Caitlin Charos, MA, ABD, began her career in research development while pursuing a Ph.D. in English at Princeton University, where her research interests included postcolonial literatures, particularly literatures from southern Africa, gender & sexuality, race & ethnicity, global migration, and the novel. As a fellow in Princeton’s Office of Corporate Engagement and Foundation Relations, Caitlin helped connect faculty members to foundation funders with shared missions. This meaningful experience helped her realize she wanted to build her career "off the tenure track" and pursue roles in Research Development, a growing field that involves helping faculty develop competitive research proposals and plan their long-term research agendas. 

Caitlin served as the inaugural Research Development Specialist for the Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences in the central Office of Research Development at University of California, Santa Cruz, where she supported faculty in securing significant grants and fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, Spencer Foundation, Institute for Museum and Library Services, and more. 

Caitlin is a member of the National Organization for Research Development Professionals (NORDP) and a NORDP mentor. She has earned degrees from University of Pennsylvania (B.A., English), University of York, U.K. (M.A., Cultures of Empire, Resistance, and Postcoloniality), and Princeton University (M.A., A.B.D., English), and currently lives in Oakland, California. Her hobbies include weightlifting, reading, plant parenting, home improvement projects, going out to restaurants, and playing piano and ukulele!