Pieter de Jong was born April 1, 1954 in New Jersey to Armand and Mary (Noe) de Jong. He received his bachelors and master’s degrees in biology, environmental studies and regional planning from University of Pennsylvania. Pieter worked for over 35 years as an environmental planner for local, state and federal agencies and international consulting firms. Pieter de Jong had vast consulting experience and expertise, which he supported companies and organizations as diverse as URS Corporation (now AECOM), Kinder Morgan, Ecoisle and CIPA. He concentrated his efforts in environmental planning and Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM). Pieter worked vigorously to help people understand and address coastal vulnerabilities, the many and interconnected issues associated with developing sustainably and most recently the importance of climate change adaptation. His project management experience was as vast as his heart and included work for a wide range of US federal, state and local levels of government and international organizations (FEMA, HUD, USAID, IDB, US Coast Guard, Caribbean Development Bank, CDEMA, Caribbean Tourism Organization, Center for Sustainable Tourism, UNEP, FEMA, USAID, MCC, CIDA, DFID, and the Asian Development Bank). In the US, Pieter was instrumental in supporting FEMA’s national sustainability planning efforts, under its National Hazard Mitigation Technical Assistance Program (HMTAP). In Central America and the Caribbean, he supported multi-hazard risk assessments, long-term recovery planning, hazard mitigation plans, and worked vigorously to help integrate Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in physical planning and development plans and processes. He worked and managed such consulting projects in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, USVI & BVI, St. Kitts & Nevis, and Jamaica. Pieter also worked as far as away as Thailand, Mongolia and Australia. In addition to Pieter’s work experience he had an affinity for the natural environment and could explain overly complex natural processes in amazingly simple terms. In this regard, Pieter was a true intellect, and was somewhat of a renaissance man, in that he had many talents or commanded areas of knowledge. In addition, he always yearned to learn more. This knowledge, he shared with his friends and colleagues. He was a proud dutchman and was admired by most people he encountered. He loved his family and his trips to Loon island. He also loved where he last settled, the beauty of the Blackstone River watershed, its landscape and the built environment. While he was semi-retired for the last five years, Pieter was an active member and served on the Board of Directors of the Blackstone River Watershed Association from 2015 to the present and the board of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor from 2017 to the present. He was also actively involved in, and just at the start of his first term as President of, the Blackstone River Coalition when he became ill in December 2019. Pieter is survived by his loving siblings: Edward de Jong and his wife Barbara of Rochester, NY, Margaret Luce and her husband David of Minneapolis, MN, Armand E. de Jong, Jr. of Minneapolis, MN, Elizabeth de Jong of Lawrenceberg, TN, David de Jong and his wife Margo of S.C., and Paul de Jong and his companion Maria of N.J.; many nieces and nephews and a large group of supportive and loving friends. Funeral service and interment private. Through his deep affection for and admiration of the Blackstone River watershed and its history, Pieter understood the need to promote, protect, and care for it. Donations may be made in honor of his work to the following organizations: the Blackstone River Watershed Association (BRWA) at www.thebrwa.org, the Blackstone River Coalition (BRC) at www.zaptheblackstone.org, and the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor (BVHC) at www.blackstoneheritagecorridor.org. To all, Pieter offered the generous gift of his friendship and his intellect and he will be sorely missed.