Dwayne Estes

Southeastern Grasslands Institute

Dwayne serves as co-founder and executive director at SGI (Clarksville, TN). Since 2016, he and his team have raised almost $35 million to help conserve and restore southeastern U.S. grasslands. Dwayne’s research interests include the flora, ecology, history, biodiversity, and biogeography of the Southeastern U.S. with emphasis on grasslands. He has published 25+ publications and co-authored the Guide to the Vascular Plants of Tennessee published in 2015 by the University of Tennessee Press. He enjoys mentoring his graduate students and working hand-in-hand with a dedicated SGI team. He has been active in building diverse support for Southeastern US grasslands conservation, including bringing together philanthropists, government agencies, non-profits, corporate and small-business partners, Native American tribes, private landowners and ranchers, historians, educators, and citizen scientists.