Curriculum Vitae of Dr. Platt

(Rev. August, 2007)

Title:     Professor of Geography Emeritus, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

            Senior Fellow, Institute for Sustainable Cities, CUNY,  and

            Director, Ecological Cities Project

Office: 1 Short St., Northampton, MA 01060   (413) 575-0685 

Home:  78 Hillcrest Drive Florence MA 01062   (413) 586-6641

Email:    platt@geo.umass.edu             Website: www.ecologicalcities.org

DOB:  November 1, 1940      Social Security No.: (On Request)

EDUCATION:   

                        Yale University, B.A., (Political Science), 1962

                        University of Chicago Law School, J.D., 1967; Member: Illinois Bar

                        University of Chicago, Ph.D. (Geography), l971

PROFESSONAL POSITIONS HELD:

University of Massachusetts at Amherst:

                                    2007 ––  Professor of Geography Emeritus

                                    l983 - 2007 –  Professor of Geography

                                    l978 - l983  –  Associate Professor of Geography

                                    l972 - l978  –  Assistant Professor of Geography

                        l968 –l972   Staff Attorney, Open Lands Project, Chicago, Illinois

                        l966 –1967  Research Assistant, University of Chicago, Urban Studies

MILITARY:        Officer, U.S. Navy, l962 - l964. Served on U.S.S. Edisto (icebreaker)

                        Medals: National Service (Vietnam Era);  Antarctic Service.        

HONORS:         Lifetime National Associate, The National Academies, (appointed 2001)

                        Member, Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C. (elected 1985)

National Council on Geographic Education,  1992 Award for article: Platt, Beatley, and Miller, “The Folly at Folly Beach and Other Failings of U. S. Coastal Erosion Policy” Environment 1991, 33(9): 6-9; 25-32

Boston Society of Landscape Architects. 1998 Award of Merit in Reseach and Education for Platt, Rowntree, and Muick eds. The Ecological City: Preserving and Restoring Urban Biodiversity. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1994.

American Planning Association, National Merit Award for Burby et al.,

“Unleashing the Power of Planning to Create Disaster Resistant Communities,” JAPA 65(3): 247-258 (1999).

Society of National Association Publications, Silver Award for same article, 2000.

NATIONAL COMMITTEE SERVICE:

University of California Blakely Center on Sustainable Suburban Development      

              External Advisory Board, (2003 – Present)

The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment..         

              Advisory Committee on Coastal Erosion (1998-1999)

National Academies/ National Research Council: 

              Committee on Water Quality Improvement in S.W. Pennsylvania (2002-05)

              Water Science and Technology Board  (2000-2002)

              Committee on New York City Watershed Management Strategy (1998-2000)

              Chair, Committee on Flood Reduction in American River Basin    (1995-98)

              Committee on Coastal Erosion Zone Management  (1988-90)

              Chair, Committee on Options to Preserve Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (1987-88)

              Committee on Flood Insurance Sudies. (1981-1983)

              Committee on Levee Policy  (1981-1982)

              Committee on Federal Water Resource Research Priorities (1980-1981)

National Science Foundation:

              External Working Group on Flood Hazards (1979-1980)

              IGERT Review Panel, June, 2006.

CONFERENCES ORGANIZED:

Pittsburgh: A More Humane Metropolis. Pittsburgh, PA March 23, 2007 (In collaboration with Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, MA)

The Humane Metropolis: People and Nature in the 21st Century City, New York, NY, June, 2002. Supported by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Laurance S. Rockefeller, Wyomissing Foundation, National Park Service.

Ecological Cities Regional Conferences:

            Boston, MA November, 2000  (with Boston College Urban Ecology Institute)

            Columbia, SC  March, 2001  (with University of South Carolina Dept. of Geography)

            Milwaukee, WI May 2004  (with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)

            Istanbul, Turkey  Jan. 2005  (with Istanbul Technical University)

Sustainable Cities Symposium: Preserving and Restoring Urban Biodiversity. The Chicago Academy of Sciences, October 4-6, 1990

Cities on the Beach: Management of Developed Coastal Barriers, Virginia  Beach, VA, Jan. l5-l8, l985. Organized by the Land and Water Policy Center, University of Massachusetts with funding from NSF, FEMA, and the National Park Service.

Legal Issues of Floodplain and Wetland Management Denver, CO, March l3-l4, l982. Sponsored by the American Bar Association and FEMA

Beyond the Urban Fringe: Land Use Issues of Nonmetropolitan America. College Park, MD, June 23-25, l980. Funded by NSF and USGS

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Books:

Platt, ed. 2006. The Humane Metropolis: People and Nature in the 21^st Century City, Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Platt, 2004. Land Use and Society: Geography, Law, and Public Policy (Revised Edition). Washington, D.C. and Covelo, CA: Island Press.

Platt, 1999. Disasters and Democracy: The Politics of Extreme Natural Events. Washington, D.C. and Covelo, CA: Island Press.

Platt, Land Use and Society: Geography, Law, and Public Policy. Washington, D.C. and Covelo, CA: Island Press, 1996.

Platt, R. Rowntree, and P. Muick (eds.) 1994. The Ecological City: Preserving and Restoring Urban Biodiversity. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.

Platt et al.,1992. Coastal Erosion: Has Retreat Sounded?. Program on Behavior and Environment Monograph No. 53. Boulder, CO: University of Colorado Institute of Behavioral Science.

Platt,  1991. Land Use Control: Geography, Law, and Public Policy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Platt, ed., 1987. Regional Management of Metropolitan Floodplains. Monograph No. 45. Boulder: University of Colorado Institute of Behavioral Science.

