Assistant Professor
T: 514-398-7809 | ben.goldstein [at] mcgill.ca (Email) | Macdonald-Stewart Building, MS1-093 | Website | LinkedIn
Degrees
BASc University of Toronto
MSc, PhD Technical University of Denmark
Short Bio
Benjamin is Assistant Professor of Bioresource Engineering and head of the Sustainable Urban-Rural Futures (SURF) lab at McGill. He is interested in understanding how the consumption of materials and energy in cities produce environmental change inside and outside cities. He develops methods and tools to quantify the scale of these changes and the locations where they occur using life cycle assessment, input-output analysis, and geospatial data. Benjamin is particularly interested in combining quantitative methods with theory rooted in social science to explore multiple dimensions of sustainability and address issues of distributive justice. His topical foci include urban food systems (esp. urban agriculture), agri-commodities, residual resource engineering, global supply chains, sustainable production and consumption, and energy systems.
Awards and Recognitions
Young Research Award 2017 (Technical University of Denmark, Department of Management Engineering)
Active Affiliations
American Association of Geographers
International Society for Industrial Ecology
Research Interests
Benjamin is interested in how we can make cities greener. He uses big data and models to put numbers on the environmental impacts of urban lifestyles. For example, he might look at meat consumption in different neighborhoods of a city to estimate the amount of climate changing gasses, such as methane from cows, result from the city’s meat consumption. Benjamin is also interested in revealing how consumption in cities can produce negative environmental change beyond the city borders and impact the livelihoods of distant peoples. His work focuses on agricultural systems and forestry products.
By better understanding where our products come from and how they are made, we gain insights into how to produce and consume more sustainably.
Current Research
The FEW- Meter: Project with EU and US partners to holistically assess the sustainability of urban farming. We analyze 100 urban farms to understand their resource use, food outputs, environmental impacts, and social benefits. Funding: Belmont Forum/NSF.
Carbon Inequality of Household Energy: Project with University of Michigan. Big data analysis of the carbon emissions from residential energy use in the United States. Probabilistic models of energy use at the individual household level, combined with geodemographic information to reveal drivers of consumption and emissions.
The Sustainability Hoofprint of Cities: Project with University of Michigan and University of Minnesota. Develops spatial life cycle assessment model of livestock production across the continental United States at the county level. Estimates consumption of beef, chicken, and pork for all counties and uses linear optimization to connect consuming counties to producing counties and explore distributional environmental justice issues.
Courses
BREE 210
Mechanical Analysis and Design
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Non-concurrent force systems; analysis of simple trusses and multiforce frames; friction, shearing forces and bending moments in beams and frames; centres of gravity.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- 3 lectures and 2 hours lab or problems per week.
BREE 327
Bio-Environmental Engineering
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: An introduction to how humans affect the earth's ecosystem and projections for the needs of food, water, air and energy to support the human population. Ecologically-reasonable coping strategies including biofuels, bioprocessing, waste management, and remediation methods.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Open to U2 students and above.
- This course carries an additional course charge for field trips.
- This course carries an additional course charge of $11.61 to cover transportation costs for field trips which may include a solar installation site and if registrations permit, a bio-ethanol plant. The fee is refundable only during the withdrawal with full refund period
BREE 485
Senior Undergraduate Seminar 1
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Attendance and participation in departmental seminars, and a small written project report.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Terms
- Instructors
- Michael O Ngadi
- Michael O Ngadi, Benjamin P Goldstein
BREE 486
Senior Undergrad. Seminar 2
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Attendance and participation in departmental seminars, and a small written project report.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2022 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022 academic year
BREE 651
Departmental Seminar M.Sc. 1
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: To give seminars and participate in discussions.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ABEN 651.
- Terms
- Instructors
- Michael O Ngadi
- Michael O Ngadi, Benjamin P Goldstein
BREE 652
Departmental Seminar M.Sc. 2
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: To give seminars and participate in discussions.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Terms
- Instructors
- Michael O Ngadi
- Michael O Ngadi, Benjamin P Goldstein
BREE 751
Departmental Seminar Ph.D. 1
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: To give seminars and participate in discussions.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ABEN 751.
- Terms
- Instructors
- Michael O Ngadi
- Michael O Ngadi, Benjamin P Goldstein
BREE 752
Departmental Seminar Ph.D. 2
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: To give seminars and participate in discussions.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ABEN 752.
- Terms
- Instructors
- Michael O Ngadi
- Michael O Ngadi, Benjamin P Goldstein
BREE 753
Departmental Seminar Ph.D. 3
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: To give seminars and participate in discussion.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ABEN 753.
- Terms
- Instructors
- Michael O Ngadi
- Michael O Ngadi, Benjamin P Goldstein
BREE 754
Departmental Seminar Ph.D. 4
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: To give seminars and participate in discussions.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ABEN 754
- Terms
- Instructors
- Michael O Ngadi
- Michael O Ngadi, Benjamin P Goldstein
Publications
View a list of current publications