Michael T. Wilson

Associate Policy Researcher

Boston Office

Education

B.A. in environmental science & policy, Harvard University; MUP in urban planning, Harvard University; MLA in landscape architecture, Harvard University; Ph.D. in urban and regional planning, MIT

One Page Bio

Overview

Michael T. Wilson, Ph.D. is an associate policy researcher at the RAND Corporation and a registered landscape architect. His work with the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, and Federal Emergency Management Agency among other sponsors focuses on energy and the environment, risk and uncertainty, and disaster recovery, as well as data analysis and visualization. Dr. Wilson’s prior professional experience ranges from large-scale economic development and urban infrastructure projects in Toronto, ON; St. Louis, MO; and Austin, TX to long-term planning in the New York-New Jersey region after Hurricane Sandy. He has published research on emergency management, stormwater planning, resilient building standards, and flood insurance. Since 2013, he has had a mayoral appointment to the Boston Conservation Commission, which regulates the city’s urban development in the floodplain as well as wetland, riverine, and coastal ecosystems.

Wilson received his Ph.D. in urban and regional planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also was awarded an MLA and MUP from Harvard University in landscape architecture and urban planning, as well as an AB in environmental science and policy from Harvard University.

Research Focus

Selected Publications

Michael T. Wilson, "Assessing voluntary resilience standards and impacts of flood risk information," Building Research & Information, 48(1), 2020

Michael T. Wilson and Carolyn Kousky, "The Long Road to Adoption: How Long Does it Take to Adopt Updated County‐Level Flood Insurance Rate Maps?" Risk, Hazards, and Crisis in Public Policy, 10(4), 2019

Alan M. Berger, Michael T. Wilson, Jonah Susskind and Richard J. Zeckhauser , "Theorizing the resilience district: Design-based decision making for coastal climate change adaptation," Journal of Landscape Architecture, 15(1), 2020

Michael T. Wilson, "Catastrophes and their Classifications: Revising New York City’s Hurricane Evacuation Maps after Irene and Sandy," Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 15(2), 2018

Michael T. Wilson, Jordan R. Fischbach, Kyle Siler-Evans, and Devin Tierney, "Modeling the uncertainty of potential impacts on Robust Stormwater Management from neighborhood-scale impervious cover change: a case study of population-based scenarios in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania," Urban Water Journal, 2020

Publications

Research Brief
The Growing Exposure of Air Force Installations to Natural Disasters
Some Department of the Air Force installations face high levels of exposure to flooding, wildfires, or high winds. Twenty installations have areas with high or very high wildfire potential.
Sep 16, 2021
Report
Grounded: An Enterprise-Wide Look at Department of the Air Force Installation Exposure to Natural Hazards: Implications for Infrastructure Investment Decisionmaking and Continuity of Operations Planning
The authors of this report consider the exposure of Department of the Air Force (DAF) installations to flooding, high winds, and wildfires—hazards that have affected DAF installations in the recent past.
Aug 9, 2021
Journal Article
Modeling the Uncertainty of Potential Impacts on Robust Stormwater Management from Neighborhood-Scale Impervious Cover Change: A Case Study of Population-Based Scenarios in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
This work presents a method for applying high-spatial resolution population-based scenarios to pre-existing stormwater models. We explore the impact of two long-term population growth scenarios for the Pittsburgh region.
2020
Research Brief
How Can Green Infrastructure Help to Manage Rainfall in an Urban Watershed?
This brief describes a proposed system of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) in Pittsburgh's Negley Run watershed, evaluates its potential benefits and costs, and presents recommendations to improve urban stormwater management.
Oct 29, 2020
Report
Managing Heavy Rainfall with Green Infrastructure: An Evaluation in Pittsburgh's Negley Run Watershed
RAND researchers estimate the potential benefits and costs of a green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) system in Pittsburgh's Negley Run watershed, evaluate a series of GSI investments, and make recommendations to improve urban stormwater management.
Oct 26, 2020
Report
Developing New Future Scenarios for the U.S. Coast Guard's Evergreen Strategic Foresight Program
The U.S. Coast Guard's Evergreen strategic foresight initiative works to identify emerging service challenges that require focus in the near term. This report describes an approach to developing future scenarios to aid in that process.
May 27, 2020
Report
Robust Stormwater Management in the Pittsburgh Region: A Pilot Study
This report provides an independent study of how the stormwater problem in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania metropolitan region could grow with future change, and discusses potential long-term solutions using new analytical approaches developed by RAND.
Apr 24, 2017