Daniel Parra Hensel is a full-time permaculture educator, consultant and designer. In 2015 Daniel joined the Environmental Horticulture department as an adjunct faculty member at Santa Barbara City College where he teaches two permaculture design courses. Daniels’ work is focused on teaching political agroecology which explores the political, economic and ecological challenges in our food system and society. His passion lies in ecological justice and aims to co-create mutually beneficial alternatives, strategies and solutions to local challenges that fall at the intersection of ecological degradation and social inequity.

Daniel co-teaches two classes in the Environmental Horticulture department; Permaculture Design: Resilient Community Design and Advanced Permaculture: Ecological Landscape Design and Regenerative Agriculture. Both courses explore ecological literacy, social justice analysis and community organizing. Daniel has a passion for place based pedagogy with a teaching philosophy focused on disability justice, thoughtful communication and conversation, and practical application of concepts taught in his courses.

Daniel is a first generation North American with his family heritage from Colombia, Argentina and Spain. Daniel has had the privilege of traveling to and experienced many parts of the globe, shaping his core values and the way he connects and empathizes with others. His unique background, and immersement in different languages and ways of life has been the main driver for his dedication to a career in service and advocacy. This has led him to international development work in Kenya and Uganda, to permaculture design programs in Australia, Colombia and California, and to coordinating a Santa Barbara based youth ecology and social justice empowerment program. From 2016 – 2019, Daniel was a Board Director for Quail Springs Permaculture and operated as their Vice Chair from 2018-2019. In 2019 he was accepted into the Leading From Within Kathrine Harvey Fellowship, 2019/20 Cohort.

Daniel is grateful to be an active participant in the global justice and ecology movement and fully embraces the opportunity to work with a diversity of people from around the world.