Dan Coffee (he/him) is a project manager focusing on plastics and climate research at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. His work addresses a broad portfolio of environmental and climate policy issues. He heads the center’s ongoing research on plastic pollution and the solid waste crisis, which has informed policy action at the regional and state levels. Dan has also managed and collaborated on projects focusing on transportation decarbonization, labor and workforce development, and efforts supporting federal agencies in fulfilling the Biden-Harris administration’s environmental justice priorities. He currently manages the center’s work in identifying plastics-burdened communities and workforce analytics for several studies funded by the Resilient and Innovative Mobility Initiative, and is a contributor to UCLA’s recent work on Los Angeles’ wildfire recovery efforts and the ongoing LA100 Equity Strategies project.

After receiving his undergraduate education in ecology at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, Dan taught environmental science and ecology as both a Teach for America corps member and a Peace Corps volunteer. He holds a master of public policy degree from UCLA and a bachelor’s degree in environmental systems from UC San Diego. He was awarded a fellowship from the LA Sustainability Collaborative in 2020 for his work on plastic waste issues in Los Angeles.