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 create open educational resources including Augmented and Virtual Reality field trips as a way to engage learners in the biogeosciences. Current projects include examining the distributions and climatic responses of ecotonal high alpine plant populations in the Central Karakoram; recreational impacts and biodiversity of alpine ecosystems in Southern BC (here, and here) ;and documenting the plant species composition and structure of successional Coastal Douglas fir forests, as well as examining the cultural and biological value of these and other west coast forests in BC.
We benefit from funding via BC Parks Living Lab Climate Change for Conservation fund (2022-2026); NSERC Alliance grant; UBC CTLT Teaching and Learning Enhancement fund (TLEF) and Open Educational Resource (OER) funds; Arts Undergraduate Research Awards (AURA); Beaty Undergraduate Diversity Research (BUDR) grants, and more.
Check out our team, here!
