Steve Windhager Email & Phone Number

Steve’s passion for wild things began as a child exploring the outdoors. Years as a boy scout sharpened this focus, and later, working at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center made it a way of life. He has studied the practice of restoring damaged ecosystems from both a philosophical as well as applied angle, and has come to celebrate the regional vernacular of gardening with the plants native to wherever he lives. Steve ran the research program at the Widflower Center from 1999 to 2010, and then came to California to head the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, the nation’s oldest botanic garden dedicated exclusively to native plants. A national leader in sustainable development and ecological restoration, Steve helped develop, and was the first Director of the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES), a joint project of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the United States Botanic Garden and the American Society of Landscape Architects. SITES provides sustainable design guidelines and ratings for assessing the sustainability of landscapes. Steve Windhager began his career as from a theoretical bent, obtaining a B.A. in Philosophy from Texas A&M University. He then proceeded to the University of North Texas, completing his Masters focusing on Environmental Ethics. Steve’s Master’s thesis focused on the philosophical aspects of the practice of ecological restoration. In the process of completing this work, he became so interested in restoration that he not only wanted to study it, he chose to do it, and completed his Ph.D. work in environmental science focusing in restoration ecology.

Listed skills include Sustainability, Ecological Restoration, Conservation Issues, Environmental Science, and 19 others.