Photo credit: Chance Saechao
I’m passionate about effective science communication and education. It’s critical for scientists to teach and write about their research in a way that is accessible to general audiences.
My experience ranges from instructor of record for a geology course to guest editor of a paleoclimate magazine and a local access television appearance. Check it out!
Writing & Editorial
Guest editor for Past Global Changes magazine 31(2): “Young scientists at the leading edge of ice-core research” (2023)
CEOAS Outreach Accomplishment Award for my co-development of a Minecraft-inspired K-12 geology outreach module (2023)
“Of Chronologies and Chronic Illness,” a blog post for the US Association of Polar Early Career Scientists exploring my experiences as a chronically ill geoscientist (2023)
Managing editor for Boston University’s student environmental publication the Emerald Review (2019-2020)
Teaching
Instructor
GEO308 Global Change and Earth Science (Spring 2025), a climate and Earth history course for non-geology majors. I managed a graduate Teaching Assistant, lectured three hours a week, interfaced with students, wrote two exams, and graded exams and term papers.
Graduate Teaching Assistant
GEOG323 Climatology (Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Fall 2025). I taught 1-2 two-hour lab sections per week, graded weekly lab assignments, and provided feedback on multiple drafts of student research papers.
GEO308 Global Change and Earth Science (Fall 2024)
Step inside the Ice Core Lab at Oregon State University, where PhD candidate Olivia Williams takes you on a behind-the-scenes tour of how scientists extract and analyze ancient air trapped in ice from Antarctica and Greenland. Learn how cutting-edge techniques like dry and wet extraction help uncover the story of CO₂, methane, and noble gases from thousands of years ago. The secretes trapped in this ice provide us critical clues about Earth's climate past, present, and future. From custom-built machines to fizzy ice and freezer suits, this isn't your average science lab.
Listen to my 2023 episode of the OSU Inspiration Dissemination podcast here to hear me discuss my graduate research.
Olivia Williams is a 3rd year PhD student in Geology, advised by Christo Buizert. She uses ice core samples to study polar summer temperatures from thousands of years ago. We speak with Olivia about her novel methods for extracting noble gases from ice cores, finding scientific inspiration from her grandfather, and more. Hosted by Lisa Hildebrand and Joseph Valencia.
Watch this local TV spot on Denver 8 to learn more about the National Science Foundation Ice Core Facility.
Journey back in time hundreds of thousands of years without ever leaving Denver! At the National Science Foundation Ice Core Facility, scientists and researchers are able to discover what our planet was like by studying Ice Core's sent back from Antarctica and Greenland. This information about our past, informs our present and gives us clues about our future. Denver 8 is the award-winning municipal access television station for the City and County of Denver, Colorado government.
In October 2022, I had the opportunity to serve on a 30-minute panel on climate change at the ARCS Oregon 2022 Scholar Awards Luncheon. Pictured here are moderator Lauren Moreno, panelist Kate Rivera, and me. We spent half an hour discussing our own research and how it relates to climate issues.
The panel may be seen on YouTube here.
Photo credit: Andie Petkus Photography