Matt Ritter
Botanist
Known for his botany-themed books A Californian's Guide to the Trees Among Us (2011) and Plants of San Luis Obispo, Their Lives and Stories (2005), this flora researcher is also notable as a professor at California Polytechnic State University.
He earned a bachelor's degree in microbiology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a doctorate in plant biology from the University of California, San Diego. He went on to edit the California Botanical Society's publication, Madrono.
He was the 2011 recipient of the International Society of Arboriculture's R. W. Harris Excellence in Education Award.
California born and bred, he made a career out of the study of plants native to his home state.
He and Bonnie Templeton both became California-based botanists.