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Dr. Richard N. Palmer,  P.E.

Professor and Department Head

College of Engineering
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Massachusetts Amherst
222 Marston Hall
130 Natural Resources Road
Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
E-Mail: palmer@ecs.umass.edu
Phone: (413) 545-2508
Fax: (413) 545-2840

Personal Research Web Page

Full Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

  • Water Resources Planning
  • Drought Management
  • Flood Management
  • Expert Systems
  • Risk Analysis
  • Optimization and Simulation Modeling of Engineering Systems

Education

Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1979.
M.S., Stanford University, 1973.
B.S., Lamar University, 1972.

Registration

Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Washington, #21154

Professional Experience

  • Professor and Head, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, March 2008 - Present
  • Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, 1990-2008
  • Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, 1985-1990
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, 1979-1985
  • Intergovernmental Personal Assignment (IPA), Institute for Water Resources, US Army Corps of Engineers, Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, 1997
  • Visiting Scholar, Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes, Spain, and Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Department of Civil Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1987 - 1988
  • Postdoctoral Fellow/Research Assistant/Ph.D. Candidate, The Johns Hopkins University, Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, 1975-1979
  • Hydrologist, Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA; Environmental Engineer, Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, Bethesda, MD; Environmental Engineer, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., 1973-1977

Classes Taught

Civil Engineering Systems
Water Resources Planning
Water Resources Management
Deterministic Systems
Stochastic Systems
Water Quality Modeling

Recent Papers Published

Ryu, J.H., R.R. Palmer, M.W. Wiley, and S. Jeong, Midrange Streamflow Forecasts Based On Climate Modeling- Statistical Correction and Evaluation, accepted for publication, Journal of the American Water Resources Association, August 2008.

Wiley, M.W., and Palmer, R.N. (2008) Estimating the Impacts and Uncertainty of Climate Change on a Municipal Water Supply System, ASCE Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 134(3), 239-246.

Werick, W.J. and Palmer, R.N. (2008) It’s Time for Standards of Practice in Water Resources Planning, ASCE Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 134 (1), 1-2.

Palmer, R.N. (2007) The Confluence of a Career: Virtual Droughts, Shared-Vision Planning, and Climate Change, ASCE Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 133 (4), 287-288.

Battin, J., Wiley, M.W., Ruckelshaus, M.H., Palmer, R.N., Korb, E., Bartz, K.K., and Imaki, H., (2006) Projected impacts of future climate change on salmon habitat restoration actions in a Puget Sound river, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104:6720-6725.

Christensen, N. S., A.W. Wood, D.P. Lettenmaier, and R.N. Palmer, (2004) Effects of climate change on the hydrology and water resources of the Colorado River basin, Climatic Change, 62(1-3), 337-363.

Payne, J. T., A.W. Wood, A.F. Hamlet, R.N. Palmer, and D.P. Lettenmaier, (2004) Mitigating the effects of climate change on the water resources of the Columbia River basin, Climatic Change Climatic Change, 62(1-3), 233-256.

VanRheenen, N. T., A.W. Wood, A.F. Hamlet, R.N. Palmer, and D.P. Lettenmaier, (2004) Potential implications of PCM climate change scenarios for Sacramento - San Joaquin River Basin hydrology and water resources, Climatic Change, 62(1-3), 257-281.

VanRheenen, N.T., R.N. Palmer, and R.N. Hahn, (2003) Evaluating potential climate change impacts on water resource systems operations: Case studies of Portland, Oregon and the Central Valley, California, Water Resources Update, Issue 124, 35-50.

Jeong, S. M., J.H. Ryu, J.H. Lee, and R.N. Palmer, (2003) Development of a shared vision model for optimal water distribution, Korean Society of Civil Engineers, 23(3B), 191-199.

Recent Conference Proceedings

Ryu, J.H., Palmer, R.N., and Wiley, M., Mid-range Streamflow Prediction: An Application Using a Dynamic Climate Model, Proceedings of the American Water Resources Association Specialty Conference on Adaptive Management, Missoula, Montana, June 2006.

Wiley, M., Palmer, R.N., and Ryu, J.H., Climate Based Streamflow Forecasts for Water Resource Managers, Proceedings of the American Water Resources Association Specialty Conference on Adaptive Management, Missoula, Montana, June 2006.

Ryu, J.H, Palmer, R.N., Jeong, S., and Lee, J., Determining the Skill of Meteorological and Hydrological Forecasts in the Pacific Northwest, Proceedings of ASCE's 2004 World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 2004.

Palmer, R.N., and M. Miller, Determining the Skill of Meteorological and Hydrological Forecasts in the Pacific Northwest, Proceedings of ASCE's 2004 World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 2004.

Palmer, R.N., and W. Werick, When Should Shared Vision Planning Be Used? Proceedings of ASCE's 2004 World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 2004.

VanRheenen, N.T. and R.N. Palmer, D.P. Lettenmaier, and A.F. Hamlet, Incorporating Long-Lead Climate Forecasts into Risk-Based Management and Decision Analysis: A Case for the Snake River Basin, Proceedings of ASCE's 2004 World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 2004.

Ryu, J.H., R.N. Palmer, S. Jeong, and Y-O Kim, An optimization model to mitigate conflicts in the Kum River Basin, Korea, Proceedings of ASCE's 2003 World Water Resources Conference, Philadelphia, PA, June 2003.

Miller, M.L., and R.N. Palmer, Developing an extended streamflow forecast for the Pacific Northwest, Proceedings of ASCE's 2003 World Water Resources Conference, Philadelphia, PA, June 2003.

VanRheenen, N.T., R.N. Palmer, D.P. Lettenmaier, and A.F. Hamlet, Climate change, fish, agriculture, and power: Impacts and implications for future Snake River water resources management, Proceedings of ASCE's 2003 World Water Resources Conference, Philadelphia, PA, June 2003.

Palmer, R.N., and M.A. Hahn, Managing droughts in the future: The impacts of climate change on municipal water supplies, Proceedings of the 83rd Annual Meeting of the AMS, Long Beach, CA, February 2003.

Recent Research Contracts Funded

Impacts of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Events on Chinese Rice Production and the World Rice Market, with R. Naylor, S. Rozelle, W. Falcon, and D. Battisti, $650,000 over three years total, $210,000 to the University of Washington, National Science Foundation. 2006.

Climate Impacts of Water Management II ($291,674) 2006.

Climate Change Impacts on Salmon ($8,000) 2006.

Climate Impacts on Water Management ($218,000) 2005.

River Data Compilation Project III ($25,363) 2005.

River Data Compilation Project II ($74,759) 2005.

Using Climate Signals to Forecast Streamflows and Fish Needs $30,000 (6 months) 2005.

Climate Change Impacts on Salmon ($23,000) 2004.

Columbia River Data Compilation Project I ($71,250) 2004.

Using Climate Signals to Forecast Streamflows and Fish Needs $60,000 (12 months) 2004.

Evaluating the Impacts of Climate Change on Tualatin Water Supply, $49,000 (12 months). 2003.

An Evaluation of Computer Models for Conflict Resolution in the Kum River Basin, Korea, $75,000 (18 months) 2003.

Recent Honors and Award

  • ASCE Julian Hinds Award, 2006.

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