Steve Romero works as the geotechnical, dams, and dams safety program manager at the Pacific Southwest Region Regional Office in Vallejo, CA.

During his 14–year Forest Service career, Romero has contributed to the Forest Service mission on several fronts. He’s had a long and productive collaboration with the National Technology and Development Program, introduced current modeling technologies into the Forest Service mission to solve various geotechnical problems, reintroduced traditional technologies to help rehabilitate dams located remotely, integrated geospatial and remote-sensing technology into the Forest Service engineering mission, and helped develop and rewrite Forest Service policy. His primary focus currently is developing and mentoring young Forest Service engineers, matrixing specialized skill sets across the Forest Service, and developing low-cost and novel methods for employees to remediate geotechnical failures on National Forest System lands.

Romero previously worked as a private consultant, as a member of the abandoned mined lands (AML) emergency response team at the Office of Surface Mining in Appalachia, and as a small projects team leader at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps for more than 6 years and participated in Operation Earnest Will, Operation Nimble Archer, Operation Desert Shield, and Operation Desert Storm.

Romero received bachelor’s degrees in applied mathematics and environmental resources engineering from Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA. He received a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering with an emphasis in geotechnical engineering from the University of California at Davis, CA. He is a licensed professional engineer in Oregon.

Romero and his wife Catherine have been married for 32 years. They have four children — Sophia, 23, Antonia, 20, Apolonio, 18 and Augustine, 17. Steve derives his enjoyment from anything that he can do with his family—traveling, hiking, camping, movies–and is always fishing around for ideas for another family adventure.