Steward Pickett

Steward T.A. Pickett is an ecologist internationally known for contributions to urban ecology, social-ecological systems theory, and the study of natural disturbance.  He was born and raised in Louisville, KY. He received a B.S. in Botany from the University of Kentucky in 1972, and the PhD in Botany from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in 1977.  He served on the faculty of Rutgers University until 1987, when he moved to Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY, where he is now Distinguished Senior Scientist.  He was founding director of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, a pioneering interdisciplinary program encompassing research, community engagement, and education in a complex social-ecological metropolitan system.  He has authored or edited more than a dozen books, and over 300 research publications.  In addition to his service to the McHarg Center, he has served as President of the Ecological Society of America, and on the boards of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, Defenders of Wildlife, and City as Living Laboratory.  He is a recipient of the Botanical Society of America’s Centennial Award, a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America, and its 2021 Eminent Ecologist; He was one of three recipients of the BBVP Foundation 2022 Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology and Conservation. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.  His research has been applied in the contexts of ecology in urban design and planning, environmental justice, and landscape-based conservation.