Attention Doctoral students

I hope you enjoyed the fog this morning! Happy almost December.

The deadline for submission of Nominations for External Examiner for PhD candidates wanting to complete on the timeline for Spring 2024 Graduation was last Friday, November 24. While this is a slightly flexible deadline, forms should really be in by Friday this week, to avoid delays. We do find that potential examiners are slower to reply as the winter break approaches.

Please note, these are the deadlines for candidates who want to participate in the Spring Graduation ceremony. The dates for April 30, 2024 program completion are similar but not the same; they are a few days later in each case.

As a reminder, the other dates candidates need to meet are as follows:

FRIDAY, 26 JANUARY 2024 – Doctoral dissertation (and supporting documentation) submitted to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for external examination

FRIDAY, 22 MARCH 2024 – Last Day for Final Doctoral Oral Examination

FRIDAY, 19 APRIL 2024 – Acceptance of final, approved doctoral dissertation by Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

 

Students will be able to choose to defend either in person or on Zoom. We will work with students to select the most appropriate mode for their defence.

 

Please distribute this email to any faculty or students you think may be interested.

 

Best,

Robyn

Robyn Starkey (Pronouns: No Preference)
Doctoral Exams Coordinator
Office of the Dean | Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus | Musqueam Traditional Territory
The University of British Columbia 170 – 6371 Crescent Road | Vancouver BC | V6T 1Z2 Canada
Phone 604 822 3989
robyn.starkey@ubc.ca | grad.ubc.ca

The UBC Vancouver campus is situated within the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓ə

Next week’s IRES Seminar is in a new location – CHBE Room 102, UBC Chemical and Biological Engineering Building (main floor, 2360 East Mall)

November 30, 2023: IRES Faculty Seminar with David Tindall

Explaining Who is Perceived as Influential in the Canadian Climate Change Policy Network: A Hybrid Network Approach

Time: 12:30pm to 1:20pm

Location: CHBE Room 102; the Chemical and Biological Engineering Building; 2360 East Mall

No food or drinks allowed in the Theatre. 

Click here to register for Zoom link. Zoom will be terminated if we encounter tech problems 5 to 10 mins into the seminar.

Talk summary:

Anthropogenic climate change is arguably the biggest existential threat to humankind, as well as many other species. While earth systems are complex, the natural science aspects of the problem are quite well understood. It is the social, political, economic, and cultural barriers to addressing climate change that are challenging to address. This study examines the perceived influence of different actors in Canada’s climate change policy network just prior to the signing of the Paris Agreement. In this research, we consider the problem of addressing climate change from a policy network perspective. We collect network data on both organizational and individual policy actors. We develop a hybrid approach (synthesizing whole network and ego network approaches) in our analysis. This analysis utilizes data from a representative survey of climate change policy network actors in Canada. Five network relations are examined: communication, sharing scientific information, collaboration, influence in domestic climate change politics, and influence on the respondent’s organization’s policy position. A main finding is that there is a positive association between an actor being central in the communication network and their being perceived as more influential in domestic climate change politics. Also, an actor’s perceived influence on the respondent’s organization’s stance was correlated both with the centrality of actors in the communication network, and in the collaboration network. However, when we examine these findings in more depth, we see that being an actor who provided expert scientific information was not correlated with being influential in either domestic climate change politics, or in influencing the respondent’s organization’s policy position. A related finding -which is also surprising – is that actors who were associated with research organizations were seen as being less influential in both domestic climate change politics, and in influencing the respondent’s organization’s policy position. These findings give us a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between network centrality and perceived climate policy influence, thereby making an important contribution to understanding the social dynamics of climate change policy networks.

 

  Dr. David Tindall, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia

Bio:

David Tindall is a Professor in the Department of Sociology, at the University of British Columbia. His expertise is in social networks, social movements, environmental sociology, and climate change. A primary focus of Dr. Tindall’s research has been on contention over environmental issues. He has developed an ego social network model of micromobilization for collective action related to environmentalism. He has also published extensively on climate change policy and discourse networks. His current research examines the role of social networks in facilitating action to address climate change, and compares and contrasts the roles of virtual and non-virtual social network tie

 

See you next Thursday in CHBE Room 102!

