Robert Costanza, Ph.D.

Robert Costanza joined Portland State University in September 2010. He leads the Institute for Sustainable Solutions (ISS), the hub for interdisciplinary research, teaching, and engagement in sustainability at Portland State University. The Institute 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.

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.

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. 

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).