News
(Portland, Ore.) April 8, 2010 —Portland State University has named Robert Costanza to direct its Institute for Sustainable Solutions.
Costanza is currently the Gund Professor of Ecological Economics and director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont. He is internationally acclaimed for his visionary work across disciplines, linking ecology and economics to sustainability. Costanza’s selection follows an extensive national search.
“We are very pleased that Bob Costanza has agreed to join us and provide leadership to our instructional, research and engagement activities in sustainability,” said Roy Koch, Portland State University provost. “His commitments to sustainability as an integrated concept crossing many disciplines and to engaged teaching and research makes him a great fit for this institution. Attracting a person of Bob’s stature signals that the approach we have taken is a good one. We look forward to him joining us in the fall.”
Costanza will lead the Institute for Sustainable Solutions Center (ISS), the hub for interdisciplinary research, teaching, and engagement in sustainability at Portland State University. The Center administers the ten-year, $25 million challenge grant for sustainability made by the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation to PSU in September 2008.
When he joins PSU in September 2010, Costanza will build on efforts already underway at PSU to establish the University as an international leader in teaching, research and partnerships related to sustainable communities. A statement by Robert Costanza regarding his move to PSU is available here.
Since October 2009, ISS has been led by interim director and senior managing fellow John Gordon, the Pinchot Professor Emeritus of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Prior to Gordon, ISS was led by Jennifer Allen, now a professor of public administration at PSU and a fellow to the Center.
About Robert Costanza
Costanza's research has focused on the interface between ecological and economic systems, particularly at larger temporal and spatial scales. This includes landscape-level spatial simulation modeling; analysis of energy and material flows through economic and ecological systems; valuation of ecosystem services, biodiversity, and natural capital; and the analysis and correction of dysfunctional incentive systems.
He is the author or co-author of over 400 scientific papers and 20 books; and his work has been cited in more than 5,000 scientific articles. Reports on his work have appeared in several outlets including Newsweek, Time, The Economist, The New York Times, Science, Nature, National Geographic, and National Public Radio.
Prior to moving to Vermont in August 2002, Costanza was director of the University of Maryland Institute for Ecological Economics, and a professor in the Center for Environmental Science, at Solomons, and in the Biology Department at College Park. Costanza received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 1979 in systems ecology, with a minor in economics. He also has a master's degree in Architecture and Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Florida.
Costanza is editor-in-chief and co-founder (along with Paul Hawken, David Orr and John Todd) of the new journal Solutions (www.thesolutionsjournal.org). He is co-founder and past-president of the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE). He currently serves on the editorial board of eight other international academic journals and is past president of the International Society for Ecosystem Health. He is a senior fellow of the Stockholm Resilience Center, Stockholm, Sweden; a senior fellow of the National Council on Science and the Environment, Washington, D.C.; and, a distinguished research fellow of the New Zealand Center for Ecological Economics, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
In 1982 he was selected as a Kellogg National Fellow, in 1992 he was awarded the Society for Conservation Biology Distinguished Achievement Award and in 1993 he was selected as a Pew Scholar in Conservation and the Environment. In 1998 he was awarded the Kenneth Boulding Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions in Ecological Economics and received an honorary doctorate in natural sciences from Stockholm University in 2000.
Costanza has served on the scientific steering committee for the “Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone” and “Analysis, Integration and Modeling of the Earth System” core projects of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme; the U.S. EPA National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology; the National Research Council Board on Sustainable Development, Committee on Global Change Research; the National Research Council, Board on Global Change; the U.S. National Committee for the Man and the Biosphere Program; and, the National Marine Fisheries Service Committee on Ecosystem Principles.
About PSU’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions
Established in 2006, the Center provides leadership, guidance and catalytic investment for students, faculty, and partnerships from a diverse array of academic disciplines. Core areas of focus include:
• Urban and civic ecology, including ecodistricts, ecosystem services, sustainable governance, and urban-rural continua;
• Sustainable urban infrastructure, including transportation, energy, water management, and social infrastructure;
• Green building, including all facets of green construction, supply chain, materials, and methods;
• Green business practices, including leadership, management, green accounting, and establishment of green business clusters.
Media inquiries should be directed to David Santen at 503-725-8765 or santend@pdx.edu.
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For immediate release (#10-011)
By:
David Santen, Office of University Communications,
Portland State University
santend@pdx.edu | 503-725-8765
Source:
Roy Koch, Provost, Portland State University
