NCAS-M Alumni

Leticia Williams, PhD

  • Post-Doctoral Fellow
  • Howard University

Biography

Dr. Leticia Williams is a recent graduate from Howard University’s Communication, Culture, and Media Studies program. She is currently a research fellow at the NOAA Cooperative Science Center in Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology (NCAS-M) at Howard University. After completing her bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Southern California, Leticia joined Fox Sports and MyNetworkTV as a research analyst. This experience as an analyst prompted her return to academia at California State University, Fresno where she earned a master’s degree in communications. Her research interests include technology, media, and science communication to explore how scientists communicate their research. And also the role of communication in increasing awareness of issues related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and diversity.

Current Research

The objective of Leticia’s current research is to examine how to facilitate multicultural mentoring practices among STEM faculty and STEM professionals to matriculate underrepresented students into the STEM pipeline.

The under-representation of African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans in STEM has increasingly demonstrated the need for recruitment and retention programs in higher education in the United States.

Presentations/Publications

-2015: #STEMdiversity: Utilizing Twitter to increase awareness about diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Minorities and Communication (MAC) division, First place student category award. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

-2014: The eyeballs are tweeting: A content analysis of social TV. National Communication Association Convention.

-2014: The dark side of social media: An exploration of cyberbullying, hate speech and discrimination in digital communication. 2014 Social Media Technology Conference & Workshop

-2014: Finding the first lady: The construction and negotiation of Michelle Obama’s identity. Minorities and Communication (MAC) division, Second place student category award. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Recognition

2015: University of Southern California Annenberg Summer Institute on Diversity (Fellow)

2014: Capital Speakers Club, Hester B. Provenson and Jean C. Miller Scholarship (Washington, DC)

2013: California State University, Fresno Center for the Scholarly Advancement of Learning and Teaching (Fellow)

2012: California State University, Fresno College of Arts and Humanities Dean’s Medalist Nominee