Joel Hedgpeth was a marine biologist and environmentalist who focused on pycnogonida research and preserving bays. Hedgpeth was born in Oakland, California and raised around the Bay Area where he developed an early interest in the natural world. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1933 with a degree in biology before moving on to complete his Ph.D which focused on marine biology and sea spiders (pycnogonida). He was offered a job by the University of Texas to work in their newly built research laboratory and stayed for only a brief period due to a disagreement with a professor. From there Hedgpeth moved on to working as a biologist full time and founded the Society for the Prevention of Progress. He also revisited Between the Pacific Tides, a book written by marine biologist Ed Ricketts. He became the director of the University of the Pacific's Pacific Marine Station in Dillon Beach from 1957 to 1964 and from 1965 to 1973 was the director of Oregon State University's Marine Science Center. His research primarily revolved around pycnogonida (sea spiders) which took him worldwide. In this interview, Hedgpeth discusses his family history, childhood in Oakland and the Sierra foothills, biology studies, Uc Berkeley and the University of Texas, Monterey Bay marine biologist Ed Ricketts, Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the 1950s, opposition to Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s proposed nuclear power plant at Bodega Bay, CA, 1957-1964, his pycnogonid (sea spider) research, research trips to Antarctica, estuarine studies and research and testifying on the San Francisco Bay and Delta environmental issues. This interview is part of a group of interviews documenting community leaders in California.