Selena Vengco

“I stand on the sacrifices of a million women before me thinking what can I do to make this mountain taller so the women after me can see further.” – Rupi Kaur

Selena works as a rare plant technician for Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. She began her plant journey at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she explored the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Monterey Bay while earning her ecology and evolutionary biology degree. After graduating, Selena continued her studies at the University of California, Davis, where she worked as a research associate researching social and economic barriers to effective land management in wine grapes. With a focus on creating land management recommendations for the two-colored monkeyflower (Erythranthe discolor) using conservation genetics, Selena received her master’s degree in botany from the California Botanic Garden.

When not in the field, Selena enjoys yoga, Pilates, gravel biking, and reading at the beach.