Michael Williams

Briefly

Michael Williams is a Geographer in the Research Support Branch at the Economic Research Service. His work at the agency focuses on geospatial analysis and cartographic design, but also provides solutions for workflow and data automation and visualizations using a variety of business intelligence tools and techniques.

Background

Before joining the Economic Research Service, Michael served as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Specialist for Louisiana’s Office of Conservation where he managed the location reporting and tracking of natural resources and associated assets and infrastructure across the State through the Statewide GIS: Strategic Online Natural Resource Information System (SONRIS). Prior to his public service, Michael spent 15 years in the private sector where he held roles managing projects, overseeing business operations, and providing consulting services in analytics and web development solutions.

Michael has worked with geospatial technologies since 2001 on projects ranging from research and development to exploration geophysics. Some of his past projects include the preservation of historic maps through digitization and georeferencing, cadastral surveys with research of land and title records in California, Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, and West Virginia, and numerous topographic and bathymetric survey projects covering thousands of square miles throughout the United States.

Education

Michael graduated Cum Laude from Fort Hays State University where he received his bachelor’s in Geoscience with a minor in Management Information Systems.

Professional Affiliations

Michael is a certified Geographic Information System Professional (GISP) and is active in several communities of geospatial science where he assists with coordination and/or provides sponsorship at the annual conferences including the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) in 2019, Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) in 2023 and 2024 and FedGeoDay in 2023 and 2024. He also maintains active membership with the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS), The Association of American Geographers (AAG), and the American Geophysical Union (AGU) to name a few.