Dr. Philip Williams
Philip Williams has been a native of San Francisco for the last 53 years but is a dual US/UK citizen. Williams, whose father was a Royal Navy officer, was born in Chatham Kent and spent his youth around Portsmouth Harbor in Hampshire. His connection to the seashore led him to pursue studies in sediment hydraulics leading to a Ph. D. from University College London. After he emigrated to the USA to work in a traditional civil engineering career at Bechtel Inc., Williams quit to became involved in the environmental movement at first working for the Environmental Defense Fund, then focusing his efforts on river and wetland protection. Eventually he founded an environmental consulting firm based in
San Francisco dedicated to environmental restoration and management. For the last 30 years much of this work has been along the Pacific Coast on estuaries and lagoons from Tijuana to Tillamook, including extensive studies on San Francisco Bay, Bolinas Lagoon and Tomales Bay.
Although a poor swimmer Williams is an avid sailor, canoer, and rower. He has hiked almost all the trails in the Point Reyes National Seashore and paddled on all its waters.
After his retirement Williams taught environmental restoration as a visiting professor at the University of California Berkeley and has authored over 50 professional papers and articles.
Dr. Williams is a registered engineer in California, UK, and the European Union.
Image Courtesy of Philip Williams