COMMUNICATIONS OVERHAUL

Overview

When I joined Washington State University’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources (CSANR), the organization lacked a dedicated communications role. CSANR's public footprint was a fragmented web experience with buried research, stagnant social accounts, and no central workflow to capture impact.

I designed and executed an end-to-end strategic overhaul to transform CSANR’s communications from a disconnected footprint into a modern, data-driven engine. By restructuring web navigation, engineering a custom database, establishing digital accessibility governance, and overhauling content workflows, I drove a 141% increase in web pages per session, a 220% surge in homepage entry engagement, a 5x increase in the newsletter signups rate, and achieved digital accessibility compliance.

Strategic Execution

Website Audit & Navigation Overhaul

Using web analytics, I mapped user drop-off points and high-intent entry pages to completely restructure the site architecture.

Six core "Areas of Focus": Grouped CSANR's sprawling portfolio into six clear categories. This created an intuitive framework for visitors and stakeholders to immediately grasp the full scope of work.
Impact-first navigation: I streamlined crowded menus down to a few core priorities, highlighting outcomes and major initiatives rather than administrative clutter.
Audience-centric structure: CSANR serves diverse groups, including growers, agricultural consultants, federal agencies, and university researchers. I reorganized web resources explicitly by audience so each stakeholder group could find relevant tools instantly.
The numbers: The new navigation drove a 141% increase in pages per session and a 220% jump in user engagement for organic homepage entries.

Database & Institutional Memory

CSANR faced a double-edged challenge: external stakeholders could not easily search past research, and internal staff lacked a system to track decades of institutional output across changing teams. I managed a $9,000 external development contract to build a custom, searchable relational database to solve both problems.

Many-to-many architecture: Engineered a system connecting over 60 research projects directly to 220+ associated products, thousands of authors, and hundreds of collaborators and funders.
Internal knowledge base: Created a single source of truth for leadership and faculty to search grant deliverables and historical project results.
Public discoverability: Replaced dead-end pages with searchable, clean summary pages that link directly to active tools and downloads.

Digital Accessibility & Archival Strategy

With updated state and federal mandates taking effect, retroactively remediating ten years of legacy PDFs posed a massive resource risk. I designed a pragmatic strategy that combined strict forward-looking governance with smart risk mitigation.

The archival taxonomy: Instead of spending hundreds of hours manually fixing thousands of legacy files, I created a designated "Archive" classification in the database with custom breadcrumbs and disclaimers. This protected the university legally while keeping historical research accessible.
HTML-first standard: Shifted new content away from heavy PDFs into clean, natively accessible web pages with optional PDF downloads.

Content Categorization & Grant Pipeline Overhauls

To elevate the quality of CSANR’s storytelling, I established clear distinctions between content types and worked directly with researchers to capture stories early.

Perspectives vs. news: Separated in-depth, peer-referenced scientific analysis (Perspectives) from fast-moving project announcements (News), giving readers a clearer expectation of content depth. Created a unique brand for Perspectives blog posts.
Researcher partnerships: Pushed grant recipients to convert technical milestones into accessible public updates.
RFP copywriting: Rewrote Request for Proposals (RFPs) for key grant programs, including BIOAg. The revised, reader-focused messaging yielded the largest and most qualified applicant pool in the program's history, accoring to the program's director of 20 years.

Intentional Social Media & Audience Growth

Rather than posting high-frequency, low-performing content, my strategy focused on deliberate messaging and high-intent calls to action.

Strategic micro-spends: Used small, targeted boosts to direct social traffic back to core web resources, event registrations, and research tools.
Conversion engines: Turned social channels into direct engines for the website, driving a 5x increase in newsletter signup rate and 166% increase in homepage visits. Grew engagement on Facebook (+3,300% clicks, +306% followers) and Instagram (+100% interactions, +1,500% reach).
High-value audience expansion: Subscriber growth attracted high-value key demographics, including USDA representatives, state conservation districts, agricultural consultants in Brazil and Canada, and private sector leaders like Bayer and Taylor Farms.

Executive Publishing & Print Collateral

I authored, designed, and managed production for major print and digital publications, using them as primary tools for stakeholder engagement.

Biennial report production: Authored and designed the 28-page flagship Biennial Report. Worked across departments to pull raw project data and frame complex scientific achievements into clear, impact-first metrics. Download the Biennial Report PDF or visit the digitally-accessible HTML version.
First-ever targeted mailings: Launched the Center's first direct print mailing strategy to deliver the report directly to stakeholders, partners, donors, and industry leaders.
Print one-pagers: Designed concise, high-impact print one-pagers summarizing key research outcomes for quick-turn distribution at legislative sessions, conferences, and partner briefings.
Donor integration: Partnered with the WSU Foundation to build an integrated donor appeal framework directly into major print assets.

Internal Workflows & Operational Infrastructure

To ensure communications run smoothly long-term, I built a structured internal pipeline that connects project inception directly to public reporting.

Intake and outtake Forms: Built simple intake tools for researchers to report new projects at launch and submit final outcomes upon completion.
The content engine: Information flows from intake forms into the relational database, generating news stories and web updates, and ultimately feeding top-tier results into the Biennial Report.
SharePoint creation: Created an internal SharePoint site to give staff and faculty fellows easy access to templates, photos and other assets, and communications data.

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