Dr. Jurgen Schmandt is professor emeritus, Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas, Austin. From 1986 to 2002 he was director of the Mitchell Center for Sustainable Development at the Houston Advanced Research Center. Before coming to Texas he worked at the University of Bonn, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Harvard University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. His areas of expertise include science and technology policy, environmental policy and water management in semi-arid regions.
His most recent book, co-edited with Gerald North and Judith Clarkson, is The Impact of Global Warming on Texas, 2nd edition, University of Texas Press, 2011. In 2010 he published a book on HARC’s founder, George P. Mitchell and the Idea of Sustainability, Texas A&M Press. Other books include: Schmandt, J. and Ward, H. (Eds), Sustainable Development: Managing the Transition, Cambridge University Press, 2000.. Schmandt, J. and J. Clarkson (Eds), The Regions and Global Warming: Impacts and Response Strategies, Oxford University Press, 1992. Schmandt, J., J. Clarkson and H. Roderick, Acid Rain and Friendly Neighbors: the Policy Dispute between Canada and the United States, 2nd edition, Duke University Press, 1988. Schmandt, J, E. Smerdon and J. Clarkson, State Water Policies, Praeger, 1988. In 2000, Schmandt, J., Aguilar, I., Mathis.M. et al. completed a major study, Water and Sustainable Development in the Binational Lower Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Basin, available at http://mitchell.harc.edu/archive/RioGrandeBravo/Report. Using the methodology developed for the Rio Grande study, Schmandt is currently organizing an international assessment of rivers in arid lands.
Dr. Schmandt is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Distinguished Fellow of the Houston Advanced Research Center. He has founded two non-governmental organizations, the Rio Grande/Río Bravo Coalition and the Paso del Norte Water Task Force.