Leadership

Deborah E. Popper (New York) is visiting professor at Princeton University’s Environmental Institute and professor emerita of geography at the City University of New York’s College of Staten Island and Graduate Center. Professor Popper has written on transformations of the American frontier, both in its current incarnation as the American West and its earlier, more Eastern embodiment. Her article “The Great Plains: From Dust to Dust” (Planning, December 1987), written with her husband Frank Popper put forward the controversial Buffalo Commons thesis that stimulated an ongoing national debate about the future of the Great Plains region as based on ecological restoration. She has also explored how other American regions and urban areas have responded to long-term population loss. She is interested in how food systems, energy systems, and economies can result in thriving or troubled communities. She serves on the governing board of the American Geographical Society, the country’s oldest national geographic organization, and coedits its digital publication “Focus on Geography.” She has a bachelor’s degree in history from Bryn Mawr College, a masters degree in library science from Rosary College, and a masters and doctorate in geography from Rutgers University.