Daniel Hedden

2016 | Robert Felix Memorial Scholarship

Education: California Polytechnic State University

Pursued Degree: Environmental Management and Protection, City and Regional Planning minor

Expected to graduate:  June 2017

Greetings, I am Daniel Hedden, a student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo studying environmental management and protection with an emphasis in plant sciences. At Cal Poly I am surrounded with incredible resources such as the Plant Conservatory, an outdoor classroom where I volunteer in maintaining its large and diverse plant collection. From the Plant Conservatory I’ve gotten to know professor, author and craftsman Matt Ritter who is an example of a passionate and accomplished presence in the botanical community. I’ve had the privilege of working with him on projects involving managing state and national champion trees databases, digitally mapping tree specie ranges and gathering field data on tree research studies. Through my coursework and interactions with professors like him, I have sought out opportunities to be an advocate for the environment. This brought me to where I currently work, Cachuma Operation and Maintenance Board. COMB is a federal fisheries division that actively manages the Santa Ynez watershed in such ways as protecting endangered species and restoring native habitat. Between my summer employment with COMB, I am an active member and officer for the Association of Environmental Professionals club at Cal Poly which educates and connects students with professionals in a range of environmental consulting careers. During my free time you’ll find me surfing, observing plants and maintaining my garden and compost.