Keith Bowers
Founder and President of Biohabitats, CityCraft Collaborator
Keith Bowers’ expertise and career transcend the boundaries of traditional landscape architecture to include conservation biology, ecological planning, and restoration ecology. Through his own firm, Biohabitats, Keith has over 30 years of experience leading teams of biologists, geologists, ecologists, arborists, GIS technicians, soil scientists, engineers, landscape architects, and planners on more than 1,000 projects across America. Keith’s master plans and conservation plans have been applied to wetlands, coastal habitats, prairies, woodlands, parks, campuses, residential and commercial developments, and endangered species habitats.
Biohabitats diverse body of work ranges from designing and installing oyster reefs, mussel bed, and submerged aquatic plant demonstration projects in Jamaica Bay, New York to working with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in southern Colorado to restore the morphology and aquatic ecology of the Ignacio Creek. Recently, Biohabitats was tasked with leading the watershed management initiative for Baltimore at the city and county level. This coordinated, 20-year effort will improve water quality and aquatic habitat in Chesapeake Bay to allow for a swimmable, fishable Inner Harbour.
Keith’s passion is repairing damaged ecosystems to better serve natural and human communities and directing healthy and resilient land development. Keith has integrated engineering (hydrologics and sediment transport) and scientific modeling (predictive species habitat, habitat evaluation procedure, wetland function, and habitat connectivity) into both site design and regional planning. With his expertise in the role natural systems play in climate change, stormwater management, community design, resiliency planning, and natural disasters, Keith’s skills are highly valuable to the public and private development community.
Skills
- Ecological assessment skills, including the identification and analysis of ecosystem processes, characterization of biotic, and abiotic features and the assessment of natural resources
- Development of concept plans, final design and construction documents (plans, specifications, and construction cost estimates), construction procurement, construction oversight, adaptive management strategies, and post-construction monitoring
- Climate change and natural disaster ecological resiliency planning
- Site and soil remediation and brownfield redevelopment
Leadership and Recognition
- Founder and President of BioHabitats Inc.
- Founder and President of Ecological Restoration and Management Inc., a land management firm providing professional installation and management services for ecological restoration projects
- Held several Board positions, including Directors Chair for the Society for Ecological Restoration
- Sits on Board of Directors of Wildlands Network, which is dedicated to restoring continental corridors, reintroducing keystone species, and rewilding lost habitat
