In “ What I learned about urban development and environmental preservation from kayaking Alewife Brook” Global Field Program (GFP) graduate student Greg Harris shares his experiences from kayaking the 1.6 miles of Alewife Brook and an additional mile or so of Little River.

“The Alewife region, in short, became marginal, post-industrial land, up for grabs by commercial developers and transportation planners,” he writes. Sewage and storm-water runoff make up the bulk of Alewife’s pollution sources. “Yet there’s reason to hope that things can change…”

Harris is earning a Master of Arts in the biological sciences from Miami University through Project Dragonfly’s  GFP while working as a freelance writer and adjunct lecturer at Harvard University, where he has taught various forms of writing (creative writing, persuasive writing, health communications) since 2003. Harris is also the founding editor of a literary magazine,  Pangyrus, with personal essays, ideas pieces, and travel pieces about the environment, place, health, and education. 

Harris’ international fieldwork with Project Dragonfly includes studying island biogeography and whale sharks in  Baja, Mexico and traditional ecological knowledge of the Makushi and the potential of local wisdom to guide conservation initiatives in  Guyana. Harris connects many of his master’s assignments into his work as a writer and lecturer.

Harris in Baja in 2019. Photo courtesy of GFP student Sydney Raftery

Harris in Guyana in 2021. Photo courtesy of GFP student Sydney Raftery

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