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Zipper’s research interests are driven by the complex interactions between water, vegetation, and the atmosphere—particularly those interactions driven, impacted by, or important to human society and wellbeing. Currently, much of his research focuses on decoding the feedbacks between shallow groundwater, meteorological conditions, soil texture, and crop productivity. His research uses a combination of field measurements, remote sensing, and biophysical modeling to attack a variety of questions.

Zipper is advised by Steve Loheide and a member of the Ecohydrology & Ecosystem Engineering Group on campus. His other on-campus affiliations include departmental representative to Wisconsin Ecology and the graduate student representative for the North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Ecological Research site (NTL-LTER) based at UW-Madison. Zipper grew up near Seattle, WA, received his B.A. in Geology from Pomona College (CA), and worked at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (MA) and Harlem Village Academies (NY) before joining the WSC team. In his spare time, he runs tacosmog.com, the world's premier taco reviewing website.