Kris Wernstedt

Kris Werstedt

Associate Professor in Urban Affairs and Planning

Kris Wernstedt is an Associate Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning at Virginia Tech’s National Capital Region campus in Alexandria. Prior to coming to Virginia Tech in August 2006, he spent 15 years as a Fellow at Resources for the Future, a non-profit organization in Washington, DC that conducts research and policy analysis on environmental quality and natural resources.

Wernstedt studies a variety of issues in environmental planning, management, and policy, with topical emphases on contaminated properties, water resources, and climate change and variability. His broad substantive interests include regulatory innovation, decision making under uncertainty, and institutional responses to risk. Research sponsors have included a range of foundations, think tanks, and federal agencies.

He holds both a Ph.D. and a Master of Regional Planning in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University, as well as a Master of Science in Water Resources Management from the University of Wisconsin. He may be contacted at krisw@vt.edu

Publications

  • Wernstedt, Kris, Peter B. Meyer, and Anna Alberini. 2006: “Attracting Private Investment to Contaminated Properties: The Value of Public Interventions.” J. of Policy Analysis & Management, 25(2). 347-369.
  • Wernstedt, Kris and Robert Hersh. 2006: “Brownfields Regulatory Reform and Policy Innovation in Practice.” Progress in Planning, 65(1). 2-74.
  • Wernstedt, Kris, Peter B. Meyer, Anna Alberini, and Lauren Heberle. 2006: “Incentives for Private Residential Brownfields Development in US Urban Areas.” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 49(1). 101-119.
  • Wernstedt, Kris and Peter B. Meyer. 2005: “What Do Developers Want?” Brownfield News, June. 12.
  • Wernstedt, Kris and Robert Hersh. 2004: “Reseeding the Turf.” Brownfield News & Regional Report, May. 6-7.
  • Meyer, Peter, Kris Wernstedt, and Anna Alberini. 2004: “All Incentives for Infill Development on Contaminated Land Are Not Equal: Developers’ Ratings of Different Forms of Support.” Urban Land, July. 28-31.
  • Wernstedt, Kris and Robert Hersh. 2004: “Climate Forecasts and Flood Planning Under the Reign of ENSO.” Natural Hazards Review, 5(2). 97-105.
  • Wernstedt, Kris, Peter B. Meyer, and Kristen R. Yount. 2003: “Insuring Redevelopment at Contaminated Urban Properties.” Public Works Management & Policy, 8(2). 85-98.
  • Wernstedt, Kris and Robert Hersh. 2002: “Climate Forecasts in Flood Planning: Promise and Ambiguity.” Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 38(6). 1703-1714.
  • Wernstedt, Kris. 2002: “Environmental Management in the Russian Federation: Lessons and Opportunities.” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 45(4). 493-516.
  • Hersh, Robert and Kris Wernstedt. 2002: “Gauging the Vulnerability of Local Water Utilities to Extreme Weather Events.” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 45(3). 341-361.
  • Wernstedt, Kris. 2001: “Devolving Superfund to Main Street: Avenues for Local Community Involvement.” Journal of the American Planning Association, 67(3). 293-313.
  • Hersh, Robert and Kris Wernstedt. 2001: “Out of Site, Out of Mind: The Problem of Institutional Controls.” Race, Poverty & the Environment, 8(1). 15-16.
  • Wernstedt, Kris. 2000: “Plans, Planners, and Aggregates Mining: Constructing an Understanding.” Journal of Planning Education and Research, 20. 80-90.
  • Wernstedt, Kris. 2000: “Terra Firma or Terra Incognita? Western Land Use, Hazardous Waste and the Devolution of U.S. Federal Environmental Programs.” Natural Resources Journal, 40(1). 157-183.
  • Hersh, Robert and Kris Wernstedt. 1999: “Land Use, Risk, and Superfund Cleanups: At the Nexus of Policy and Practice.” Public Works Management & Policy, 4(1). 31-40.
  • Wernstedt, Kris, Robert Hersh, and Katherine Probst. 1999: “Grounding Hazardous Waste Cleanups: A Promising Remedy?” Land Use Policy, 16(1). 45-55.
  • Wernstedt, Kris and Robert Hersh. 1998: “Urban Land Use and Superfund Cleanups.” Journal of Urban Affairs, 20(4). 459-474.
  • Wernstedt, Kris and Robert Hersh. 1998: “Through a Lens Darkly: Superfund Spectacles on Public Participation at Brownfields Sites.” Risk: Health, Safety & Environment, 9(2). 153-173.
  • Wernstedt, Kris. 1995: “Regional Environmental Policy and the Distribution of Economic Impacts Among Rural Households.” Environment and Planning A, 27(4). 645-662.
  • Paulsen, Charles M. and Kris Wernstedt. 1995: “Cost-Effectiveness Analysis for Complex Managed Hydrosystems: An Application to the Columbia River Basin.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 28(3). 388-400.
  • Wernstedt, Kris and Charles M. Paulsen. 1995: “Economic and Biological Analysis to Aid System Planning for Salmon Recovery in the Columbia River Basin.” Journal of Environmental Management, 43(4). 313-331.
  • Hyman, Jeffrey B. and Kris Wernstedt. 1995: “A Value-Informed Framework for Interdisciplinary Analysis: Application to Recovery Planning for Snake River Salmon.” Conservation Biology, 9(3). 625-635.

Faculty & Staff