Robert Costanza
Encyclopedia
Robert Costanza is an American ecological economist is a University Professor of Sustainability at Portland State University
in Oregon.
.
Before joining Portland State University
in 2010 as the director of the Institute for Sustainable Solutions(served for academic year 2010-2011), Costanza was the Gund Professor of Ecological Economics and director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont
. 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. 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.
He is co-founder and past-president of the International Society for Ecological Economics
and he was chief editor of the society's journal, Ecological Economics from its inception in 1989 until 2002. Costanza is the founding editor-in-chief of Solutions a new hybrid academic journal/popular magazine. He is also the co-editor-in-chief (with Karin Limburg and Ida Kubiszewski) of Ecological Economics Reviews. 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 Centre
, Stockholm, Sweden; a senior fellow of the National Council for 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 Man and Superman; the Biosphere Program; and, the National Marine Fisheries Service Committee on Ecosystem Principles.
and economic system
s, particularly at larger temporal and spatial scales, from small watersheds to the global system. This includes landscape-level spatial simulation
modeling
; analysis of energy and material flows through economic and ecological systems; valuation of ecosystem services
, biodiversity
, carrying capacity
, and natural capital
; and analysis and correction of dysfunctional incentive system
s.
Articles, a selection
About Robert Costanza
Dr. Costanza is the author or co-author of over 400 scientific papers and 22 books. His work has been cited in more than 7,000 scientific articles and he has been named as one of the ISI's Highly Cited Researchers since 2004. More than 200 interviews and reports on his work have appeared in various popular media, including Newsweek, US News and World Report, the Economist, the New York Times, Science, Nature, National Geographic, and National Public Radio.
Portland State University
Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in...
in Oregon.
Biography
Robert Costanza was born in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
.
Before joining Portland State University
Portland State University
Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in...
in 2010 as the director of the Institute for Sustainable Solutions(served for academic year 2010-2011), Costanza was the Gund Professor of Ecological Economics and director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
. Prior to moving to Vermont in August 2002, Costanza was director of the University of Maryland
University of Maryland
When the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...
Institute for Ecological Economics, and a professor in the Center for Environmental Science, at Solomons, and in the Biology Department. Costanza received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
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.
He is co-founder and past-president of the International Society for Ecological Economics
International Society for Ecological Economics
The International Society for Ecological Economics was founded in 1989 to promote Ecological Economics and assist ecological economists and related societes...
and he was chief editor of the society's journal, Ecological Economics from its inception in 1989 until 2002. Costanza is the founding editor-in-chief of Solutions a new hybrid academic journal/popular magazine. He is also the co-editor-in-chief (with Karin Limburg and Ida Kubiszewski) of Ecological Economics Reviews. 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 Centre
Stockholm Resilience Centre
The Stockholm Resilience Centre is an international research centre at Stockholm University that focuses on the resilience of social-ecological systems....
, Stockholm, Sweden; a senior fellow of the National Council for Science and the Environment
National Council for Science and the Environment
The National Council for Science and the Environment is a U.S. based non-profit organization which has a mission to improve the scientific basis for environmental decision-making...
, Washington, D.C.; and, a distinguished research fellow of the New Zealand Center for Ecological Economics, Massey University
Massey University
Massey University is one of New Zealand's largest universities with approximately 36,000 students, 20,000 of whom are extramural students.The University has campuses in Palmerston North , Wellington and Auckland . Massey offers most of its degrees extramurally within New Zealand and internationally...
, 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
Stockholm University
Stockholm University is a state university in Stockholm, Sweden. It has over 28,000 students at four faculties, making it one of the largest universities in Scandinavia. The institution is also frequently regarded as one of the top 100 universities in the world...
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 Man and Superman; the Biosphere Program; and, the National Marine Fisheries Service Committee on Ecosystem Principles.
Work
Costanza's transdisciplinary research integrates the study of humans and the rest of nature to address research, policy, and management issues. His work has focused on the interface between ecologicalEcosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
and economic system
Economic system
An economic system is the combination of the various agencies, entities that provide the economic structure that defines the social community. These agencies are joined by lines of trade and exchange along which goods, money etc. are continuously flowing. An example of such a system for a closed...
s, particularly at larger temporal and spatial scales, from small watersheds to the global system. This includes landscape-level spatial simulation
Simulation
Simulation is the imitation of some real thing available, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system....
modeling
Scientific modelling
Scientific modelling is the process of generating abstract, conceptual, graphical and/or mathematical models. Science offers a growing collection of methods, techniques and theory about all kinds of specialized scientific modelling...
; analysis of energy and material flows through economic and ecological systems; valuation of ecosystem services
Ecosystem services
Humankind benefits from a multitude of resources and processes that are supplied by natural ecosystems. Collectively, these benefits are known as ecosystem services and include products like clean drinking water and processes such as the decomposition of wastes...
, biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
, carrying capacity
Carrying capacity
The carrying capacity of a biological species in an environment is the maximum population size of the species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the food, habitat, water and other necessities available in the environment...
, and natural capital
Natural capital
Natural capital is the extension of the economic notion of capital to goods and services relating to the natural environment. Natural capital is thus the stock of natural ecosystems that yields a flow of valuable ecosystem goods or services into the future...
; and analysis and correction of dysfunctional incentive system
System
System is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole....
s.
Literature
Costanza is the author or co-author of 22 books. and over 400 scientific papers. Books, a selection:- 1991, Ecological economics: The science and management of sustainability.
- 1992, with Bryan Norton and Ben Haskell,Ecosystem health: new goals for environmental management.
- 1996, with Olman Segura and Juan Martinez-Alier, Getting down to earth: practical applications of ecological economics
- 1997, with John Cumberland, Herman Daly, Robert Goodland and Richard Norgaard, An Introduction to Ecological Economics
- 2000, with Tom Prugh and Herman Daly, The local politics of global sustainability.
- 2007, with Lisa Graumlich and Will Steffen, Sustainability or Collapse? An Integrated History and Future of People on Earth.
Articles, a selection
- 1996, Costanza, R. Ecological economics: reintegrating the study of humans and nature. Ecological Applications 6:978-990 (1996);
- 1997, Costanza et al. The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital. NatureNature (journal)Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
387:253-260 (1997) - 1998, Costanza et al. Principles for sustainable governance of the oceans. Science 281:198-199 (1998)
- 2008, Costanza, R., Current HistoryCurrent HistoryCurrent History is the oldest United States-based publication devoted exclusively to contemporary world affairs. The magazine was founded in 1914 by George Washington Ochs Oakes, brother of New York Times publisher Adolph Ochs, in order to provide detailed coverage of World War I. Current History...
(January 2008) An excellent six-page (including a concise chart) exposition of ecological economics. - 2010, Costanza et al. The perfect spill: solutions for averting the next Deepwater Horizon. Solutions.
About Robert Costanza
Dr. Costanza is the author or co-author of over 400 scientific papers and 22 books. His work has been cited in more than 7,000 scientific articles and he has been named as one of the ISI's Highly Cited Researchers since 2004. More than 200 interviews and reports on his work have appeared in various popular media, including Newsweek, US News and World Report, the Economist, the New York Times, Science, Nature, National Geographic, and National Public Radio.
External links
- ISS Page
- Gund Page Robert Costanza at the University of Vermont:
- Curriculum vitae of Robert Costanza, May 2008