February Volunteer of the Month: Scott Stripling

Meet our February Volunteer of the Month, Scott Stripling! Scott is a long-serving Miami Chapter Executive Committee member and past Chapter Chair. By day (and often by graveyard shift night), he's a NOAA weather forecaster stationed at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. He brings this expert knowledge to bear on many of the coastal issues we face. The Miami Chapter members are lucky to benefit from his wave forecasting and deep insider hurricane warnings!

At the National Hurricane Center, Scott created a comprehensive recycling program for their facilities on the campus of Florida International University in Miami, FL. To augment limitations in the Waste Management recycle collection process, Scott volunteered to personally deliver collected polystyrene and plastic bags to the local recycling facilities.

Scott loves and protects his local beaches and epitomizes the Surfrider tradition of a new localism. Jayson Koch, Miami Chapter Chair, writes, "Scott, for over a year, has been very adamant to ensure “his beach” is free of plastic pollution and other types of trash.

His efforts include designing “Respect the Beach” signs to mount on local concession stands and arranging and meeting with numerous city and county officials to get recycling bins at local concession stands.Scott also works with concessions employees to educate them and express that they too, should share the message about "respecting the beach” to their customers.