Matt RitterMatt Ritter grew up in rural Mendocino County, California. He attended UC Santa Barbara to earn a bachelor's degree in microbiology and UC San Diego for a Ph.D. in plant biology. He's a botany professor in the biology department at Cal Poly, San LuisObispo. He's authored numerous scientific papers and a natural history guide to San Luis Obispo's native plants. He's also the author of A Californian's Guide to the Trees among Us (Heyday, 2011), the state's funniest and most popular natural history guide to the urban forest. He won the Cal Poly Excellence in Teaching Award and the Western Chapter International Society of Arboriculture R. W. Harris Award for Excellence in Education. He studies trees that escape cultivation, particularly Eucalyptus, and is a woodworker, athlete, musician, gardener, and all-around likable guy. Read More Read Less