People | James J. Corbett

• Ph.D., Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, 1999.
• M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 1998.
• B.S., Marine Engineering Technology, California Maritime Academy, 1985.
• P.E., Professional Engineer, Mechanical, State of California, 1993.

Sustainable Intermodal Freight Transportation Research Program

Sustainable Intermodal Freight Transportation Research (SIFTR) focuses on improving the effective use of highway, waterway, railroad, and air infrastructure.  An effective freight transportation system is one that is efficient, economic, resilient, and environmentally sustainable. SIFTR performs intermodal transportation research to: i) improve collaboration among industry, universities, and agencies across jurisdictions; and ii) build interdisciplinary capacity to evaluate benefits of alternative ideas for sustainable goods movement. Our project’s integration and transparency supports critical decisions to meet the federal missions for more sustainable freight transportation and responsible fiscal investments that serve economic recovery and long-term growth. Specific research goals in the national interest include:

• Contribute to public understanding of speed and travel-time reliability in goods movement that facilitates U.S. DOT work with regional, state, and local agencies and the freight industry.

• Assist agencies in identifying transportation projects that mitigate road congestion, and promote energy efficient goods movement. 
• Consider modal infrastructure improvements in terms of overall benefits to regional, state and national transportation system performance. 
• Involve industry in our research so that federal investment priorities consider industry participation and co-investment synergies.  

The Geospatial Intermodal Freight Transportation (GIFT) Model is a network optimization model collaboratively developed by the University of Delaware and the Rochester Institute of Technology to evaluate the energy, emission, cost, and time-of-delivery attributes of intermodal freight transport.  The network is characterized not only by distance and time-of-delivery, but also by operating costs, energy, and emissions. Collaborators: James J. Winebrake, RIT; Scott Hawker, RIT; Karl Korfmacher, RIT; Earl "Rusty" Lee, UD

We are developing methods to improve global-proxy representativeness in ship data used to infer activity and emissions in global gridded inventories.  This includes the Ship Traffic, Energy and Environment Model (STEEM) and globbal Gridded inventories using our best estimates are avialable, and a set of underlying global proxy data derived from independent sources (ICOADS and AMVER and their combination).  Recent work includes development of high-resolution inventory scenarios for Arctic Shipping including potential emerging Arctic routes.

Energy assessments include evaluating total fuel cycle emissions for marine transportation and other freight modes.  We also have evaluated the spatial risks of whale strikes and invasive species introduction by marine traffic. 

Current Students

Wei Huang, Ph.D. Student, Marine Spatial Planning and Governance. Matriculated 2008.

Edward Carr, M.S. Student, Sustainable Maritime Policy. Matriculated 2012.

MAST 802-010 Case Study in Ocean and Coastal Management

Problem-based learning course providing students experience in setting up, analyzing, and writing about complex interdisciplinary issues in coastal and ocean management. Students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds engage in real-world marine science and policy problems. Students apply disciplinary knowledge and develop synthesis skills within groups. Case designs will contain at least several disciplinary elements, including physical ocean science, biological oceanography, environmental assessment, economics, law, and policy.

MAST 663-010 Decision Tools for Policy Analysis

Develops quantitative decision-making skills for science and technology policy decisions. Covers decision-making under uncertainty, axioms of decision analysis, decision trees, influence diagrams sensitivity analysis, confidence intervals, value of information, and multi-attribute decision theory. Introduces life-cycle analysis, discounting and inflation, and benefit-cost decision frameworks.

MAST 664-010 Marine Transportation Policy

This course provides an overview of marine transportation policy and develops analytical techniques in the contexts of local, national, and international perspectives. Topics covered include: maritime transportation technology and projected fleet development; overview of policy frameworks affecting trade, safety, and environment; quantitative analysis of shipping business economics under policy constraints.

MAST 679-010 Shipping and Port Management

This course is a seminar to study the structure and management of the shipping industry and ports, policies for ocean commerce, international trade, and merchant marine. Topics covered include the history of shipping, technological changes in maritime transportation, United States policy, and international policy.

CIEG 467-014/CIEG 667-014/MAST 667-014 Industrial Ecology

This course in Industrial Ecology is a problem-based curriculum that develops skills for systems analysis of technology and processes in modern society.  IE provides foundation and practical application necessary to frame and quantify measures of performance in industrial processes.  Using various scales of analysis, IE techniques evaluate single processes, facilities, product life-cycle, and systems of processes serving society.

All Publications Here 49 Peer-reviewed journal articles; 11 Book chapters or sections; 42 Conference papers;  75 Reports; 6 Other published works including Dictionary and Editorial pieces.

Corbett, J. J.; Deans, E.; Silberman, J.; Morehouse, E.; Craft, E.; Norsworthy, M., Panama Canal expansion: emission changes from possible US west coast modal shift. Carbon Management 2012, 3, (6), 569-588.

Winebrake, J. J.; Green, E. H.; Comer, B.; Corbett, J. J.; Froman, S., Estimating the direct rebound effect for on-road freight transportation. Energy Policy 2012, 48, (0), 252-259.

Corbett, J.J.; Winebrake, J.; Green, E., An assessment of technologies for reducing regional short-lived climate forcers emitted by ships with implications for Arctic shipping. Carbon Management 2010, 1, (2), 207-225.

Comer, B.; Corbett, J. J.; Hawker, J. S.; Korfmacher, K.; Lee, E. E.; Prokop, C.; Winebrake, J. J., Marine Vessels as Substitutes for Heavy-1 Duty Trucks in Great Lakes Freight Transportation. Journal of Air and Waste Management, 2010.

Corbett, J. J.; Lack, D. A.; Winebrake, J. J.; Harder, S.; Silberman, J. A.; Gold, M., Arctic shipping emissions inventories and future scenarios. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 2010, 10, (19), 9689-9704.

Corbett, J. J.; Winebrake, J. J., The Role of International Policy in Mitigating Global Shipping Emissions. Brown Journal of World Affairs 2010, 16.2, (Spring/Summer).

Corbett, J. J.; Wang, H.; Winebrake, J. J., The effectiveness and costs of speed reductions on emissions from international shipping. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 2009, 14, (8), 593-598.

Winebrake, J. J.; Corbett, J. J.; Green, E. H.; Lauer, A.; Eyring, V., Mitigating the Health Impacts of Pollution from International Shipping: An Assessment of Low-Sulfur Fuel Mandates. Environmental Science and Technology, 43(13), p.4776-4782, 2009.

Lack, D.; Corbett, J. J.; Onasch, T.; Lerner, B. M.; Massoli, P.; Quinn, P. K.; Bates, T. S.; Covert, D. S.; Coffman, D.; Sierau, B.; Herndon, S.; Allan, J.; Baynard, T.; Lovejoy, E.; Ravishankara, A. R.; Williams, E. J., Particulate Emissions from Commercial Shipping. Chemical, Physical and Optical Properties. Journal of Geophysical Research, 114 (D00F04), 2009.

A. S. M. Vanderlaan; Corbett, J. J.;  S. L. Green,; J. A. Callahan; C. Wang; R. Kenney; C. T. Taggart; J. Firestone, Probability and Mitigation of Vessel Encounters with North Atlantic Right Whales. Endangered Species Research, 6(3), p.273-285, 2009.

Corbett, J. J., J. J. Winebrake, Emissions Tradeoffs Among Alternate Marine Fuels: Total Fuel Cycle Analysis Of Residual Oil, Marine Gas Oil And Marine Diesel Oil, Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association, 58(4), 538-542, 2008.

Wang, C., J.J. Corbett, and J. Firestone, Improving Spatial Representation of Global Ship Emissions Inventories, Environmental Science & Technology, 42(1), 193-199,2008.

Corbett, J.J., J.J. Winebrake, E.H. Green, P. Kasibhatla, V. Eyring, and A. Lauer, Mortality from Ship Emissions: A Global Assessment, Environmental Science & Technology, 41(24), 8512–8518, 2007.

Wang, C., J.J. Corbett, and J.J. Winebrake, Cost-effectiveness of Reducing Ship Sulfur Emissions, Environmental Science & Technology, 41(24), 8233–8239, 2007.

Wang, C., J.J. Corbett, and J. Firestone, Modeling Energy Use and Emissions from North American Shipping: Application of the Ship Traffic, Energy, and Environment Model, Environmental Science and Technology, 41 (9), 3226-3232, 2007.

Capaldo, K.P., J.J. Corbett, P. Kasibhatla, P. Fischbeck, S.N. Pandis, Effects of Ship Emissions on Sulphur Cycling and Radiative Climate Forcing Over the Ocean, Nature, 400, 743-746, 1999.

Corbett, J.J., P.S. Fischbeck, Emissions from Ships, Science, 278(5339), 823-824, 1997.

Ph.D. Students Graduated

Amit Mokashi, Assistant Professor, Transportation and Logistics Management, University of Wisconsin-Superior. Dissertation Title: An Analysis of Voluntary Environmental Actions for Marine Highways: a Stakeholder Perspective. Dissertation Chair.

Eric Deans, Director at Maritime Authority of Jamaica. Dissertation Title: Cargo Flow Dynamics Influenced by the Expansion of the Panama Canal. Dissertation Chair.

Mark Baylor, M.S. Baylor & Associates Dissertation Title: A Model for Maximizing Port Stakeholder Valuation of Modal Infrastructure Alternatives: An Analysis Using the Analtyic Hierarchy Process. Dissertation Chair.

Haifeng Wang, Policy Analyst, The International Council on Clean Transportation, Dissertation Title: The GHG Reduction Cost for International Shipping and Its Impact on Transportation Cost and International Trade.  Dissertation Chair.

Catherine Barton, Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Disseration Title: Measurement, Partitioning, and Near-field Modeling of Perflourooctanoate (PFO) in Air. Committee Member.

Chengfeng Wang, Air Pollution Specialist, Planning and Technical Support Division, California Environmental Protection Agency, Air Resources Board; University of Delaware Ph.D. 2005, Dissertation Title: A study of geographical characterization of ship traffic, emissions, and cost-effectiveness of reducing sulfur emissions from foreign waterborne commerce for the U.S. West Coast. Dissertation Chair.

Cynthia Stahl, U.S. EPA; Dissertation Title: Environmental Decision Analysis with Multi-criteria Integrated Resource Assessment (MIRA), University of Delaware Ph.D., May 2003. Committee Member.

Dohoon Kim, Senior. Fisheries Economist, Korea Maritime Institute;  Dissertation Title: Bioeconomic Analysis of Alternative Management Policies for the United States Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fishery, May 2003. Committee Member.

Steve Thur, Analyst, Natural Resource Damage Assessment Group National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); Dissertation Title: Valuing Recreational Benefits in Coral Reefs Marine Protected Areas: An Application to the Bonaire National Marine Park, January 2004. Committee Member.

Chunling Chen, Dissertation Title: Game-theoretic Approaches to the Joint Management of Chub Mackerel in Northeast Asian Seas, February 2004. Committee Member.

Master's Students Graduated

Nicole Hausler, Principal- Summer Hill Environmental, LLC.  Role Of Risk Based Decision Making In Achieving Ballast Water Policy Goals In Maritime Transportation, Marine Policy Program, December 2010. Thesis Advisor.

Christine Miller, Planning & Communications Director, North Carolina Coastal Federation; Thesis: An Institutional Analysis of the Organizations Responsible for Aspects of Coastal Management on Two Eastern Caribbean Islands, M.S. Marine Policy, December 2003. Thesis Advisor.

Kinam Jeong, Korean Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries; Thesis: Pilotage as a Measure for Preventing Accidental Oil Pollution in the Korean Straits, M.S. Marine Policy, May 2004. Thesis Advisor.

For complete list of publications, please click here.

Corbett, J. J.; Hawker, J. S.; Winebrake, J. J. Development of a California Geospatial Intermodal Freight Transport Model with Cargo Flow Analysis: Final Report; University of Delaware and Rochester Institute of Technology: Newark, DE, 6 December 2010, 2010.

Mokashi, A. J.; Corbett, J. J. Prioritized Actions for Issuance of MARAD's Environmental Award; University of Delaware: Newark, DE, 19 November 2010, 2009; p 58.

Corbett, J. J.; Ghosh, A.; Hawker, J. S.; Korfmacher, K.; Lee, E. E.; Silberman, J.; Winebrake, J. J. Infrastructure Performance Improvement to Reduce Corridor Delays for Freight Flows: Application of Geospatial Intermodal Freight Transportation Model, Study Design Memorandum: Milestone for Task I – Assess System Performance Measures; University of Delaware and Rochester Institute of Technology: Newark, DE, 3 November 2010, 2010.

Buhaug, Ø.; Corbett, J. J.; Eyring, V.; Endresen, Ø.; Faber, J.; Hanayama, S.; Lee, D. S.; Lee, D.; Lindstad, H.; Markowska, A. Z.; Mjelde, A.; Nelissen, D.; Nilsen, J.; Pålsson, C.; Wanquing, W.; Winebrake, J. J.; Yoshida, K. Control of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships Engaged in International Trade; International Maritime Organization: Copenhagen, Denmark, 7-18 December 2009, 2009; p 32.

Winebrake, J.J. and J.J. Corbett, SAFE-Ships Analysis of an Energy Efficiency Design Index, Appendix to Study on Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Ocean-Going Shipping; Japan International Transportation Institute, Washington, DC, June 2009.

Buhaug, Ø.; Corbett, J. J.; Endresen, Ø.; Eyring, V.; Faber, J.; Hanayama, S.; Lee, D. S.; Lee, D.; Lindstad, H.; Mjelde, A.; Pålsson, C.; Wanquing, W.; Winebrake, J. J.; Yoshida, K. Second IMO Greenhouse Gas Study 2009; International Maritime Organization: London, 30 March, 2009.

Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment 2009 Report. Arctic Council, April 2009. Coordinating Lead Authors:; Brigham, L.; McCalla, R.; Cunningham, E.; Barr, W.; Vanderzaag, D.; Santos-Pedro, V.; MacDonald, R.; Harder, S.; Ellis, B.; Snyder, J.; Huntington, H.; Skjoldal, H.; Gold, M.; Williams, M.; Wojhan, T.; Falkingham, J.  Contributing author to Envirionmental Considerations and Impacts Chapter, pages 134-153. Full report also accessible here and locally provided here.

Green, E. H.; Winebrake, J. J.; Corbett, J. J. Opportunities for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships; Prepared for Clean Air Task Force by Energy and Environmental Research Associates, LLC: Pittsford, NY, 30 July, 2008. Submitted to IMO MEPC 58 (MEPC 58/INF.21).

Corbett, J.J., C. Wang, and J. Firestone, Estimation, Validation, And Forecasts Of Regional Commercial Marine Vessel Inventories, Final Report, State of California Air Resources Board and the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America, Sacramento, CA, 2007.

Corbett, J.J., C. Wang, J.J. Winebrake, and E. Green, Allocation and Forecasting of Global Ship Emissions, submitted as a formal Annex to submission to the International Maritime Organization, pp. 26, Clean Air Task Force and Friends of the Earth International, Boston, MA, 2007.

Corbett, J.J., J.J. Winebrake, and E. Green, Cargo on the Move through California: Evaluating Container Fee Impacts on Port Choice, report for Natural Resources Defense Council and Coalition for Clean Air, pp. 41, Energy and Environmental Research Associates, Pittsford, NY, 2006.

Corbett, J. J. Environmental Impacts of Ocean Shipping in a Freight Context: A Summary of Current Assessments, Future Trends, and Approaches to Mitigation; Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): Paris, France, November 2006, 2006.

Corbett, J.J., J.J. Winebrake, and P. Woods, An Evaluation of Public-Private Incentives to Reduce Emissions from Regional Ferries: Synthesis Report, pp. 15, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey and University of Delaware, New Brunswick, NJ, 2005.

Corbett, J.J., Verification of Ship Emission Estimates with Monitoring Measurements to Improve Inventory and Modeling, pp. 47, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 2004.

Full CV here

Ship Inventory GIS Data

Ship Traffic, Energy and Environment Model (STEEM)

Global Gridded inventories using 2008-2010 estimates

Underlying global proxy data derived from independent sources (ICOADS and AMVER)  

High-resolution inventory scenarios for Arctic Shipping

Delaware Bay Vessel Tracking

Gulf Spill Energy and Environment Cobenefits or Conflicts?

Energy Hours/Days Counted in Terms of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Deepwater Drilling is a Risky Decision

America's Spill video and Delaware's Connection to America's Spill Coast Day video at vimeo.com, and America's Spill video at youtube.com

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