Williams is a a writer and naturalist-in-residence at the Utah Museum of Natural History. Born a Utah Mormon, Williams has written several books about the environment and the West, such as "Coyote's Canyon" and "Earthly Messengers." Her most recent book, "Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place," concerns her mother's unsuccessful battle with cancer and the flooding of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge by the rising Great Salt Lake waters.