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

Bonnie Leung

RES Program Support (she/her/hers)

Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES)

University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus | Musqueam Traditional Territory

Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory (AERL Building)

Room 429 – 2202 Main Mall | Vancouver, BC | V6T 1Z4 | Canada

 

Email: bonnie.leung@ubc.ca

Tel: 604-822-9249

The deadline for students to submit their CGS-Master’s applications via the Research Portal is before 5:00 pm PT on 1 December 2023. This deadline is set nationally and is not flexible; UBC has no administrative authority/means to extend the deadline for applicants.

Unlike the Doctoral competition, CGSM application materials cannot be revised after the deadline. Applicants are strongly encouraged to follow the application instructions and presentation standards when preparing their application.

Important reminders regarding transcripts:

• The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies does not provide transcripts for award/scholarship applications.
• The ‘Transcript Checklist – Master’s’ covers questions related to transcript requirements.  The checklist is posted on the Award Administration webpage.
• It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit official, up-to-date transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate studies via the Research Portal before the deadline. An application will be deemed ineligible if it does not include the up-to-date transcripts required for determining grade point average (academic standing) in each of the last two completed years of study (full-time equivalent).
• Transcripts cannot be updated or submitted separately after the deadline.

 

Next week’s IRES Seminar is in a new location – CHBE Room 102, UBC Chemical and Biological Engineering Building (main floor, 2360 East Mall)

November 30, 2023: IRES Faculty Seminar with David Tindall

Explaining Who is Perceived as Influential in the Canadian Climate Change Policy Network: A Hybrid Network Approach

Time: 12:30pm to 1:20pm

Location: CHBE Room 102; the Chemical and Biological Engineering Building; 2360 East Mall

No food or drinks allowed in the Theatre. 

Click here to register for Zoom link. Zoom will be terminated if we encounter tech problems 5 to 10 mins into the seminar.

Talk summary:

Anthropogenic climate change is arguably the biggest existential threat to humankind, as well as many other species. While earth systems are complex, the natural science aspects of the problem are quite well understood. It is the social, political, economic, and cultural barriers to addressing climate change that are challenging to address. This study examines the perceived influence of different actors in Canada’s climate change policy network just prior to the signing of the Paris Agreement. In this research, we consider the problem of addressing climate change from a policy network perspective. We collect network data on both organizational and individual policy actors. We develop a hybrid approach (synthesizing whole network and ego network approaches) in our analysis. This analysis utilizes data from a representative survey of climate change policy network actors in Canada. Five network relations are examined: communication, sharing scientific information, collaboration, influence in domestic climate change politics, and influence on the respondent’s organization’s policy position. A main finding is that there is a positive association between an actor being central in the communication network and their being perceived as more influential in domestic climate change politics. Also, an actor’s perceived influence on the respondent’s organization’s stance was correlated both with the centrality of actors in the communication network, and in the collaboration network. However, when we examine these findings in more depth, we see that being an actor who provided expert scientific information was not correlated with being influential in either domestic climate change politics, or in influencing the respondent’s organization’s policy position. A related finding -which is also surprising – is that actors who were associated with research organizations were seen as being less influential in both domestic climate change politics, and in influencing the respondent’s organization’s policy position. These findings give us a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between network centrality and perceived climate policy influence, thereby making an important contribution to understanding the social dynamics of climate change policy networks.

 

  Dr. David Tindall, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia

Bio:

David Tindall is a Professor in the Department of Sociology, at the University of British Columbia. His expertise is in social networks, social movements, environmental sociology, and climate change. A primary focus of Dr. Tindall’s research has been on contention over environmental issues. He has developed an ego social network model of micromobilization for collective action related to environmentalism. He has also published extensively on climate change policy and discourse networks. His current research examines the role of social networks in facilitating action to address climate change, and compares and contrasts the roles of virtual and non-virtual social network tie

 

See you next Thursday in CHBE Room 102!

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

Bonnie Leung

RES Program Support (she/her/hers)

Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES)

University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus | Musqueam Traditional Territory

Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory (AERL Building)

Room 429 – 2202 Main Mall | Vancouver, BC | V6T 1Z4 | Canada

Email: bonnie.leung@ubc.ca

Tel: 604-822-9249