Franco A Montalto

Dr. Montalto is a civil engineer interested in the development of ecologically, economically, and socially sensible solutions to urban environmental problems, with a focus on sustainable water resources engineering and climate change. His ~25 years of experience have included research and design of a variety of nature-based solutions involving ecological restoration of degraded landscapes, the use of constructed wetlands for wastewater and stormwater treatment, as well as work with “green infrastructure” and “low impact development” technologies as a means of managing urban runoff while promoting urban sustainability and resilience. He is currently a Full Professor at Drexel University, where he directs the Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Lab. He is also the Founder and President of eDesign Dynamics LLC, an environmental consulting firm based in New York City, with an international portfolio of projects. He is also a co-Investigator for the NOAA Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) program-funded Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN), serves as the Director of the North American Hub of the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN), and in June of 2020 was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to serve as a Member of the 4th New York City Panel on Climate Change. Previously, he served as a Research Fellow at The Earth Institute at Columbia University, and a Fulbright Scholar in Venice, Italy. His degrees are from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and Cornell University. Dr. Montalto is a licensed engineer in New York (#090284), Pennsylvania (#PE080773), New Jersey (#24GE05353000), Connecticut (#PEN.0030533), Florida (#90024), and Puerto Rico (#28178).