Garrett Ordonez

Los Angeles, California

Transforming recreational hikers into conservationists

More About Garrett

During a 2024 summer job as a trail host with the Southern Nevada Conservancy, University of

Southern California student Garrett Ordonez noticed how eager visitors were to take pictures of the landscape while out on a hike. Soon, he found himself wondering whether he could transform this brief admiration into sustained action for conservation.

When he returned to Los Angeles that fall, he founded Hike for Habitats, a student-led organization designed to turn outdoor passion into environmental stewardship. Through guided hikes paired with hands-on conservation work like non-native plant removal and habitat restoration, the group encourages students who might first come for the view to also lend a hand towards healing the ecosystems they are exploring.

That mission took on new meaning after the January 2025 wildfires in Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon. Millard Canyon Falls Trail, a scenic trail that had become meaningful to Ordonez through Hike for Habitats, burned in the Eaton Fire. As communities began recovering, the organization mobilized volunteers to assist with debris removal and other recovery efforts in Altadena.

Today, supported by partnerships with conservation organizations and community groups, Hike for Habitats has grown from a five-person team to a community of 600 people. But for Ordonez, what means the most is not the numbers as much as seeing the same faces return from one conservation event to the next.