Lorna Harris

Director of Forests, Peatlands and Climate Change Program

Lorna Harris serves as the Director of Forests, Peatlands and Climate Change Program at WCS Canada.

Lorna is an ecosystem scientist, working on the ecology, hydrology and biogeochemistry of peatlands and forests in North America's boreal zone. Lorna’s research focuses on how peatlands form and develop over time, and how this development may be impacted by environmental change, either due to global climate warming, or direct human disturbance such as infrastructure development for resource extraction. Lorna is also working on improving links in science and policy for the better protection and management of peatlands.

Lorna completed her PhD at McGill University in Montreal, where her research focused on the ecohydrology and biogeochemistry of the vast peatlands of the Hudson Bay Lowland in northern Ontario. Lorna's studies of peatland ecohydrology and carbon dynamics, including in permafrost landscapes impacted by wildfire, continued for her Postdoctoral research.

Prior to moving to Canada for her PhD, Lorna worked as a Wetland Project Officer and a Senior Scientist for the Environment Agency of England and Wales for one year, then as a Wetland Ecologist and Senior Scientist for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency for six years.