Hosted by the Georgia Tech School of City & Regional Planning and Georgia Tech Serve-Learn-Sustain.

CM Credits: 1.5

Wheeler's Bio: 

Steve Wheeler is a Professor in the Landscape Architecture Program of the Department of Human Ecology at U.C. Davis. Prior to 2007 he taught in Community and Regional Planning Program at the University of New Mexico, and in the Department of City and Regional Planning at U.C. Berkeley, where he received his Master of City Planning and Ph.D. degrees. He received his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College.

Prof. Wheeler teaches courses related to urban and regional planning, urban design, and sustainable development. He is interested in how many different planning and design strategies can work together to produce more sustainable communities. His research focuses on 1) theory and practice of sustainable development; 2) climate change planning; and 3) urban morphology and the evolution of built landscapes in metropolitan regions. Other interests include regional planning and theory of social change.

Prof. Wheeler is the author of three books, Planning for Sustainability: Towards Livable, Equitable, and Ecological Communities (Routledge; second edition 2013); Climate Change and Social Ecology: A New Perspective on the Climate Challenge (Routledge, 2012); and The Sustainable Urban Development Reader (co-edited with Tim Beatley) (Routledge; third edition 2014). He is currently working on a fourth volume entitled Built Landscapes: Patterns of Urban Form and their Implications for Sustainability, and has published numerous journal articles, book chapters, and book reviews.

Wheeler received a 2016 Eco-Hero award from Cool Davis for his work in promoting low-car, zero-net-energy infill development in Davis, CA. In 2015 he received an Academic Leadership Award from the California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN) for research and policy work that helped develop the State of California’s Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program. Wheeler’s other awards include the 2009 William R. and June Dale Prize for Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning, an Honorable Mention for the Chester Rapkin Award for best article published in the Journal of Planning Education and Design, the Chicago Institute of Architecture and Urbanism Award, the Munsell Memorial Award, Best Education Project Awards from the California and Bay Area chapters of the American Planning Association (for Smart Infill), and first place in the Infill Category of the Housing the Next Ten Million urban design competition sponsored by the Great Valley Center in California (with Michael Larice).

In the past Wheeler has served as editor of The Urban Ecologist journal, as Transportation Commissioner for the City of Berkeley, California, as an urban planning consultant, and as a lobbyist for environmental organizations in Washington, D.C. He lives in the Village Homes neighborhood of Davis CA, and enjoys gardening, bicycle riding, backpacking, and playing tennis.