Serge Dedina

PhD, Executive Director, Wildcoast Costasalvaje

Serge leads the international team at WILDCOAST, which he co-founded in 2000. A former California State Parks Ocean Lifeguard, Serge grew up surfing in Imperial Beach, California on the U.S.-Mexico border, and served as Mayor in his hometown from 2014-2022. His innovative coastal and ocean conservation work in the U.S. and Mexico has been reported on by the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, Washington Post, BBC, National Public Radio, Wall Street Journal, and 60 Minutes among others. In recognition of his successful conservation endeavors, Serge received the Surf Industry’s (SIMA) Environmental Award, San Diego Zoological Society’s Conservation Medal as well as the California Coastal Commission’s “Coastal Hero” Award. He was also named a UC San Diego John Muir Fellow and honored as a Peter Benchley “Hero of the Sea.” The author of Saving the Gray Whale, Wild Sea, and Surfing the Border, Serge has been a commencement speaker at UC San Diego and a panelist and keynote speaker at the U.S. National Climate Adaptation Forum, UCLA Institute of the Environment, TEDx San Diego, California Coastal Resilience Conference and the International MPA Conference among others. Serge holds a B.A. in Political Science from UC San Diego, a M.S. in Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Ph.D in Geography from the University of Texas at Austin.