Zach Plopper

Zach Plopper is the Senior Environmental Director of the Surfrider Foundation where he leads Surfrider’s national environmental team to protect our oceans, waves and beaches. With more than a decade of work in the United States, Latin America, and other regions of the world, Zach is a leading expert in ecosystem-based and advocacy-driven coastal and marine conservation. Before joining Surfrider, Zach was the Associate Director of WILDCOAST, where he established the largest private protectorate of coastline in northwest Mexico, helped strengthen California’s network of marine protected areas, and advanced blue carbon ecosystem conservation as a nature-based climate solution in California and Mexico. Zach is an avid surfer and resides in Ventura County with his wife and two children. He has an MA from the University of California, Los Angeles and a BA from the University of California, San Diego in Urban Planning.