Gerri L. Williams
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Research Associate and Editor, College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Science, University of the District of Columbia, 2011-
Production Assistant, “Earthbeat” climate crisis radio program and Reporter for successor environmental program, "Radio EcoShock," WPFW Radio, Washington DC., 2008-
Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Department of State Foreign Service with assignments in Portugal, Guatemala, Brazil, and South Africa. 1986-2007
Technical Writer, University of Minnesota
Associate Editor, McGraw Hill Publications, Minneapolis
Intern Reporter, Minneapolis Tribune
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Master’s degree in Communication, Trinity University, Washington, DC
Graduate certificate in international migration, Trinity University, Washington, DC
Bachelor of Arts degree, Publishing/Communications; minor in Latin American Studies, Simmons College, Boston, MA
Radio production and scriptwriting, WPFW Radio, Washington DC, 2009-ongoing
Master Gardener Program, USDA Agricultural Extension Service, University of the District of Columbia. A 17-session science-based course on the principles of plant cultivation and maintenance, plus 50-hour requirement of practical field experience (2009)
Proficient in Word and Excel and Audacity audio editing
Language training, Foreign Service Institute. Conversant in Portuguese and Spanish
Trained public speaker, Toastmasters International
SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS
RADIO PRODUCTION
As Producer
(2010) "Hurricane Katrina: Legacies and Lessons." Researched, wrote script, selected audioclips, and assembled expert panel for hour-long live (in-studio and remote) broadcast on fifth-year commemoration of the Gulf Coast disaster. WPFW Radio, Washington, DC.
As Host
(2012) Occupy DC and McPherson Square encampments post-eviction. "Freedom of Speech" program, with co-host Luke Stewart. WPFW Radio, Washington, DC. February 8, 2012
As Interviewer/Recorder/Audio Editor
For the DC Environmental Film Festival: Alexandra Cousteau, Robert Cole and Harry Lynch. Aired on WPFW Radio, March 13, 2012
“A Community of Gardens.” Interview with filmmaker Cynthia Cabib. Aired on WPFW Radio Community Comment, March 1, 2010
Interview on the DC Farm to School bill with Carl Rollins (DC Environmental Education Consortium),Parisa Norouzi (Executive Director, Empower DC) and Andrea Northrup (Capital Area Food Bank), February 21, 2010
Interviews with Richard Heinberg, Peak Oil educator and author and senior fellow, Post Carbon Institute; Paul Allen, Centre for Alternative Technology (Wales); and Colin Hines, co-author, The Green New Deal at “Convergence on Zero: The Transition to Zero Carbon Emissions” Conference. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, June 2009
PUBLICATIONS
As Author
Book Reviews
(2009) A Nation of Farmers by Sharon Astyk, on http://ecolocity.ning.com/
(2008) The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Self-Reliance by Rob Hopkins and Depletion and Abundance: Life on the New Home Front by Sharon Astyk on http://ecolocity.
(2008) Conversations with Wendell Berry, Morris Allen (ed.) on www.pottershousedc.org/
Other Writings
(January 2011) "Will Peak Oil Squeeze World's Energy Spigot?" The Washington Diplomat
(August 2009) “A ‘Green Home’ in Hillcrest,” Capital Community News
(March 2006) “Speaking in Many Tongues” [on language diversity and Wikipedia]. Media Emerging, U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Information Programs, p. 33-34
(August 2006) “Standing for Miss Rosa,” Friends Journal, Vol 52, No. 8, p. 17, 37
(1993) “Innovators of American Musical Theater,” Itinerarios Literary Studies Quarterly, Sao Paulo State University, No. 6, p. 149-164
Film Reviewer for Village News, monthly English-language publication, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1993-94
As Editor
Immigration Impact monthly newsletter on immigration, 1996-97
Reinventing the Center City, University of Minnesota Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, 1983
Unpublished Writings
(2008)“Protest, Spectacle and Political Symbolism: A Media Case Study”
(2007)“The Impact of Globalized Labor Flows on U.S. Workers: A Case Study.”
(2007) Modes of Diplomatic Communication: A Literature Review
(2006)“Combating Human Trafficking: The Evolution of Anti-Trafficking Organizations in the United States, 1980-2005.”
(2008) “The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007: Framing the Migration Issue in Public Policy Discourse.”
Conference Presentations and Training
Workshops and demonstrations on urban food production and preservation, Emergence Cultural Arts Center, Washington, DC, 2009-present
Presenter, "Interrogating Diversity" Conference, March 22-22, 2008, American University, Washington DC
“Building a Resilient Community,” December 15, 2008, DCTV, Washington,DC
Non-governmental organization representative and workshop leader on anti-apartheid strategies for international participants, UN Decade for Women Conference, Nairobi, Kenya, 1985
LECTURE AND RESEARCH TOPICS
- Personal and Social Resilience in a Time of Change
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Media Framing of Public Issues: A Distorted Lens?
- It’s a Small World: Community Media Activists Reaching Out Locally and Globally
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Crossing Borders: Using Film to Discuss Migration
- The Historic Abolitionists: Models for Social Organizing
- Heroes, Martyrs, Outsiders and Frauds: Visual Representations of the Immigration Issue in the U.S.