Matt Ebiner in the Himalayas of Nepal, November, 2007

Matt Ebiner has seen a good portion of the world but has always lived in Southern California. Growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, he attended Bishop Amat High School in the late 1970s, and then went on to Mt. San Antonio College as a biology major.  “I was planning to become a podiatrist,” he recalls, “but the less practical side of me decided to switch to photography.”  Although he eventually switched from photography to geology, and finally to geography, he continues to incorporate photography into his travels and uses many of his photos in his PowerPoint class presentations.  He earned a B.A. and M.A. in geography from UCLA, started teaching part-time at El Camino College in 1986 and was hired full-time in 1991.  In the summers of 2000 and 2002 Matt led study abroad programs to Ireland with El Camino College students, with field trips throughout the Emerald Isle, and even to Britain and Paris.  In June, 2005 he led a successful study abroad program to New Zealand and returned to New Zealand in January 2007 to lead another great study abroad program there.  He led another study abroad program in June 2008, this time to Eastern Europe and in 2009  he led a study abroad program to South Africa.

He is very active in regional geographic organizations, having served as president of Los Angeles Geographical Society (1995) and as council member in the California Geographical Society (CGS) (1997-2010).  In 2002 he received the Outstanding Educator Award from CGS, an award given to one geography instructor in California each year. 

Matt sees the world as a magnificent and fascinating place, and his travels continually confirm that.  He got his first big taste of travel as a 19-year old when he faced a summer with energy, enthusiasm, and time on his hands.  Consequently, he did a 49-day bicycle ride across the USA by himself and considers the 4000-mile trip to be one of his proudest accomplishments.  He has visited 138 countries so far, and most of his travels over the last 13 years have been with his wife Suzan.  Some of his favorite places are New Zealand, Nepal, the Andes of Chile and Argentina, Greenland, India, Ireland, Switzerland, South Africa, and the western USA.  

As a middle child in a family of 15 brothers and sisters (yes, all from the same 2 parents and yes, they are Catholic), a competitive streak developed in Matt at an early age, with several older brothers setting high standards in their endeavors and accomplishments.  He became an outstanding distance runner, competing in the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in 1988 and 1992 and winning races in Ireland, Spain, France, Brazil, and Australia.  A lover of mountains and trails, he ran the 222-mile John Muir Trail through the Sierra Nevada over the course of 9 days in the summer of 1994, scenery he considers to be the most beautiful in the world.  He was a 5th place finish in the Masters (over 40) World Mountain Running Championships, held in Italy in August, 2004, a 3rd place finish in the Masters (over 50) World Mountain Running Championships in Italy in September, 2011, and was national champion in the Masters (over 50) USA Cross Country National Championships in Seattle in Deceber, 2011.  Matt is also the 11-time champion of the Mt. Baldy Run-to-the-Top, an 8-mile race on trails from 6000' to the 10,064' summit, held annually on Labor Day.  His 11th Mt. Baldy victory was in 2004, 23 years after his first victory there.

He also enjoys working on his computer and spent many hours developing this web site.  He loves hearing from former students, especially those that went on his field trips or have gone on to continue their geography studies after leaving El Camino.

Matt and his wife Suzan became proud parents of Sophia Marguerite Ebiner, born on August 27, 2006.  By the time she was 5 years old Sophia had already been to 49 countries (in order):  USA, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, New Zealand, Guatemala, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Montenegro, Albania, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, South Africa, Swaziland, Thailand, St. Vincent, Grenada, Barbados, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Spain, Morocco, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Mexico, United Kingdom, Egypt, Lebanon, Indonesia, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Peru, Ireland, France, Jordan, Ghana, and Turkey!

Matt's most recent endeavor is the 2010 creation of a small travel company, GeoTours, designed to offer high-quality, excellent-value trips to various overseas destinations.  Trips in 2012 will be to places like Burma, Iceland, and Tanzania.  These trips will be done during school breaks (winter, spring, summer breaks).  Consider joining one of these!

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