TOUR LECTURERS
Matt Kondolf
Mathias “Matt” Kondolf is Professor of Environmental Planning and former Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning and co-Director of Global Metropolitan Studies at Cal. He teaches hydrology, river restoration, environmental planning, and environmental science. Originally trained as a geologist and fluvial geomorphologist, Matt researches human-river interactions, including managing flood-prone lands, urban rivers, river restoration, and river-basin-scale impacts of dams and mining on downstream rivers and deltas. He advises governments and non-governmental organizations on sustainable management of rivers around the world, providing expert testimony before the US Congress, California legislature, California Water Resources Control Board, US Supreme Court, and International Court of Justice in the Hague. He was an expert witness for India regarding the Kishenganga River arbitration case between India and Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (the Hague).
Matt enjoys time spent on rivers near and far, having floated the Green and Colorado Rivers, as well as rivers elsewhere in the US, in Europe and in southwest China. He provides geologic context for trips, such as the active faulting responsible for the dramatic scenery in the Gulf of California (Baja), and the origins of the Ganges-Brahmaputra Alluvial Plain.
Join Matt on his Cal Discoveries adventures to Mystical India with Ranthambore Tiger Preserve | December 3-19, 2026 and Baja California: Among the Great Whales | February 6-13, 2027.
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