The Biogeography Teaching and Research Lab is a part of the Department of Geography at UBC – Vancouver. The lab is under the direction of Dr. Nina Hewitt. The lab has working relationships with UBC’s Emerging Media Lab, SEEDS Sustainability Program, Vantage College and local nature organizations (Pacific Spirit Park Society). It benefits from the ongoing project assistance of a number of keen and talented undergraduate Geographical Sciences and Environment and Sustainability students at UBC!
The focus of the Biogeography Lab is to document, study and teach about ecosystems in temperate and montane forests and savanna, and in alpine tundra (see more).
We employ field vegetation sampling techniques, archival and modern photographic documentation of taxa and landscapes, and creating open educational resources including Augmented and Virtual Reality tours. Current projects include examining the distributions and climatic responses of ecotonal high alpine plant populations in the Central Karakoram and Southern BC, and documenting the plant species composition and structure of successional Coastal Douglas fir forests, and the cultural and biological value of these and other West coast forests in BC. We have developed a series of immersive Augmented and Virtual Reality field trips as a way to engage learners in the biogeosciences. Research in our lab has been supported by funds from UBC Vancouver Students via UBC CTLT Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) and Open Educational Resources (OER) grants, and WorkLearn, UBC Arts Students Remote Work on Campus (ASWOC) funds.
