A paddleboarder’s daring meets an alumnus’ passion for climate change answers
Zack Porter ’10 had a question: Where did all the fish go?
An ocean-loving surfer, sailor and fisherman, he had watched the stock of albacore in his favorite fishing grounds dwindle. The then-freshman sought answers at the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies housed at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
What began with a knock on a door set Porter on course for a career at the nexus of business and science, apropos of a double-major in entrepreneurship and oceanography. It also led, 14 years later, to an unusual troika among himself, the Wrigley Institute and one of the world’s most accomplished big-wave suffers to promote ocean ecology.
His early conversations with Ann Close, associate director and director of education at the USC Wrigley Institute, pointed him toward classes — and ultimately a second major — revealing the science behind some of what he’d seen out on the water. Taking Oceanography 101 led him to work in the laboratory of the instructor, Will Berelson, professor of Earth sciences and environmental studies.
“That research experience helped me dive into the scientific mindset for framing problems and navigating through complexity or ambiguity,” Porter says. “That framework has helped me in almost every aspect of what I’ve done.”
Close also connected him with Tony Michaels, the founding director of the USC Wrigley Institute, who became friend, mentor and partner to Porter in the years since. As Michaels’ interests shifted to the entrepreneurial, Porter, now managing director at merchant bank the Kirchner Group, worked with him to help lead companies such as Proteus Environmental Technologies — enterprises meant to bring scientific principles to bear on established industries.
In the process, Porter’s work challenges the idea that sustainability and profit can’t coexist. For instance, he helped grow Midwestern BioAg, a fertilizer business with a focus on soil health. Today, he’s involved with one of the country’s largest organic farming companies.
“There are areas where doing things that tend to have a more positive impact do lead to more profitable outcomes,” he says.
It’s said that turnabout is fair play, and Porter recently made a key introduction for Close — his friend Jamie Mitchell, the champion big-wave surfer and paddleboarder. Porter and Mitchell had met in part through a shared interest in sustainable aquaculture, an area of excellence in research for the USC Wrigley Institute.
Zack Porter ’10.
Mitchell had set his sights on an ambitious task: paddling the 170 miles of sometimes-perilous waters between the eight Channel Islands off the coast of California. He wanted to dedicate the feat to raising awareness about sustainability issues in general and about the USC Wrigley Institute’s work in particular.
To that end, Mitchell and Porter co-developed the Seven Crossings Project, which will culminate in a documentary film.
“The project is this great way to get the word out about what the USC Wrigley Institute is doing in research and education,” Close says. “It gets that message out to an audience we’ve never reached before.”
In September 2019, Mitchell successfully completed the seven crossings over the course of five days. He finished at Catalina Island, home to the institute. For him, his young daughters were a motivating force.
“I just want my kids to have the same opportunities I had growing up to be in the ocean and play in the water,” he says. “I also want to show them that you can get off your butt and do something if you really want to.”
From Porter’s involvement with the Seven Crossings Project to his career doing good while doing good business, he traces it all back to the day he first knocked on Close’s door.
“Without Ann, Will or Tony coming into my life when they did, I know my career trajectory and my life would have taken a very different path,” he says. “I’m insanely grateful for those interactions and the path they’ve helped lead me down.”