Campus News 2003-2004 Academic Year

Natural Advocate
The fight for the environment began as an isolated passion for Michael Harris ’91

October 30, 2003
Michael Harris’ first course in Environmental Studies came as a young boy on a small isolated island in British Columbia. His passion for ecology and the natural world grew as he spent six months on Thetis Island while his parents were training as missionaries. That early exposure propelled him down a path that led to Pitzer College where he has been both a student and a legal advocate of the natural world. Harris’ education at Pitzer played a key role in shaping his work.

Harris ’91 currently serves as Senior Deputy Legal Counsel for the Air Quality Management District enforcing air and land environmental standards. His work involves creating rules governing emissions by businesses in Southern California.

“We are a government agency so although we’re trying to reach the goal of clean air we’re being asked to do so without impacting businesses. We achieve that balance by taking rules to an elected board to gauge whether the rules are tilted too far one way or the other,” Harris said. “We try to reap the maximum environmental benefit by demonstrating that the impact of a rule is worth the reduction of harmful emissions.”

Harris was the lead attorney on the rules development team that recently created the nation’s first ban on perchloroethylene, a dry cleaning solvent that is a suspected carcinogen. He also is part of ongoing efforts to issue stringent new permits for area refinery operations to further regulate emissions.

“The Environmental Studies program at Pitzer gave me a knowledge about the history of environmental issues and the environmental movement and it continues to help me put things into perspective. I have a very good sense of predicting what will happen in the environmental arena based on my studies at Pitzer,” Harris said. “And there is the name recognition of having earned my degree at a local, well-known program. I must say that I would not have been as dedicated to my work if I had not attended Pitzer. The College instilled in me the values of environmentalism that I will carry with me throughout my life and career.”
Pitzer’s unique Environmental Studies program mirrors its other programs in approaching the field through many disciplines. “The most important aspect of the program is its flexibility,” Harris said. “It gives you a sense of activism, information and dedication.”

While at Pitzer, Harris studied with Paul Shephard, who died in 1996, and John Rodman, who died this summer. Shephard has emerged as an important figure in environmentalism and efforts are underway to republish many of his writings. Yale University has acquired Shephard’s archives. Rodman is remembered as instrumental to the creation of the Pitzer Arboretum and for his dedication as a teacher, mentor and advisor.

“There was more of a philosophical approach to the study of the environment in Shephard and Rodman’s classes,” Harris said. “In their classes we learned about John Muir and the other early preservationists. I could see in words the feelings I had about nature. The program explored issues in ways I had never imagined and forged connections I had not seen. The classes took philosophy, history and activism and put them together in a unique way.”

Harris’s work with his professors outside the classroom proved just as valuable as what he was taught in class.

“John Rodman was pivotal as my advisor. He gave you a lot of rope but not enough to hang yourself. I wanted to stay in the area because I had grown up in San Bernardino and he was very supportive of my projects involving local interests. John was an amazing source of firsthand experience. It was a lot different than just having an instructor,” Harris said. “John had what were called Tamarisk bashes two or three times each spring at the Nature Conservancy Preserve in the Coachella Valley. We would rip up the Tamarisk, which is an invasive species that hogs up all the water, in order to save the Desert Pup Fish. When you get rid of the Tamarisk the desert ecology returns.”

Harris has carried the sense of community he forged at Pitzer with him into his career as an advocate for the environment. It’s just as important to be an advocate for Pitzer, he said.

“Coming back and contributing again brings back a sense of community that is really fulfilling. Pitzer is a young school without a huge population of alumni so coming back makes a real difference.”

Harris’ advocacy has taken on many forms at Pitzer, from serving on the Alumni Association Board of Directors to frequently visiting campus to speak with students. He even served as the College’s legal counsel during the fight to save the Bernard Biological Field Station, negotiating a settlement that preserved most of the Field Station for the next 75 years.

“We lost eight or 10 acres but saved the rest. Not everyone was happy with the settlement, but before, they could have done anything they wanted at any time,” Harris said.