Brief Professional Biography

Peter E. Black is Distinguished Teaching Professor of Water and Related Land Resources, Emeritus, at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, NY. He has taught and conducted research at SUNY since 1965. He was awarded the BSF and MF degree in Forestry from The University of Michigan in 1956 and 1958, and the PhD in Watershed Management from Colorado State University in 1961. He was a Research Forester at the US Forest Service' Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in North Carolina from 1956 to 1959, and taught at Humboldt State College in Arcata, CA from 1961 to 1965. He has taught forest management, surveying, and forest hydrology, and has offered courses in watershed hydrology, watershed management, conservation policy, environmental impact analysis, and seminars. He has given short courses to a variety of technical and lay audiences in the United States and internationally. Dr. Black retired in December, 2000, and continues to teach short courses and on campus, advise students, and provide public service. He was Organizing Chair for several AWRA-sponsored national symposia in 1987, 1996, and 2003. In 2006, Black, ESF, and WRVO.FM (NPR affilliate in Oswego, NY) commenced two weekly broadcasts of Water Drops, two-minute essays on water science, culture, history, organizations, law, and policy. For up-to-date information, including times and both audio and pdf scripts, visit http://www.wrvo.fm or http://www.watershedhydrology.com.

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Black has published an educational film, numerous articles on hydrology and water resources, and three books entitled Environmental Impact Analysis (Praeger, 1981), Conservation of Water and Related Land Resources (CRC Press/Lewis Publishers, Third Edition, 2001); and Watershed Hydrology (Ann Arbor Press, Second Edition, 1996). In 1974, he co-founded IMPACT CONSULTANTS, a private firm in Syracuse, for which he served as EIS project manager for twelve years. He is a member of several professional organizations, served as President (and held many other offices) in the American Water Resources Association, including General Chairperson for its 1987 Summer Symposium entitled Water Quality Monitoring, Modeling, and Mediation, its 1996 Summer Symposium entitled Watershed Restoration Management, and Building Interdisciplinary Water Resources Partnerships in 1998, and is Associate Editor for Watershed Management of the Journal of American Water Resources Association and Water Resources Impact. Black has been active in the Renewable Natural Resources Foundation as a representative from the AWRA, and he has served on its Education Committee. He holds Environmental Professional Certification by the National Association of Environmental Professionals, and has served on local, state, and national advisory committees; the Board of Directors of the Universities Council on Water Resources (1994-7); the US Army Corps of Engineers' Environmental Advisory Board in 1992-6, and as its Chairperson in 1995-6, for which received the Commander's Award for Public Service in November, 1996. Black was appointed SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in 1997. He holds Professional Hydrologist certification by the American Institute of Hydrology.

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March 10th, 2004