Having been a computer science major at an undergraduate at Stanford, Starbird completed a doctorate in technology, media, and society at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2012. Later that year, she joined the faculty of the University of Washington. Her research focuses on disinformation and social media communication during disasters.
At Stanford University, Starbird played at guard for the Stanford Cardinal under coach Tara VanDerveer from 1993 to 1997 with NCAA tournament appearances every season, including the Final Four from 1995 to 1997.[8][5] In her first season in 1993–94, Starbird averaged 9.9 points and 2.9 rebounds and made the Pac-10 All-Freshman team.[5] Starbird had a breakout season in 1994–95 with 16.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.0 assists and was a first-team All-Pac-10 honoree.[5] Averaging 20.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists as a junior in 1995–96, Starbird was the Pac-10's Co-Player of the Year and received multiple All-American honors, specifically first team honors from Kodak, Basketball America magazine, and the United States Basketball Writers Association and second team honors from the Associated Press and United Press International.[5] On January 13, 1996, Starbird scored a career high 44 points against USC.[5]
Starbird represented the US at the 1997 World University Games held in Marsala, Sicily, Italy in August 1997. The USA team won all six games, earning the gold medal at the event. Starbird averaged 8.7 points per game.[13]
Professional basketball career
After college, she was selected by the Seattle Reign with the fourth overall pick in the 1997 ABL draft. In two seasons with the Reign, Starbird played in 59 games and averaged 12.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists.[8] The ABL shut down and filed for bankruptcy in late December 1998.[14]
In 1999, the Sacramento Monarchs selected Starbird in the third round (26th overall) in the WNBA draft.[15] Starbird played in 24 games with one start for the Monarchs in 1999, averaging 2.0 points and 1.0 rebounds.[15]
In the 2000 expansion draft, the Miami Sol selected Starbird then traded her to the Utah Starzz for Elena Baranova and a second-round pick.[8] Starbird averaged 4.0 points in 2000 and 4.7 points in 2001 with the Starzz.[15] Starbird played professional basketball in Europe during the two offseasons, in France in 2000–01 and Austria in 2001–02.[8]
In 2002, Starbird averaged 1.7 points in 15 games for the Starzz before being traded to the Seattle Storm for Semeka Randall.[8][15] With the Storm, Starbird averaged a career high 5.9 points.[15] The Storm waived Starbird prior to the 2003 season.[8]
In the 2003–04 offseason, Starbird played in 14 games for the Spanish team Adecco Estudiantes Madrid, averaging 18.7 points and 5.1 rebounds.[8] Starbird played her final year in the WNBA with the Indiana Fever in 2004, averaging 1.7 points and 0.8 rebounds.[15]
After the 2004 WNBA season, Starbird returned to Estudiantes. She played for PDV Ibiza during the 2005–06 season.[16]
Academic career
Starbird earned a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in 2009.[17] Studying in the Alliance of Technology, Learning, And Society (A.T.L.A.S.) program, she received her Ph.D. in technology, media, and society at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2012; her thesis was titled "Crowdwork, Crisis and Convergence: How the Connected Crowd Organizes Information during Mass Disruption Events."[18]
She studies educational possibilities of social media as well as crisis informatics.[24] Her research sits at the intersection of computer science and social science and falls within the fields of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW).[25] Using a combination of empirical methods, including qualitative, computational and network analysis, Starbird examines both small group and large scale interaction online within the context of disasters and other mass disruption events, studying how digital volunteers and other members of the crowd work to filter and shape the information space.[25] One of the shooting events Starbird documented was the attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.[26] In another research project, her analysis of a dataset of 600,000 tweets about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico helped to put together a map of how information was shared among those close to the event and more broadly.[26]
In 2008, Starbird married Melissa Marsh.[11][30] Starbird said in a 2011 interview with ESPN the Magazine that she never considered a career in coaching basketball due to concerns that she would need to be closeted.[31]
Besides basketball, Starbird has also played Gaelic football. In 2007, she managed the Seattle Gaels women's Gaelic football team.[14]
^Palmer, Lauren (April 13, 2017). "Meet the Starbirds". Queen Anne Living. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
^ abBaskin, Bruce (July 2, 2007). "Finding joy in the shadows". Our Sports Central. Archived from the original on September 1, 2007. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
^ ab"News: Kate Starbird Joins HCDE Faculty". Human Centered Design & Engineering, WU College of Engineering, Washington State University. April 13, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
^Cyphers, Luke; Fagan, Kate (February 7, 2011). "On homophobia and recruiting". ESPN the Magazine. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2020. Kate Starbird, who spent nine years in the WNBA and Europe, is gay. And she wants no part of the closet. 'I never considered coaching,' she says. 'I didn't want to live my life that way.'
