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Biography
Joseph (Joe) R. Williams is a Supervisory Environmental Scientist in GWERD's Ecosystem and Subsurface Protection Branch where he serves as Branch Chief. Mr. Williams has a B.S. in Natural Resource Management (Soil & Water Conservation) from the University of Tennessee at Martin where he focused on approaches to soil conservation through biological and engineering training. He has a M.S. in Soil Science (Soil Physics) from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. He has completed additional educational work at Oklahoma State University in the area of unsaturated zone modeling and soil physics, as well as environmental policy.
He supervises researchers conducting work in the areas of ecosystem restoration, hydrogeology, microbial ecology, and natural attenuation of contaminants in the subsurface. The primary activities of the Branch are focused on ecosystem restoration research, and the development of techniques to evaluate the effectiveness and benefits of restoration and management options. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Williams was a Soil Scientist in the Technical Assistance and Technology Transfer Branch (now the Applied Research and Technical Support Branch) providing technical assistance and conducting research in the area of unsaturated zone modeling of contaminants. Mr. Williams has been with the Agency since May 1987, and prior to that time he conducted field, laboratory and computer programming activities to support soil physics research at Oklahoma State University. He has extensive experience in soil physical and hydraulic property characterization and the modeling of water movement and contaminant transport in soils.
In addition to supervisory responsibilities, he serves as a writing team member in ORD’s multi-year planning process for Ecological Research, and has been active with NRMRL's Watershed Risk Management Workgroup, ORD's MAIA (Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment) Steering Committee and ORD's ReVA (Regional Vulnerability Assessment) Executive Committee. He served on an Interagency Personnel Agreement (IPA) with the Canaan Valley Institute (CVI) in Thomas, WV, from October, 2003, through April, 2004, where he worked to develop areas for collaboration in the Restoration Plus (RePlus) research. CVI is an non-government organization working with local communities and watershed stakeholders to provide restoration techniques and guidance for achieving economic, ecological, and societal goals set by the stakeholders. Through these efforts and the supervisory activities, he is contributing to the identification and management ORD research activities for the assessment of ecosystem restoration and management effectiveness to achieve restoration goals for watersheds.
Due to his background in information management and programming skills, he has also been involved with the development of Division-wide activities. He developed the structure and managed the development of the web-based internal project tracking system (In-House Research Project database, or IHRP database), managed activities relative to the initial development and maintenance of the SPRD (GWERD) website, and has provided leadership, as a co-Director, to the start-up of the Center for Subsurface Modeling Support (CSMoS).