Project Management

Gretchen Thompson

**** ******* ******* *****

Raleigh, NC 27603

PROFILE

Extensive social research skills and experiences with specific expertise in community, rural/urban development, global sustainability, and human well-being. Strengths include abilities to multi-task, work both independently and collaboratively, foster professional relationships, coordinate and support research teams, perform expediently under firm deadlines, and enthusiastically engage in impactful and productive research endeavors. Specific career goal focused on social research scientist with a dynamic organization.

EDUCATION

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology May 2012

Dissertation: A Macro-Comparative Analysis of Global Hunger: The Integrative Impacts of Global and National Development, Gendered Inequalities, Conflict and Militarization, and the Global Food System

Master of Arts - Multidisciplinary Studies 2003

Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude - Animal Science 1999

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Co-Investigator January 2011 - Present

Project: Sustainable Forestry Management

NC State University, Department of Sociology & Anthropology

• Contributed technical expertise on quantitative analyses, hierarchical linear/multi-level models, and data management.

• Conducted literature searches on women, sustainability, and spatial inequality.

• Developed grant proposals, national conference research presentations, and research manuscript.

Co-Investigator January 2005 – December 2011

Project: Community Organization in Carriacou, Grenada

NC State University, Department of Sociology & Anthropology

• Collaborated on an international research project located in Carriacou, Grenada.

• Developed research design including collecting pre-existing data, sampling, and survey construction.

• Co-authored grant proposal for seed and travel funds.

• Gathered data internationally using multiple formats and techniques including in-depth interview guides, household surveys, and GIS mapping techniques.

• Analyzed data employing structural equation modeling.

• Published results in prominent peer-reviewed journal, Rural Sociology.

Instructional Developer May – July 2010

Project: Distance Education IDEA Grant

NC State University, Department of Sociology & Anthropology

• Developed online International Development course, including instructional content, media links, and course readings.

• Provided deliverables in the form of learning modulesj.

• Authored a distance education teaching and resource manual.

University Instructor May 2006 - Present

NC State University, Department of Sociology & Anthropology

• Instructed Principles of Sociology, Community Relations, and International Development courses through multiple formats including distance education and a local women’s prison.

• Taught 25-100 student sections, all with student evaluations higher than departmental mean.

• Served as mentor and supervisor to graduate teaching assistants for distance education courses.

Graduate Research Assistant January 2003 – May 2006

Projects: Peanut Collaborative Support Program Impact Assessment

Community Organization and Human Well-Being in NC

NC State University, Department of Sociology & Anthropology

• Provided research support on two grant projects, funded by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service and the United States Agency for International Development.

• Designed surveys, collected and cleaned data, and conducted statistical analyses using OLS and logistic regression techniques.

• Developed supporting materials for grant proposals and extension reports to the USAID.

• Presented and published findings at national conferences and in extension outlets.

HONORS, AWARDS, & SOCIETIES

2012 NC Sociological Society Himes Graduate Student Paper Award

2010 SSSP Teaching Social Problems Graduate Student Paper Award

2010 Teaching Fellow in the First Year Inquiry Program

Sigma Iota Rho, Gamma Sigma Delta, Phi Kappa Phi (top 7.5% of class), Golden Key (3.7 GPA or higher)

RESEARCH METHODS & ANALYSES COURSEWORK

Research Methods in Sociology, Quantitative Sociological Analysis, Longitudinal Research Methods, Geographic Information Systems

RESEARCH SKILLS

Writing and editorial expertise, professional presentations, research and survey design, data management and visualization, quantitative analyses (structural equation modeling, multi-level modeling, latent growth curves, linear regression, logistic regression), grant writing, and research team coordination.

SOFTWARE PACKAGES

SPSS and AMOS, SAS, R, MPLUS, ArcGIS, Microsoft Windows, Word, Power Point, Excel, Google Sites, Google Documents, Google Calendar, Course Management Software Moodle and Vista.

RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Extensive publication record in peer-reviewed outlets including Rural Sociology and The International Journal of Sociology. (Bibliography available upon request.)

• Numerous research presentations at prominent national conferences including the American Sociological Association and the Society for the Study of Social Problems annual meetings.

• Extensive grant proposal writing activities, including the coordination of a multi-million dollar proposal across three universities.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

American Sociological Association, Rural Sociology, Southern Sociological Society, Community Development Society, Society for the Study of Social Problems, and NC State Graduate Student Association

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

Academic journal peer reviewer, distance education graduate student mentor, Carriacou School Project volunteer, NC State Graduate Student Association Advisory Board and Culture Committee member

References available upon request

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