Nicolas Whitaker
Nursery and Landscape Manager
Nicolas Whitaker (he/him) is a restoration ecologist, land steward, and landscape designer deeply steeped in the wildlands of the West Coast. Following an upbringing surrounded by the rich biological diversity of Northern California, he pursued a course of study in Restoration Ecology, graduating from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2010. His interest in working at the intersection of human communities and the wild world inspired him to align with organizations committed to connection and regeneration; he has worked in local food system sustainability, led youth groups into deep nature connection, and helped design & implement restoration efforts across thousands of acres of wildlands.
On Staff Since: 2023 Email Phone: x120
In Their Own Words
My work at OAEC:
I work with plants here at OAEC, managing the nursery, perennial landscaping, and borders. I get to have my hands in the soil, working with an amazing diversity of both native and cultivated plants. I oversee the places between human and wild: the borders, beds, boundaries; the edges- bringing nature back in. My goal is to create natural-feeling spaces with the wide range of textures, colors, tastes, and smells the plant kingdom so generously offers. With the Nursery, I get to curate and grow an amazing assortment of plants from around the world, many of which are of deep cultural significance as foods, medicines, and materials to the peoples with which they have co-evolved. In all this, attempting to uplift our native ecosystems and all of the plants and animals that they encompass is at the forefront of my work. I am honored to be in relationship with this place and these plants, and have the opportunity to share their gifts with our broader community.
My passions:
Wild spaces, community, creating beauty, music, and my sweet family.
Why my work matters:
I strive in my work to help dissolve our imagined separation of the human and wild worlds. Tending our ecological and cultural landscape is caring for our hearts- and it is the interplay between these forces that makes us human. Restoring our relationship with the land is the shortest path back home.
