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Dan Stanton

Assistant Director of Internship Development

Education

B.S. Conservation and Resource Studies, UC Berkeley

How did you get here?

I’m originally from Florida and relocated to attend music school in LA when I was a teenager. I have been in California for 30+ years. My aunt worked at Cal at the time and encouraged me to move up to the Bay Area and stay in California. What a wise decision that was!  Eventually I went back to school and was lucky enough to get into Berkeley and found my home at the College of Natural Resources. This education was the foundation for my future success.

I have had an interesting career path from being the 5th employee at Clif Bar (the energy bar company) to more than 15 years experience in educational non profits. More recently, I was at Chabot Space & Science Center in a variety of capacities over the years, including Director of Education. During my time there I built programs for high school students and young adults. I developed partnerships that connected students to internships, apprenticeships and careers in nonprofits, education and the space tech industry. As an additional career I write, record and perform music.

Who do you work with? What’s cool about your job?

Coolest thing about my job is the incredible opportunity to connect students to careers they care about. Having the opportunity to focus on liberal art students is wonderful and has me excited about the impact I can have on student outcomes and successes, as well as increasing diversity in our modern workforce.

What’s the best career advice anyone has given you?

I remember during my very first music lesson my instructor said “above all else listen”. It was also written, underlined 3 times with 3 exclamation marks, at the bottom of the page. This is something I always carry with me.

Interests/Hobbies

Playing music (jazz bass), band leader, music production, cooking, wildlife ecology, bird watching, astronomy, hiking, animal rescue, and family.