Nicole Williams is an outreach and research analyst at ERG. She uses inclusive and accessible practices to develop and implement community engagement plans. An experienced facilitator, Nicole has coordinated and facilitated many stakeholder meetings, interviews, and focus groups, predominantly with members of historically excluded communities. 

Nicole’s coastal work includes helping the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program Office determine how residents (mostly from historically excluded communities) in the Chesapeake Bay watershed interact with the environment and what environmental goals are important to them. For this project, she co-developed a culturally and linguistically respectful focus group plan and recruitment protocols, and took great care to engage focus group participants with sensitivity, respect, and empathy. Other coastal work includes in-person facilitation and logistical support for the EPA’s Long Island Sound Study’s Comprehensive Management Plan, and for the Massachusetts Designated Port Area Project with the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management.

Nicole has a Master of Marine Science degree from Hawaii Pacific University, where she evaluated the status of parrotfish species in shallow coral reef habitats on Oahu, Hawaii. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Wittenberg University in Ohio. Outside of work, she enjoys taking walks with her two dogs, trying new restaurants in Rhode Island, and serving as an active member of the non-profit organization Black Women in Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Science.