Rachel D. Shaw
racheldshaw [at] alumni [dot] reed [dot] edu
Professionally trained in environmental history; history of the American West; U.S. cultural history; environmental studies; and the history of Southern California. Nonfiction writing on nature, history, academics, blogging and related topics. Reviews of articles and books. Editing and writing critique of non-fiction work; Supporting photography also available. |
EXPERIENCE
Writing: Wrote and edited a book manuscript based on original historical research. Wrote and presented conference papers. Authored book reviews for professional journals. Produced grant and funding proposals. Developed comprehensive instructions for project assignments. Produced analytical summaries of others’ performances and writing. Developed instructional manuals and organizational rubrics. Experienced in word processing programs MS Word, AppleWorks and ClarisWorks. Attended Wildbranch Workshop in 2006 and 2007. |
Editing: Provided grammatical, stylistic and content assessment and correction, including ESL-specific editing. Worked with authors to refine their ideas and enhance their effectiveness. Presented feedback on web page design including technical advice. Taught workshops in effective writing. |
Research: Located and assessed historical documents in private, county and federal institutions. Analyzed collected data using a range of methodologies and conceptual frameworks. Fact-checked sources. Employed a range of search engines to locate information. Established good working relationships with archivists, librarians and other knowledge workers. |
Organization: Developed and maintained databases using ClarisWorks, ClassWin, PastPerfect and Excel. Developed and maintained filing rubrics. Maintained files of student performance at five academic institutions. Strong organizational skills overall. |
Data Analysis: Used ARC Desktop to determine relationships between data sets and to produce visual representations of such connections. Employed Excel spreadsheets to track student progress. Assessed historical documents to identify and monitor trends. |
Graphics: Used digital and manual SLR cameras to produce original color and black and white illustrations and to duplicate original documents. Employed HP Photoshop and MGI Photosuite to edit scanned and downloaded images. Used GIS program ARC Desktop to produce maps and handouts. Developed websites using DreamWeaver, Netscape Composer and weblog templates. Produced handouts and slideshows for presentations. |
Public Speaking: Experienced public speaker. Employed PowerPoint, overhead projectors, computerized Smart Carts and slide projectors to enhance presentations. Trained students in effective public communication, including PowerPoint design and execution. |
Training and Management: Oversaw student production of original content websites, local history museum exhibits, fieldwork reports and research papers. Coordinated efforts of cooperative teams working as part of a larger group. Resolved conflicts among group members. Assisted team members in developing and adhering to production schedules. Oversaw employees responsible for assessing and monitoring student work. |
Museum Work: Sorted and assessed documents in preparation for cataloging, including ephemera, original artwork, newsletters, periodicals, photographs, maps and published books. Accessioned collection of antique and classic cameras: identified and re-labeled items; wrote detailed descriptions of each item accompanied by identifying sketches; assessed condition of each item including mechanical operation. Added accessioned objects to computer database using Past Perfect software. Assisted in materials processing in the archaeology lab at the George Washington Ferry Farm. |
WORK HISTORY
Freelance Portfolio available at RedBubble.com |
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George Washington Ferry Farm and Kenmore Plantation Foundation |
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Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center |
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DePauw University |
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Platt College San Diego Assistant to Registrar and Placement Offices San Diego, California. January 2004 - May 2005 |
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AppleOne Employment Services
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Academic Employment |
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University of Mary Washington DePauw University St. Olaf College University of San Diego University of California, San Diego Teaching Assistant and Instructor, Department of History |
EDUCATION
University of California, San Diego M.A. -- History |
Wildbranch Workshop |
National Outdoor Leadership School |
References available upon request.
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
PRESENTATIONS• Book Review: Reading the Roots: American Nature Writing before Walden. Michael P. Branch, ed. (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2004.)
H-Environment, H-Net Reviews. October 2007.
http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=13752• Book Review: Daniel Tyler, Silver Fox of the Rockies: Delphus E. Carpenter and Western Water Compacts. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2003).
Southwestern Historical Quarterly. [accepted; publication pending]• Book Review: Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz, Lands of Promise and Despair: Chronicles of Early California, 1535-1846. (Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books, 2001) .
H-West, H-Net Reviews, October 2002.
URL: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=287401039017733• Book Review: Mansel G. Blackford, Fragile Paradise: The Impact of Tourism on Maui, 1959-2000. (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2001).
Western Historical Quarterly. 33:2 (Summer 2002): 235-36.• Book Review: Lawrence Hogue, All the Wild and Lonely Places: Journeys in a Desert Landscape (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2000), and Diana Lindsay, Anza-Borrego A to Z: People, Places, and Things (El Cajon, CA: Sunbelt Publications, 2001).
The Journal of San Diego History. 48:3 (Summer, 2002): 273-76.• Book Review: Mary Hill. Gold: The California Story. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000).
Journal of the West. 40:3 (Summer 2001): 84.• Book Review: John D. Wirth . Smelter Smoke in North America: The Politics of Transborder Pollution. (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2000.)
H-ASEH, H-Net Reviews, March 2000.
URL: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=5586953669958• Dissertation. University of California, San Diego, 1999. Evolving Ecoscape: An Environmental and Cultural History of Palm Springs, California, and the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, 1877-1939 .
Click for paper abstracts and conference information.• "Feathers, Fronds and Fantasy: Creating and Deploying the Tourist Ecoscape in Desert Palm Springs, California." A paper for the Arid Lands Studies division of the Western Social Science Association 45th Annual Conference, 9-12 April 2003.
• "In the Garden for Good and Evil: An Environmental History of America." Talk given as invited speaker for Earth Week at St. Olaf College , April 22-26, 2002.
• “Trail Shrines and Survey Mounds: Ritual Stone Piling in Palm Valley, California.” A paper for the Western Humanities Alliance conference “The Pious and the Profane: Religion and Public Culture,”at the Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities , 12-14 October, 2000.
• “‘So might the Indian of yore have surveyed his domain’: Creating the Tourist Ecoscape in Palm Springs, California, 1880s-1930s.” A paper for the American Heritage Center conference, “Packaging Places: Imagining, Remembering and Promoting Landscapes.” 28-29 September, 2000.
• "A Matter of Scale: Rapid Transformation and Conflict in Palm Springs, 1920s-1930s."
Southern California Environment and History Conference II , at California State University, Northridge, California. 18-20 September, 1997.• "Living in a Continuum: Landscape Formation and Failure in Palm Valley."
Southern California Environment and History Conference, at California State University, Northridge, California. 20-22 September, 1996.• "Nature and Culture in the Desert: A Study of Landscape Formation and Failure in Palm Valley, California, 1887-1907."
Western Association of Women Historians Conference XXVI, at Pacific Grove, California. The paper appeared on a panel entitled "California Places, California Dreams." 2-3 June, 1995.