Wave of change

Surfing amid a sea of ocean litter—plastic bags, straws, cigarettes—during a trip to Central America sparked a passion in Lucas Harris for beach cleanups and direct action. “Seeing all the plastic beach waste inspired me to do something to help the environment,” says Harris. “I was at an internet café in Honduras when I found the handbook for UVic’s Environmental Studies program.”

A dual passion for surfing and the environment meant the University of Victoria—close to BC’s surfing hot spots—was a natural choice for Harris. His discovery of Surfrider Foundation Canada coincided with the start of his environmental studies and political science degree in 2007.

Surfrider had a local volunteer-led chapter in Victoria that Harris got involved with that fall, which launched his 16-year journey with the organization. Today, he serves as executive director but has worked in every type of volunteer role. “I started taking more responsibility as chapter secretary in 2011, when we started to scale up operations with remote beach cleanup expeditions with BC Parks in Clayoquot Sound,” says Harris.

Before graduating from UVic in 2011, Harris completed his last co-op placement with the provincial government. Co-op is a powerful tool because it contextualizes what you are learning in the classroom, and it puts that learning into practice, observes Harris.

After a few temporary positions with the BC government, Harris landed a permanent role in the government’s Blue Box Recycling Program shortly after graduation. The same passion for pollution prevention that drove Harris to Surfrider has guided his career as a civil servant. But the overlap between work and volunteering got too close. “As a provincial regulator in the plastic-recycling program and an advocate with Surfrider, it was a conflict of interest so I resigned from Surfrider,” says Harris.

Toward the end of his career with the provincial government, he led development of the Clean Coast Clean Waters initiative, a program to support groups and businesses to do shoreline cleanup across the province. In 2020 when the global pandemic hit, Harris suggested shoreline cleanups as an idea for economic stimulus. “We got all the tour operators who were not able to do whale-watching, bear-watching tours and they used their boats and staff to do beach cleanups,” says Harris.

In spring 2021, while Harris was on parental leave from his provincial-government position, Surfrider Canada approached him about a role in the organization. “I had hit my ceiling in government, and I wanted to have more impact in my career,” explains Harris.

Surfrider is a global organization, and its presence in Canada was growing when they sought out Harris to lead the organization. Surfrider Canada has a small team, made up of several UVic grads, including regional manager Lilly Woodbury, MA ’23, and UVic geography co-op grad Katie Keats, MSc ’21, who serves as Beach Cleanup Manager.

Though it has few staff, Surfrider Canada supports a massive network of volunteers and partners.

Recently, UVic’s Environmental Law Centre (ELC) connected with Harris to further Surfrider’s advocacy work. “The research we get from ELC is fundamental to us putting together well-rounded campaigns directed at provincial and federal decision makers,” explains Harris.

Ultimately, Harris has to balance fundraising and advocacy, but his vision is for long-term sustainability. “I am learning new skills on how to run a national charity that has a major impact in protecting the coastal environment. While the work can be challenging, I am loving every minute of it."

—Anne MacLaurin, BA ’91, Cert ’00 (PR Diploma)

This article appears in the UVic Torch alumni magazine.

For more Torch stories, go to the UVic Torch alumni magazine page.