She is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Texas - Pan American. Prior to joining the faculty at UTPA in 1990 she worked in the National Service Division at IBM - Austin, designing software for AIX product support.

Dr. Lawrence-Fowler received her Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from The Ohio State University in 1983 and a M.S. in Computer Science from New Mexico State University in 1988.

My areas of interest include Large and Open Information Systems (pervasive information space), Multimedia, and integration of appropriate technologies in the learning environment. In particular, she is interested in issues of re-retrieval of information and more generally in visualization of information. The nature of information access is changing. New technology makes information devices  small enough to specialize them according to their function and in sufficient volume to be accessible to the general public. In turn, with the emergence of the internet, we see the development of a digital infrastructure that is moving to bring global information and computing to most homes, schools, businesses, and other institutions. With this move, service expectations and requirements will change.

 My research interests lie in two areas of service: the organization of information for personal use and the use of the/a pervasive digital infrastructure on the enhancement of learning opportunities.  Specifically my interests and research efforts lie in 1) supporting user defined indexing and annotation of the web resources, 2) applying theory of information storage and retrieval to hypermedia, particularly heterogeneous systems such as the WWW to enhance the learning and work environment, and 3) to use multiple media formats to enhance the traditional and distance education experience through information and process visualization.

My most recent project is DUSIE, the Dynamic User-defined Searchable Index Engine. DUSIE allows users to index and annotate information resources. In addition, DUSIE serves as a navigation and organizational tool for users seeking information from the WWW or more generally in any information base..