Fields of Interest
Biography
Nathalie Williams is Professor in the Department of Sociology and the Jackson School of International Studies. She is also faculty affiliate of the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology and the South Asia Studies Center and Principal Investigator of the Sound Data Survey Project.
One strand of Williams' research focuses on demographic responses to armed conflict, natural disasters and climate change. She is particularly interested in migration during these types of disasters, but has also published work on population growth, marriage, fertility, bereavement, and how disparities in perceptions of risk influence disparities in behavioral choices during disasters and war. Williams uses statistical analysis of survey data and agent-based simulation models for these studies. She is also involved in developing new data collection strategies and conceptualization methods. For example, she is working with a team that has successfully collected panel data from a representative sample of Nepali migrants who are currently living in more than 100 countries worldwide. Williams' work is primarily based in Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, and the Persian Gulf.
A second strand of Williams' work is the Sound Data Survey Project. Sound Data is a local project, aiming to collect high quality data on the Puget Sound population to contribute to evidence-based policy-making and programming in this area. The project team, with Williams as Principal Investigator, is comprised of faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students and provides hands-on training to students in survey data collection methods. Several projects in Sound Data include collecting data from the general population, collecting data from the unhoused population, and developing new methods for scientific sampling and recruitment from fully representative samples of the diverse population of the Puget Sound region, many of whom are historically hard-to-reach and underrepresented in surveys.
Outside of work, Williams enjoys the outdoors, international travel, and spending time with her family.