swallow bird iconShanna Howard
Communications & Web Design

I am an internationally published writer and editor and an award-winning, nationally recognized web developer with more than ten years of professional experience. I have been an editor and writer for several major print and web publications, including The Prague Post, Texas Music Magazine, Experience Austin, Austin American-Statesman, Citysearch, and The Frisky. Technical skills include front- and back-end web development and design, with proficiency in software applications including Dreamweaver, SQL Server, Coldfusion, Photoshop, and many others.

I am currently the Webmaster for The Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE), a research and service initiative of the Community College Leadership Program at The University of Texas at Austin. The sites I oversee include the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and the Survey of Entering Student Engagement, as well as a forthcoming portal site.

I've been based out of Austin since the mid '90s, aside from a period working as a freelance writer for The Prague Post and a web editor for globopolis.com in Prague, Czech Republic. I am an alumni of The University of Texas at Austin (Bachelors of Journalism and Czech).

In my spare time, you can find me enjoying live music, traveling and SCUBA diving, jewelry making, crafting and sewing, swimming or hiking with my fiance, who runs Pharis Productions, and our two rescue dogs. I also recently launched SoCoDivka Designs, a vintage-inspired jewelry line full of bold color, and I am currently getting back into silversmithing.

I continue to take a limited number of freelance web design and communications projects, so please contact me to discuss creating a site for your business or help with your editing/writing projects.