Amanda Sturgeon is an architect and champion of

sustainable architecture Sustainable architecture is architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings through improved efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, development space and the ecosystem at large. Sometimes, su ...

through practices like

regenerative design Regenerative design is about designing systems and solutions that work with or mimic the ways that natural ecosystems return energy from less usable forms to more usable forms. Regenerative design uses systems thinking and other approaches to cre ...

and

biophilic design Biophilic design is a concept used within the building industry to increase occupant connectivity to the natural environment through the use of direct nature, indirect nature, and space and place conditions. Used at both the building and city-scal ...

. Previously CEO of the International Living Future Institute, she joined

Mott MacDonald The Mott MacDonald Group is a management, engineering and development consultancy headquartered in the United Kingdom. It employs over 19,000 staff in 150 countries. Mott MacDonald is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the world. ...

as the Regenerative Design Lead for the Asia Pacific Region in 2020. In November 2023, she became the CEO of The Biomimicry Institute. She was elected a 2013 fellow for the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

and a 2013 fellow at

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...

. In 2005, she got a Women in Sustainability Leadership Award. She gave a TED talk in 2018 as part of

TEDMED TEDMED is an annual conference focusing on health and medicine, with a year-round web-based community. TEDMED is an independent event operating under license from the nonprofit TED conference. Background , TEDMED staff operates from Stamfor ...

. In 2019, she was a keynote speaker at Verdical Group's annual

Net Zero Conference The Net Zero Conference is one of the largest annual conferences in the world dedicated to Net zero emissions, net zero design. The conference provides tools, knowledge and inspiration for ways that buildings, products, and corporate operations ...

. Amanda Sturgeon contributed to the collection of essay and fiction by women in the climate change movement ''

All We Can Save ''All We Can Save'' is a 2020 collection of essays and poetry edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine Wilkinson, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson and published by One World. The collection sets out to highlight a wide ...

''. Sturgeon was also a founding board member of the Cascadia Green Building Council, a chapter of the

U.S. Green Building Council The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), founded in 1993, is a private 501(c)(3), membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and operation. USGBC is best known for its development of t ...

, and the co-director of national sustainable design at

Perkins+Will Perkins is a surname derived from the Anglo-Saxon corruption of the kin of Pierre (from Pierre kin to Pierrekin to Perkins), introduced into England by the Norman Conquest. It is found throughout mid- and southern England. Another derivation com ...

, an international architectural firm. As of 2022, Sturgeon is a member of the board of Climate Action Network Australia Inc. She is the author of ''Creating Biophilic Buildings'' (Ecotone, 2017).

Early life and education

Sturgeon was born in England, went to school in Australia, and started her architecture practice in the United States. She completed a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

and a Masters of Architecture from the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

References

External links

* Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American women architects 21st-century American women University of Sydney alumni University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni {{US-architect-stub