Alumni Spotlight: Ryan Hunt
We were fortunate to reconnect recently with NatureBridge Golden Gate (formerly The Headlands Institute) alum Ryan Hunt at our Olympic campus. During his visit to Olympic, Ryan and his fellow team members met with NatureBridge CEO and President Phil Kilbridge, Olympic Campus Director Jen Kidder, National Park Service staff and members of our Olympic staff. They toured the campus and learned how NatureBridge has evolved since Ryan’s time as a student at The Headlands Institute in 1991. Ryan shared about his NatureBridge program where he learned about marine life and ecosystems in Golden Gate National Recreation Area, an experience he termed “seminal” to who he is today. Currently, Ryan serves as a senior staff member on the US Senate Appropriations Committee where he recommends to the Senate how funds should be spent, particularly in relation to the preservation of outdoor spaces.
I have a really strong connection with that experience and that place. Anytime I go home and see the Golden Gate Bridge, I’m reminded of that experience.Ryan Hunt, Former NatureBridge Student
“I have a really strong connection with that experience and that place. Anytime I go home and see the Golden Gate Bridge, I’m reminded of that experience,” Ryan says about his class trip with NatureBridge in the Golden Gate Recreation Area in 1991. At the time, Ryan thought of the experience as “science camp,” but it became much more. It became a place where he and his classmates from Hazelton Elementary School in Stockton, CA could explore tide pools, hike cliffside trails and play the game “Sardines” in and around Battery Townsley’s tunnels and turrets.
After completing college in 2001, where he studied Political Science and Spanish, Ryan moved to Washington, D.C., and began his journey with the Senate answering constituents’ questions, eventually moving to where he is now, working in the Senate Appropriations Committee. His extensive work with the Committee is well-suited for a NatureBridge alum: his recommendations often lead to the allocation of funding that will protect and enhance outdoor spaces, develop new trails, increase the number of wildland firefighters and provide resources to the stewards of these public places. “That [NatureBridge] experience influenced what I do now,” Ryan says. “It helped nurture and maintain an interest in natural spaces and public lands, and it became important to me to ensure that the stewards of our lands have the funding they need to protect those places.”
Visiting Olympic [National Park] brought home to me the importance of having places where young people can go to our public lands and know it’s for them. It’s a place where they can get the spark of curiosity about the natural world.Ryan Hunt, Former NatureBridge Student
It’s easy to see why Hunt was so enthusiastic about returning to a NatureBridge campus, this time in Olympic National Park. “I wish that I could go back to science camp just to participate!” he proclaims. “Visiting Olympic [National Park] brought home to me the importance of having places where young people can go to our public lands and know it’s for them. It’s a place where they can find the spark of curiosity about the natural world…and in it, to steward the planet, and know it’s up to all of us and we can all play a part.” That enthusiasm is part of what keeps Ryan focused on the future. When asked what he’s most passionate about in his current role, Ryan answers that “looking back at my adventures as a child, I want kids to have access to the same opportunities I had, so that future generations can do things like see starfish in tide pools.”
Stories
In Memory of Ty Cobb: A Visionary Leader of Resilience and Impact
Ty Cobb, former CEO of Yosemite National Institutes (now NatureBridge), passed away on Saturday, December 7, 2024 in Reno at the age of 84. Known for his visionary leadership, resilience, and ability to inspire collaboration, Ty guided YNI through some of its most difficult moments while building a foundation for its future growth and success.
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Fall Reflections from NatureBridge Yosemite
As an environmental science educator, I spend a lot of time teaching about nature, but this season I’ve been finding that as it turns out, nature has a lot to teach us, too. Sometimes I can let the trees, the meadow, and the lichen teach for me. They show us how to respect each other’s boundaries, how to celebrate differences, how to work together, and how to lean on each other’s strengths in order to exist in a new place. These lessons felt incredibly relevant to me heading into the first week of November, a notoriously busy time at NatureBridge Yosemite. I wanted to focus on messages of kindness and inclusivity with my students, I wanted them to feel a sense of belonging in this new space, and I also hoped that they would share those messages with others.