Yale student swaps classroom for greenroom

WHILE some students spend their semester abroad studying global finance or medieval literature, one Yale undergraduate has headed to Byron Bay to research how surfboards shape our relationship with the sea.

Lucía Cores Harg is asking local surfers how riding waves affects their view of the ocean – and what it might mean for how we care for it.

“I noticed my own relationship with the ocean changing when I started surfing here,” she said.

“I became really focused on catching waves and less focused on noticing the beauty around me.”

Cores Harg, who is Spanish and Swedish, is completing an independent research project as part of her environmental and education studies degree at Yale.

She is enrolled in a sustainability and environmental action program run through the School for International Training, and said her study draws on media theory – which treats objects like surfboards as tools that can shape behaviour and culture.

“Surfboards might make you feel slightly less vulnerable in the water, and that could shift your focus more onto performance or personal enjoyment,” she said.

“But I’m also finding surfers are very passionate about the ocean. Many reflect that they could be doing more to protect it.”

Cores Harg said she hopes the project prompts reflection, and could inform future ocean awareness campaigns.

“If we understand how people think about the ocean, we’re better placed to communicate in a way that encourages change,” she said.

She is collecting responses via a short online survey, and is especially seeking women and non-binary surfers after receiving mostly male responses so far.

A post calling for more diverse voices sparked strong support – but also some backlash.

“It made my heart a little sad,” she said. “It felt like a reflection of the broader surfing space – very male dominated.”

The survey is open until May.

To take part in an interview, email [email protected].