Joining USGS in 2016, Dee reports to the Alaska Regional Director and helps provide scientific management and strategic coordination among the Alaska Science Center, Volcano Science Center, Climate Adaptation Science Center, and other Federal and State partners operating in Alaska. His career has focused on promoting actionable science across disciplinary, institutional, and cultural boundaries.
Dr. Williams has worked in Alaska over the past 21 years to plan, design, and direct a wide range of physical, biological, and social research that monitors and mitigates potential impacts from energy sector development and ongoing environmental change. He earned a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Columbia University, with particular expertise in resource management challenges involving indigenous communities throughout the Pacific Rim. He also holds a Master’s degree in International and Public Affairs. He completed a Fulbright project in 2017 with the University of Ottawa that explored methods to develop a more systematic and rigorous inclusion of indigenous knowledge within the work of Arctic science and regulatory policy. Before joining USGS, he served as the Alaska Regional Studies Chief for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management through the recent era of Shell Arctic Exploration, receiving a USDOI Cooperative Conservation Award in 2011. Prior to government service, he worked as a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and as consultant to international development organizations, most notably in the Gobi Desert of Northern China. He enjoyed a two year post-doc fellowship at the East-West Center in Hawaii. He has substantial publications in the field of environmental anthropology, and serves on multiple Steering Committees concerned with the advancement of Arctic science. For fun, he enjoys musical performance, art projects, athletics and outdoor recreation, community service, and parenting.
Science and Products
USGS Arctic Research
Building a Coastal Flood Hazard Assessment and Adaptation Strategy with At-Risk Communities of Alaska
Arctic Research Plan
Science and Products
- Publications
- Science
USGS Arctic Research
Arctic regions of Alaska are important for biodiversity, national security, cultural and economic sustainability, and support a wide variety of wildlife species, many of which are of conservation and management interest to the U.S. Department of the Interior. USGS and collaborators provide information about its ecosystems, natural hazards, geologic resources, coasts, and wildlife that are used by...Building a Coastal Flood Hazard Assessment and Adaptation Strategy with At-Risk Communities of Alaska
Coastal flooding and erosion caused by storms and sea-level rise threaten infrastructure and public safety in Alaska Native communities. Though the problem is well known, there are few tools that can assess local vulnerability to coastal flood hazards. Even fewer tools can be customized with specific community information to support local adaptation planning. The main goal of this project is tArctic Research Plan
The new 5-year Arctic Research Plan, 2022-2026 is a high-level research strategy that outlines key research goals for the region. The plan provides pathways to improve coordination among federal agencies working in the Arctic, as well as to strengthen relationships between federal agencies and Indigenous communities, academic and non-federal researchers, the state of Alaska, nonprofits, and... - Maps
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*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government