Madeline Kaufman, M.Sc.

Maddie is the Zero-Waste Institutional Change Director of Debris Free Oceans, a Miami-based nonprofit that empowers local communities to go zero waste so that all can have access to a healthy environment and clean oceans. She currently leads their Zero Waste Miami coalition, coordinating a group of 150+ cross-sector stakeholders working together to create and implement a circular economy strategy in Miami-Dade County. Maddie also developed and teaches a Tropical Coastal Restoration course at UM, engaging graduate students in lectures and fieldwork covering dune, mangrove, seagrass, sponge, oyster, and coral restoration. Maddie received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Marine Biology from the University of Miami (UM) where she studied coral reef restoration resiliency, is an American Academy of Underwater Sciences scientific diver and PADI-certified divemaster, serves on Florida Sea Grant’s Miami-Dade County Extension Advisory Committee, and volunteers as FWC-authorized sea turtle monitoring personnel.