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Dr Rachel Williams.
Dr Rachel Williams, Social Scientist.

Dr Rachel Williams: facilitating learning in participatory social research

Dr Williams’ research focuses on the development of monitoring and evaluation approaches that foster learning and improvement in community sustainability research.

Current activities

Dr Rachel Williams has a monitoring and evaluation role with the Social Systems Analysis Research Group and is currently working on the Analysing Rural Transitions project.

More recently, she has been monitoring participatory community sustainability projects in the Sustainable Communities Initiative, with a specific focus on the development of cross-sector partnerships. 

Her primary interest is in processes that foster social learning in transdisciplinary research, particularly in a sustainability context.

Background

Prior to her current position, Dr Williams was the network coordinator for the CSIRO Centre for Complex Systems Science, facilitating the networking and capacity building initiatives aimed at developing an inter-disciplinary, CSS community-of-practice. 

She joined CSIRO in a leadership and team development role, working with the Learning and Development Group.

Dr Williams’ initial research experience was as a Materials Chemist, working on the structure and ionic transport properties of glass. She joined CSIRO after several years with BHP Research, investigating the high pressure reduction of iron ore.

Academic qualifications

Dr Williams has been awarded a:

  • Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Materials Chemistry from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, 1986
  • Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Chemistry from the University of Cambridge, UK, 1991
  • Masters in Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, 2006

Awards

Dr Williams, with the CSIRO Centre for Complex Systems Science, received the One-CSIRO Award in 2005.

She also received the Royal Australian Chemical Institute Masson Medal in 1986.

Find out more about CSIRO's work in Sustainability.

 
 

Profile

Name: Dr Rachel Williams

Title: Social Scientist

Qualifications:

  • BSc (Hons)
  • PhD
  • MAAPD

Expertise:

  • monitoring and evaluation for social learning
  • facilitating the development of interdisciplinary research teams
  • staff development

Current project: Analysing Rural Transitions

Contact Information

Primary Contact

Dr Rachel Williams
Sustainable Ecosystems
Phone: 61 2 6242 1748 
Fax: 61 2 6242 1677 

Location

CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems - Gungahlin Homestead
Bellenden Street
Crace ACT 2911
Australia

GPO Box 284
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia