Will Travis is a consultant, writer, teacher and speaker on sea level rise adaptation. Throughout the decades, he has worked in the fields of architecture, local planning, private consulting, advertising and public relations. From 1973 to 1995 he served in a number of staff positions at the California Coastal Commission. In 1985 he was appointed deputy director of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. In 1995 he was appointed executive director of BCDC and under his leadership in 2011 BCDC became the nation’s first state coastal management agency to adopt development regulations for addressing sea level rise. In 2012 he served as the senior advisor to the Bay Area Joint Policy Committee, which coordinates the land use planning of four regional agencies. He spearheaded the public acquisition of 10,000 acres of privately-owned salt ponds along the northern shoreline of San Francisco Bay; the ponds are now being restored to coastal wetlands.

Travis is the 2009 recipient of the Jean Auer Environmental Award, presented by the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, and the 2012 recipient of the Frank C. Boerger Award, presented by the Bay Planning Coalition. Travis received Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Regional Planning degrees, both from Penn State University.