Zak is an author, journalist, and film producer who has written for Outside Online, Sierra, Four Corners Free Press, Canoe & Kayak and HuffPo. His writing has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists' Colorado chapter and Folio magazine. Zak has worked as a river ranger in Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. He has an M.F.A. in environmental nonfiction writing, and his first book, “Confluence: Navigating the Personal and Political On Rivers of the New West” will be published by Torrey House Press in October 2019. Zak lives in southeast Utah.