2026 Environmental Hero Awards Honorees
Cindy Hazuka
Award: Greening
Cindy Hazuka has been the committee chairperson for the Seed and Bulb Team of the California Native Plant Society San Diego Chapter (CNPSSD) since 2015. She coordinates volunteers and activities to acquire, clean, package, sell, and distribute 300+ kinds of seeds and bulbs primarily native to SoCal. The team coordinates seed donations, runs seed sales at community events, manages a mail order website (canativeseeds.com), and supports local organizations with donated seed. Not only do team activities encourage socialization and learning about California native plants, their work also makes hard to find native seeds available in small quantities, to help keep natives growing through the community and support local fauna. Proceeds from seed sales fund the chapter and CNPSSD outreach.
Cindy is a retired drug discovery research scientist from SF biotech companies and universities.
Lillie Mulligan
Award: Water
Lillie Mulligan is the Senior Ocean Conservation Coordinator for WILDCOAST - an international team that conserves coastal and marine ecosystems and addresses climate change through natural solutions. Born and raised in San Diego, Lillie supports WILDCOAST's in-field conservation efforts including MPA compliance initiatives, MPA Watch, M2 RADAR, outreach, and wetland restoration.
Bob Keefe
Award: Air
Bob Keefe is Executive Director of E2, a national organization of business leaders advocating for policies that benefit both the economy and environment. Bob has grown the organization to the nation’s leading business voice for the environment.
One of TIME’s 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders, Bob has testified before Congress and state legislatures, and been featured by CNN, Fox News, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. He is the author of Climatenomics (2022) and Clean Economy NOW (2024). Bob is on the boards of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute, and Nature and Culture International.
Before joining E2, Bob spent more than 20 years as an award-winning journalist. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was a Fellow at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Sarah Hutmacher
Award: Wetlands
Sarah Hutmacher is the Chief Operating Officer at the San Diego River Park Foundation, where she has been working since 2008. Sarah earned her degree is in Environmental Systems (Policy emphasis) from UC San Diego and she started her career in city government, but she found her true calling at SDRPF, where she leads a team of staff, interns and volunteers working on advancing the vision for a clean and healthy San Diego River through habitat restoration, community science, river clean-ups, trash data collection and advocacy, and efforts to end homelessness on the San Diego River.
Nature Collective
Award: Wetlands (Organization)
Founded in 1987 and celebrating 40 years of service, Nature Collective is a conservation and science education nonprofit leader in North County San Diego, inspiring a deeper passion for nature for all. We restore habitats to create healthier waters and support greater wildlife diversity. We educate future generations to recognize, appreciate, and take action to protect the natural environments and watersheds that surround them. Through an inclusive and diverse approach, we serve those growing up disconnected from nature, those longing to reconnect, and those who already cherish their relationship with the natural world. We strive to make every place and event an opportunity for people to experience—and form a lasting connection with—the living world.
Waylon Matson
Award: Environmental Justice
Waylon Matson is Co-Founder and Director of 4 Walls International, a San Diego nonprofit advancing cooperative watershed management across the U.S.–México border. For over 17 years, he has united communities, researchers, public agencies, and funders to address water quality, sediment, solid waste, and ecosystem health in the Tijuana River Watershed.
He helped develop the Border Impact Bond to connect upstream solutions with downstream benefits. He leads regional coalition building, advancing initiatives like the Tijuana River Index to bring data and community knowledge into watershed decisions while advancing state and federal policy.
A naturalist, artist, advocate, and albañil (builder), Waylon sees the border region as a shared watershed and builds cooperation across communities and institutions to address its challenges.
Hayley Heiner
Award: Unsung Hero
Hayley Heiner is the Education and Outreach Manager at Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute, connecting students and communities with marine science and ocean conservation. She leads Seabass in the Classroom, a multi-county program that brings science to life where students raise fish and learn about marine ecosystems. Hayley is passionate about making marine science accessible to everyone and helping young people see themselves as scientists and environmental stewards. She believes the ocean belongs to us all and that protecting it starts with helping more people build a meaningful connection to it.
Previously, she led education programs at San Diego Bird Alliance, and worked at Birch Aquarium at Scripps and for the City of San Diego. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Systems and a minor in Education in Sciences from UC San Diego.
Alex Ferré
Award: Innovation
Alex Ferré is a visionary entrepreneur, teacher and ocean health advocate guided by the belief that there is no human health without ocean health. Through ALMA Blue, he supports innovative solutions to protect and restore marine ecosystems. He has helped advance Hybrid Reefs, a San Diego company developing novel biomaterial technologies for coral restoration and coastal resilience, and serves on the Advisory Board of UC San Diego Horizon, an investor and innovation network aimed to empower the incredible ideas and platforms built out of UCSD and the entrepreneurial drive to bring positive change to the world. A native San Diegan and father of two, Alex is dedicated to helping communities worldwide take part in protecting and restoring the ocean.
Logan Berk
Award: Rising Star
A senior at Coronado High School, Logan Berk is a motivated student with a demonstrated commitment to the environment. As a student leader in Coronado’s environmental organization, Emerald Keepers, Logan supports sustainability initiatives in the schools and community. During weekend mornings and school lunches Logan is working in the school garden, harvesting crops, and teaching others about growing fresh food. This summer Logan interned at a local regenerative farm to learn more about the relationship between the environment and food production.
With a 4.6 GPA, Logan is recognized in the top 1% of Coronado High School students in Science and Math. Outside of school, Logan enjoys indoor and beach volleyball, traveling, hiking, and playing with his two rescue dogs. Logan is applying to 4-year colleges to major in Environmental Engineering and Earth Systems.