Jack Williams, professor of geography and affiliate of the Nelson Institute and its Center for Climatic Research, was recently recognized in the 2026 AAG Communities Awards.
Held annually by the American Association of Geographers, the Communities Awards recognize outstanding AAG members for meaningful contributions within their specialty, affinity, or region. Williams was awarded the Karl and Elisabeth Butzer Award for Lifetime Achievement in Paleoenvironmental Change.
This award honors Williams’ contributions to the AAG’s Paleoenvironmental Change specialty group, one of 75 subgroups of the AAG. Williams specializes in how different species respond to climate change — both by analyzing the past and creating models for the future.
Recently, he coauthored a report called “A Synthesis Center for Paleoenvironmental Records of Extreme Events,” which, at the request of the U.S. Department of the Interior, evaluates the need and parameters for a center to store, synthesize, and translate environmental records. A faculty member for nearly 20 years, he earned his master’s and PhD from Brown University.