Tom Daniels

Tom Daniels directs the concentration in Land Use and Environmental Planning. He also administers the Certificate in Land Preservation and the Certificate in Ecological Planning. Tom frequently serves as a consultant to state and local governments and land trusts. Since 2005, he has served on the Board of Trustees of the Orton Family Foundation, which seeks to promote better planning and decision making in small cities and towns. In 2010, Tom was a recipient of the Clarkson Chair at the State University of New York at Buffalo, a recognition as one of the leading academic planners in the United States.

Tom is well-known as one of the leading thinkers and practitioners of farmland preservation. From 1989 to 1998, Tom managed the nationally-famous farmland preservation program in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he lives. In addition, Tom co-authored Holding Our Ground: Protecting America’s Farms and Farmland (Island Press, 1997) and The Law of Agricultural Land Preservation in the United States (American Bar Association, 2018). 

Courses Taught

Introduction to Land Use Planning, Sustainability and Environmental Planning, Land Preservation, Planning for Climate Change

Research Interests

Growth management, farmland preservation, land use and water quality connection, climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Recent Publications

The Environmental Planning Handbook, 2nd edition, APA Planners Press, 2014.

The Law of Agricultural Land Preservation in the United States, American Bar Association 2018. With John Keene.

"The Napa County Agricultural Preserve: 50 Years as a Foundation of America's Premier Wine Region," Journal of Planning History, 2019.

“California’s success in the socio‑ecological practice of a forest carbon offset credit option to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions,“ Socio-Ecological Practice Research, 2019. With Chaeri Kim.

“McHarg’s theory and practice of regional ecological planning: retrospect and prospect,” Socio-Ecological Practice Research, 2019.

“Re-designing America's suburbs for the age of climate change and pandemics,” Socio-Ecological Practice Research, 2021.

“Managing urban growth in the wake of climate change: Revisiting greenbelt policy in the US,” Land Use Policy, 2022. With Han, Albert, and Chaeri Kim. 

“The potential of nature based solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from US agriculture,” Socio-Ecological Practice Research, 2022.

“The Constellation of Plans: Toward a New Structure of Comprehensive Plans in US Cities," Land, 2022. With Christine Quattro.

“The Fragmenting Countryside and the Challenge of Retaining Agricultural Land: The Vermont Case," Society & Natural Resources, 2023. Senior Author with Kyle McCarthy and Mark B. Lapping.

“The development of utility scale solar projects on US agricultural land: opportunities and obstacles,” Socio-Ecological Practice Research, 2023.

Degrees and Experience:

Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, Oregon State University

M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics, University of Newcastle (UK)

B.A. in Economics, Harvard University

Full Professor University of Pennsylvania, 2003-Present

Full Professor SUNY-Albany, 1998-2003

Fulbright Senior Scholar, University of New South Wales, Australia, 2002.

Director, Lancaster County, PA, Agricultural Preserve Board, 1989-1998

Associate Professor Kansas State University, 1987-1989

Assistant Professor Iowa State University, 1985-1987