Alan Mehrzad is an avid outdoorsman who spent much of his teenage years trout fishing and camping in his home state of Virginia. In 2001, he arrived in Columbia to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Marine Science at the University of South Carolina.

While in school, Alan enjoyed canoeing and fishing the Saluda River. Upon graduation in 2005, Alan worked as a surveyor along the North Carolina and South Carolina coast for a year and a half.

These experiences led Alan to realize that South Carolina’s rivers are one of its most incredible yet underappreciated resources that the State has to offer. In 2007, Alan returned to the University of South Carolina to pursue a Master’s degree in Earth and Environmental Resource Management, focusing his studies in river and watershed management. In 2008, city leaders cited a need for an advocate to protect the Congaree River from the many ecological threats it faces. Alan took this call to heart and in December 2008, he founded the Congaree Riverkeeper to operate as a full-time advocate for the Lower Saluda, Broad, and Congaree rivers. Alan received his Masters degree in the summer of 2009.