Platt, B. Burbank, and S. Pelczarski, eds. 1987. Cities on the Beach: Management of Developed Coastal Barriers. Research Paper No. 224. Chicago: University of Chicago Department of Geography.

Platt and G. Macinko, eds. 1983. Beyond the Urban Fringe: Land Use Issues of Nonmetropolitan America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Platt, 1972.  Open Land in Urban Illinois: Roles of the Citizen Advocate. DeKalb, IL: The Northern Illinois University Press.

Chapters In Books:

Platt, R. H. 2007. “Learning from Disasters: The Synergy of Geography and Law” in Losing Ground: A Nation on Edge (J. R. Nolon and D. B. Rodriguez, eds.), Washington, DC: Environmental Law Institute, pp. 57-78.

Platt, “Regreening the Metropolis: Pathways to More Ecological Cities” Keynote Address in C. Alfsen-Norodom, Christine, B. D. Lane and M. Corry (eds.), Urban Biosphere and Society: Partnership of Cities, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences; 1023, 49-61 (2004).

Platt, “Congress and Natural Disasters: A Symbiotic Relationship” in J. R. Maiolo and others, eds., Facing our Future: Hurricane Floyd and Recovery in the Coastal Plain. Greenville, SC: Carolina Coastal Press, 2001, pp. 47-64.

Platt, “Ecology and Land Development: Past Approaches and New Directions.” in D. Porter, ed.,             The Practice of Sustainable Development. Urban Land Institute. Washington, DC, 2000.

Platt, "The San Francisco Bay Region: Trial by Earthquake, Wind, and Fire" in J. K. Mitchell, ed., Crucibles of Hazard: Megacities and Disasters in Transition. Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 1999.

Platt, “Planning and Land Use Adjustments in Historical Perspective” in Raymond J. Burby, ed., Cooperating with Nature: Confronting Natural Hazards with Land Use Planning for Sustainable Communities. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry/National Academy Press. 1998.

Platt and V. L. Morrill, “Sustainable Water Supply Management in the United States: Experience in Metropolitan Boston, New York, and Denver” in Dan Shrubsole and Bruce Mitchell, eds., Practicing Sustainable Water Management: Canadian and International Experiences. Cambridge, Ontario: Canadian Water Resources Assn., 1997: pp. 292-307.

Journal Articles (since 1995):

Platt. R. H. 2006. “Chicago Wilderness: Flagship of the Urban Biodiversity Movement” CW Journal 4(3): 2-10.

Platt,  2006 “Urban Watershed Management: Sustainability One Stream at a Time” Environment 48(4): 26-42.

Platt,  2004. “Toward Ecological Cities: Adapting to the 21^st Century Metropolis” Environment 46(5): 10-27.

Platt, Salvesen, and Baldwin, 2002. “Recovery of the North Carolina Coast After Hurricane Fran: Did Regulations Matter?” Coastal Management 30: 249-269

Platt, R. H., P. K. Barten, and M. J. Pfeffer. 2000. “A Full, Clean Glass: Managing New York City’s Watersheds.” Environment  42(5): 8-19.

Platt, 1999. “From Flood Control to Flood Insurance: Changing Approaches to Floods in the United States” Environments 27(1): 67-78.

Burby, R. J., R. H. Platt and others. 1999. “Unleashing the Power of Plannng to Create Disaster-Resistant Communities.” Journal of the American Planning Association (Summer): 247-258.

Platt, 1999. “Natural Disasters , Politics, and Property Rights in the U. S.” Earth Matters: State of the Planet (Winter): 58-61.

Platt and J. Kendra, 1998. “The Sears Island Saga: Law in Search of Geography.” Economic Geography  AAG Annual Meeting, Special Issue, pp. 46-51.

Platt, 1995. “The 2020 Water Supply Study for Metropolitan Boston: The Demise of Diversion” Journal of the American Planning Association 61(2): 185-200.

Commentaries and Op-Ed Columns (since 1999):

Platt, “To Learn from Disaster: Look to London”  (Op-ed) New Orleans Times-Picayune, Sept. 26, 2005; reprinted in Springfield Republican, Oct. 2, 2005.

Platt,  “Beyond Flood Control: Building a More Resilient New Orleans.” Natural Hazards Observer XXX(6): 5 (July, 2006).

Platt,  Op-Ed:  “Ecological Cities: No Longer an Oxymoron”  Albuquerque Tribune, Oct. 23. 2002

Platt, “Reviving the Idea of Regreening” Op-Ed Column. Daily Hampshire Gazette. July 26, 2002.

Platt, “The Rise of Urban Ecology: Back to Nature in the City” (Op-ed) The Providence Journal  Aug. 14, 2001.

Platt, Interview: “Disaster Assistance as Political Patronage” in Environmental Review (April, 2000) 7(4): 4-10

Platt, Letter to Editor, “How the U. S. Subsidizes Disaster”  Worldwatch 13(1): 6 (Jan./Feb. 2000).

Platt, “Hurricanes, Politics, and Those Ocean Views,” The New York Times (Op-Ed Page), Sept. 17, 1999. Reprinted in International Herald-Tribune.

Encyclopedia Article:

Platt, "Land Use Planning"  McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, 1996.

DVD Film:

“The Humane Metropolis”  (22 min.) With Ted White and Laurin Sievert. Distributed separately and as enclosure in The Humane Metropolis: People and Nature in the 21st Century City (University of Massachusetts Press and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.