Staff List

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden: 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93105
telephone: (805) 682-4726 

Frequently Called Numbers - Dial (805) 682-4726 plus the extension:

• Communications: ext. 122
• Development: ext. 133
• Garden Shop: ext. 112
• Garden Nursery: ext. 114
• Library: ext. 107
• Membership: ext. 110
• Registrar: ext. 102

If you have a general question, please use the Contact Us web form.

Garden Staff email*:

*Note: All email addresses listed below require adding @sbbg.org after email name. For example, to email 'info' you would add @sbbg.org after name to obtain full email address. Result '[email protected]'

Administration

Steve Windhager, Ph.D.
Executive Director
email: swindhager
(805) 682-4726, ext. 123

Kathy Castaneda
Manager of Volunteer Programs
email: kcastaneda
(805) 682-4726, ext. 119 

Joan G. Evans
Accounting Coordinator
email: jevans
(805) 682-4726, ext. 135

Jill Freeland
Director's Executive Assistant & HR Manager
email: jfreeland
(805) 682-4726, ext. 108

Ed Marini
Manager, Design + Construction
email: emarini
(805) 682-4726, ext. 116

Blaksley Library, Photos, Website

Randy Wright
Information Resource Steward
email: rwright
(805) 682-4726, ext. 107

Conservation and Research

Denise Knapp, Ph.D.
Director of Conservation and Research
email: dknapp
(805) 682-4726, ext. 128

Matt Guilliams, Ph.D.
Ken and Shirley Tucker Systematist, Herbarium Curator
email: mguilliams
(805) 682-4726, ext. 124

Heather Schneider, Ph.D.
Rare Plant Biologist
email:hschneider
(805) 682-4726, ext. 148

Elijah Balderas
Herbarium Curatorial Assistant
email: ebalderas
(805) 682-4726,, ext. , 610

Stephanie Calloway
Conservation Technician
email: scalloway
(805) 682-4726, ext. 105

Sherwin Carlquist, Ph.D.
Research Associate
email: scarlquist
(805) 682-4726

Susana Delgadillo
Herbarium Curatorial Assistant
email: sdelgadillo
(805) 682-4726, ext. 147

Steve Junak
Research Associate
email: sjunak
(805) 682-4726

Kristen Lehman, Ph.D.
Conservation Geneticist & Laboratory Manager
email: klehman
(805) 682-4726, ext. 150

Rikke Naesborg, Ph.D.
Tucker Lichenologist
email:rnaesborg
(805) 682-4726, ext. 657

Casey Richart, Ph.D.
Invertebrate Biodiversity Postdoctoral Scholar 
email: crichart
(805) 682-4726, ext. 120

Sean Carson
Rare Plant Technician
email: scarson
(805) 682-4726, ext. 146

Emily Thomas
Laboratory Technician
email: ethomas
(805) 682-4726

Dieter Wilken, Ph.D.
Research Associate
email: dwilken
(805) 682-4726, ext. 124

Development and Communications

Heidi Whitman, CFRE
Director of Development & Communications
email: hwhitman
(805) 682-4726, ext. 133

Rebecca Curtis
Assistant Director of Development & Communications
email:rcurtis
(805) 682-4726 ext. 122

Eileen Becich
Development Assistant
email: ebecich
(805) 682-4726, ext. 103

Events
Events Coordinator
email: ebecich
(805) 682-4726, ext. 103

Education & Engagement

Scot Pipkin
Director of Education and Engagement
email: spipkin
(805) 682-4726, ext. 111

Michelle Cyr
Youth and Family Program Manager
email: mcyr
(805) 682-4726, ext. 161

Caitlin Lam
Lifelong Learning Coordinator and Registrar
email: clam
(805) 682-4726, ext. 160 & 102

Tours
[email protected]
(805) 682-4726, ext. 160

Garden Shop

Barbara Backlund
Shop Manager
email: bbacklund
(805) 682-4726, ext. 118

Michaela Ackerman
Lead Sales Associate
email: mackerman
(805) 682-4626, ext .112

Horticulture

Joseph Rothleutner
Director of Horticulture
email: jrothleutner
(805) 682-4726, ext. 104

Charlie Adams
Maintenance Coordinator
email:cadams
(805) 682-4726

Robert Carrillo
Gardener
email: rcarrillo
(805) 682-4726

John Cornejo
Maintenance Technician
email: jcornejo
(805) 682-4726

Dave Kershaw
Facilities Manager
email: dkershaw
(805) 682-4726, ext. 155

Jacob Cobian
Gardener
email: jcobian
(805) 682-4726

Manuel Gonzalez
Gardener
email: mannyg
(805) 682-4726

Imani Goodman
Plant Sales Associate
email: igoodman
(805) 682-4726 ext. 127

Betsy Lape
Living Collections Coordinator
email: blape
(805) 682-4726, ext. 152

Julian Lavelle
Gardener
email: jlavelle
(805) 682-4726

James Lechuga
Maintenance Coordinator
email: jlechuga
(805) 682-4726, ext. 126

Antony Lee
Gardener
email: alee
(805) 682-4726, ext. 632

Jason Nelson
Gardener
email: jnelson
(805) 682-4726, ext. 609

Geege Ostroff
Gardener/Security
email: gostroff
(805) 682-4726, ext. 608

Stephanie Ranes
Grounds Manager
email:sranes
(805) 682-4726, ext. 409

Bruce Reed
Horticulturist
email: breed
(805) 682-4726, ext. 114

Nick Resler
Gardener
email:nresler
(805) 682-4726

Heather Wehnau
Propagation Manager
email: hwehnau
(805) 682-4726, ext. 130

Bonnie Whitney
Plant Propagation Assistant
email: bwhitney
(805) 682-4726

Membership & Visitor Services

Rita Boss
Membership and Planned Giving
email: rboss
(805) 682-4726, ext. 110

Heather Garcia
Visitor Services Coordinator
email: hgarcia
(805) 682-4726, ext. 149

*Note: All email addresses listed below require adding @sbbg.org after email name. For example, to email 'info' you would add @sbbg.org after name to obtain full email address. Result '[email protected]'