Michael R. Harris is the director of the Environmental Advocacy Clinic and an Associate Professor of Law. He has litigated environmental cases and supervised law students for more than two decades. Before joining Vermont Law and Graduate School in 2022 he was General Counsel and Director of the Wildlife Law Program for Friends of Animals, an international non-profit animal organization. From 2008 through 2014, Professor Harris was an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law where he also directed the environmental law clinic. He has also worked for EarthJustice, the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Los Angeles, and several private law firms.

Professor Harris received his Juris Doctor from the University of California—Berkeley School of Law. He earned a Masters in the Study of Law from Vermont Law School, and a Bachelor of Arts from Pitzer College. He has published papers that examine the intersection of environmental and administrative law in the Ecology Law Quarterly, St. Louis University Law Journal, Tulane Law Review, Hofstra Law Review, Quinnipiac Law Review, the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, and Hastings Journal of Environmental Law.

Professor Harris lives in New Hampshire with his wife (Charlotte), son (Raymond), a border collie (Pan), an Aussie shepherd (Bradley), and two lively guinea pigs named Coffee and Tea.