Associate Prof. Michelle E. Portman

Faculty:

Architecture & Town Planning

Main energy field:

Social science aspects of offshore renewable energy

About:

PostDoc – 2011-2012 – Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Coastal zone management

PostDoc – 2009-2010 – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Siting of Offshore Renewable Wind Energy/Land Use & Commercial fishing

PhD – 2007 – UMass Boston, Public Policy

MSc – 1991 – Technion, Urban & Regional Planning

BSc – 1984 – U.C. Berkeley, Political Economy of Natural Resources

Roles, Chairs, prizes

Chair of Urban & Regional Planning Program, Technion

Vice Dean of Student Affairs, Faculty of Architecture & Town Planning 2020

Golda Meir Award for Postdoctoral Studies, Hebrew University, Israel

The Award for Excellence in Public Policy, UMass, Boston

Lenz Memorial Award for Graduate Student Research, UMass, Boston

UC Berkeley Senior Graduate Foreign Research Award

University of California, Riverside Presidents’ Merit Award

Research Area in Energy:

Policy & Planning for offshore renewable energy

Research Interests:

Energy Conservation – Advanced Combustion and Energy Savings

Offshore Renewable Energy – Wind Power

Siting; decommissioning; multi-use; economic viability; what other uses can co-exist with wind power installations

Public acceptability; economic viability; multi-use: what other uses can co-exist with wind power; community acceptability; aesthetics; feed-in-tariffs

Selected Publications:

Furst, B., Portman, M.E., Teff-Seker, Y., “Activism or egotism? A critical view of the NIMBY phenomenon in cases of energy infrastructure in Israel” Geojournal, 88:4921-4938, 2023.

Shabtay-Yanai, A., Portman, M.E., Carmel, Y., “Contributions of marine infrastructures to marine planning and protected area networking”, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 28(4): 830-839, 2018.

Furst, B., Portman, M. “‘Not In My Backyard’: Characteristics, causes, and responses to the NIMBY phenomena in Israel – case study analysis of energy infrastructure”, Ecology & Environment, 9(2): 34-41, 2018.

Portman, M.E. “Regulatory capture by default: Offshore exploratory drilling for oil and gas”, Energy Policy 65: 37-47, 2014.

Portman, M.E. “Offshore Renewable Energy – Stakeholder Perceptions and Public Participation in the New Frontier”, Modern Energy Review, Vol. 2(2):114-117, 2010.

Portman, M.E., Duff, J. A., Köppel, J., Reisert J., and Higgins, M. E. “Offshore Wind Energy Development in the Exclusive Economic Zone: Legal and Policy Supports and Impediments in Germany and the U.S.” Energy Policy, Vol. 37(9): 3596-3607, 2009.

Portman, M. E. “Involving the Public in Impact Assessment for Offshore Renewable Energy Facilities”, Marine Policy, Vol. 33(2): 332-338, 2009.