Will Travis Biography

WILL TRAVIS BIOGRAPHY OVERVIEW Will Travis is a consultant, writer, teacher and speaker on climate change, and particularly sea level rise adaptation. Will, who is usually referred to as “Trav,” is a native of Allentown, Pennsylvania. He earned Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Regional Planning degrees in 1967 and 1970 respectively, both from Penn State University. During 1966, he studied architecture in London. EXPERIENCE From 1970 to 1972 he served as an assistant planner and urban designer at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, commonly called BCDC, which was the nation’s first state coastal management agency when it was created in 1965 and which regulates development in the Bay and along its shoreline. He then spent a year as a consultant on the master plan for the East Bay Regional Park District. In 1973, he joined the staff of the newly-established California Coastal Commission where, between 1973 and 1985, he held a number of positions including heading the coastal agency’s offshore oil drilling permit staff, directing its public access program, and overseeing its budget and administrative functions. He returned to BCDC in 1985 as Deputy Director and served as Executive Director from 1995 until 2011. At BCDC he built a coalition of business, environmental, and local government support that led to BCDC’s unanimous adoption of the nation’s first state coastal management agency development regulations for addressing sea level rise. In 2012 he served as the Senior Advisor to the Bay Area Joint Policy Committee, which is coordinating the efforts of four regional agencies to advance future economic prosperity and address climate change in the land use planning of the San Francisco Bay region. Based on his recommendation, the committee unanimously adopted a regional sea level rise adaptation strategy. His consulting clients have included ARCADIS US, ICF International, Briscoe Ivester & Bazel LLP, Marstel-Day, the Golden State Warriors, and PIER 39. He has also worked in the fields of architecture, local planning, private consulting, advertising and public relations. He is a popular public speaker, has written many articles on coastal issues, has provided advice on coastal matters to other states and nations, and has been a lecturer at universities throughout North America. AFFILIATIONS Trav served as the chairman of a trustee committee, which managed a multi-million dollar oil spill settlement fund set up by Shell Oil Company after a 1988 oil spill in San Francisco Bay. In that capacity, he directed the public acquisition of a 10,000-acre property along the northern shoreline of San Francisco Bay, which will become one of the largest coastal wetland restoration projects in California’s history. He serves on the boards of directors of SPUR––the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association––and the EcoAdapt climate change adaptation innovation center. He is a member of the advisory council of the environmental consulting firm Marstel- Day, and Lambda Alpha, the honorary society for the advancement of land economics. He was a member of the National Research Council Roundtable on Climate Change Education. He has served the Board of Trustees of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, on the steering committee of the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Communities; the project team of Saving the Bay, a KQED-TV video documentary; the KB Home Corporation Community Advisory Board; the board of directors of the Forum for the Future of San Francisco Bay, the Bay Bridge Alliance, and the California Biodiversity Council; and the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture management board; the San Francisco Bay Harbor Safety Committee; the steering committee of the Bay Area Transportation Choices Forum; the NOAA Coastal Services Center’s national review group; the National Ocean Service’s advisory group for the San Francisco Bay Project; the board of directors of the Friends of the Estuary; the San Francisco Estuary Institute’s committee of policy advisors; and the editorial board of the newsletter Estuary. He also served a four-year term as a member of the Berkeley city planning commission and was the chair of a special City of Berkeley committee that worked in partnership with the University of California to develop a new plan for Berkeley’s downtown. AWARDS/PUBLICATIONS Trav is the 2009 recipient of the Jean Auer Environmental Award, presented by the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, and the 2012 recipient of the Frank C. Boerger Award, presented by the Bay Planning Coalition. He and his wife, Jody Loeffler, are the authors of Katherine’s Gift, a memoir of international adoption. They live in Berkeley, California. .

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