Our Team
Scott and Colleen Gardner collectively bring over 40 years of informed land management practices and environmental education in the Texas Hill Country. They have a base of knowledge from which to build increasingly competent ways of stewarding land — in the Texas Hill Country and beyond.
Scott Gardner
Since 2002, Scott Gardner has been a conservation-focused land and business manager for the C.L. Browning Ranch in Blanco County, Texas. His duties include overseeing land restoration efforts, managing facilities and equipment, providing financial reporting and working with and supervising staff.
The land management practices Scott has applied on the ranch’s 979 acres include selective brush control, invasive species management, revegetation of native plants, and wildlife management. His responsibilities include strict budget oversight and reporting, strategic planning, and documentation for evaluation and compliance with the ranch’s 1-D-1 Wildlife Valuation.
Over the years, Scott has provided consultations for landowners on topics including range management, plant identification, and wetland restoration. Additionally, he has served on the boards and committees of the Hill Country Land Trust and the Texas A&M Forest Service.
Scott has collaborated with numerous institutions and agencies on studio projects and research studies that promote good land planning and environmentally sound management practices in the Texas Hill County and elsewhere.
These groups include The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Texas-San Antonio, Texas A&M University – San Antonio, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the Texas Water Development Board, the U.S. Geological Society, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Texas Forest Service.
Scott has overseen outdoor classrooms for undergraduate and graduate students conducting more than 28 selective scientific research projects. Additionally, he has co-authored and co-researched nine masters theses and two PhD projects.
Scott obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography from Texas State University, and his MBA from Texas A&M University – San Antonio with a focus on project management.
Scott enjoys scuba diving, prescribed burning, maps, guitars, and sitting in swimming pools.
Colleen Gardner
Colleen joined the staff of the Bamberger Ranch Preserve in 1999 as a 30-year old intern, following her volunteer work with the U.S. Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa. While working at the BRP her collaborations with scientists, naturalists and science educators led to her hiring as the education programmer.
During this time, she met her friend and mentor Margaret Bamberger, who greatly influenced Colleen’s professional interests and path in life.
In the years that followed, she helped develop award-winning environmental education programs that reached thousands of students and landowners. She promoted the ranch in public settings, contributed to landowner workshops, and orchestrated and delivered programming for school field trips.
In 2006, Colleen was promoted to assistant director at the Bamberger Ranch Preserve under founder, J. David Bamberger and was named executive director in 2011.
While serving as executive director, her skillset expanded to include nonprofit fundraising, budgeting, and financial planning, while maintaining oversight and implementation of the educational outreach programs. Colleen retired from that position in 2020.
Colleen has served on the board of the Texas Hill Country Alliance, the Blanco-Pedernales Groundwater District, and Last Chance Endeavors. She served for nine years on the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s private lands advisory committee and two years with their non-game wildlife advisory committee.
Colleen is currently serving as President of the Friends of Blanco State Park.
Colleen has a Bachelor of Arts in business from Austin College and a graduate degree from Texas State University in natural and environmental resources.
She spends her free time dabbling in stained glass, volunteering, vacationing, and scuba diving with Scott. She’s also fairly obsessed with their two French Bulldogs, Daffodil and Django.
