Nathaniel Plant was born in San Francisco, CA, in 1966. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in earth science from the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) in 1989 and 1990, respectively, studying coastal erosion.
After graduating from UCSC, he worked part time for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), studying regional coastal geology and erosional processes. In 1992, he left the USGS to start a Ph.D. program with Rob Holman at Oregon State University, Corvallis, where he presently remains.
Mr. Plant is a member of the American Geophysical Union.