and into the public on a monthly basis.

Science Communication Workshop Instructor for Northeastern Three Seas Program (Fall 2018, Spring and Fall 2019)
I co-developed and taught and two part workshop on science communication practices covering narrative structure, the COMPASS message box, social media, blogging, improvisational theatre techniques, presentations, and elevator pitches.

Workshop presenter at Massachusetts Marine Educators High School Marine Science Symposium (Spring 2015, 16,19) and Conference (April 2016)
I developed and taught a workshop on coral surveying methods and the importance of coral reef research to Boston MA area high school students.At the conference, I taught Massachusetts area teachers how to use the workshop in their classrooms.

Surface Support Team Member for Fabien Cousteau’s Mission 31 at Aquarius Reef Base, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (June 2014)
I developed an online course on coral biology (https://cerego.com/sets/731359), and conducted a live video outreach event to the Boston Museum of Science from inside the underwater habitat Aquarius.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

Ecological Society of America

Society of Young Network Scientists

Women in Network Science

International Coral Reef Society