Zach Brown

Zach Brown grew up surrounded by the wilderness of Southeast Alaska.  With parents in the National Park Service, Zach had ample opportunity to explore Glacier Bay and the Tongass National Forest as a boy.  These experiences gave him a lasting love of the natural world. 

Attending college in Southern California, Zach studied chemistry and biology.  When the opportunity came to travel to the Arctic, his life changed forever.  Zach spent a field season in the high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, observing how seabirds were responding to a changing climate.  This unforgettable experience led Zach to pursue a PhD at Stanford University, where he continued to study how changing sea ice affects the marine biological communities of the polar regions, especially the phytoplankton that form the first link of the food chain.  During his time at Stanford, Zach was thrilled to undertake multiple research expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic.

Completing his studies in the spring of 2014, Zach set off on a 2300-mile trek from Stanford to his home in Alaska, on foot and by kayak.  Back in his hometown of Gustavus, he works as director of Inian Islands Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to education, research, and community in Southeast Alaska.  Zach is delighted to be a member of the Lindblad team, to share his knowledge and passion for the natural world.