Vic is a local trail runner, and the founder and board president of Runners for Public Lands, a national advocacy organization that educates, organizes, and mobilizes runners to protect public lands and ensure equitable access to nature. He is also Professor of Environmental Studies and Religion at California Lutheran University. His research focuses on reimagining conservation, finding common ground between people who care about wild places on the one hand and urban nature on the other, and engaging the changing demographics, outdoor recreation cultures, and politics in the U.S. Vic has a background in U.S. social policy analysis and global humanitarian work, primarily in East Africa, and especially in Rwanda. He loves backpacking in the Los Padres National Forest and far beyond, and traveling with his wife in Southern Europe.
