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Sustainability Education Fellows Program
For UBC Vancouver Faculty

Apply for funding of up to $20,000 over two years to develop new curriculum or significantly enhance existing curriculum and contribute to advancing sustainability and wellbeing education at UBC.

One key eligibility element is that you must apply with at least one other faculty member from a different Faculty, Department or discipline. Both of you must be in ongoing roles at UBC.

Find out more and apply by May 13 at sustain.ubc.ca/fellows.

Natalie Hawryshkewich (She, Her, Hers)

Communication and Engagement Specialist
Sustainability Hub

The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus | Musqueam Traditional Territory
Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability 2260 West Mall, 2nd Floor | Vancouver BC | V6T 1Z4
natalie.haw@ubc.ca
https://sustain.ubc.ca/hub | http://climateemergency.ubc.ca/

The UBC Vancouver campus is situated within the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam). 

Learn more about our vision for a just and sustainable world, and our 5-year plan to bring it to life. sustain.ubc.ca/hub

Hi everyone,

Next week’s IRES Seminar is a co-seminar with IBioS.  We are delighted to have Katie Fiorella from Cornell University as a guest speaker!

The seminar will be in the UBC Hennings Building, Room 202.  6224 Agricultural Road (at East Mall).  Enter the main entrance doors on Agricultural Road and go up one set of stairs.  Room 202 is on the right.  See map below.

March 28, 2024: IRES & IBioS Co-Seminar with Katie Fiorella (Cornell University)

 

Environmental Change in Cambodia’s Social-Ecological Food Systems

Location: HENN 202 – Hennings Building, 6224 Agricultural Road (at East Mall)

No food or drinks allowed in the Theatre. 

Time:  12:30pm to 1:20pm

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:

Social-ecological systems are changing at an unprecedented rate. As our environments are revamped, what does that mean for the people who live and work within these systems? How does it impact their choices about how to use fisheries and their access to biodiversity within them? We will use the case of Cambodia’s social-ecological food systems — where fishery dependence is exceptionally high and flood plain fisheries are vulnerable to climate change and upstream shifts in the Mekong River flows — to examine these questions. We will consider how climate change will impact the system, how the extent of biodiversity in the ecosystem is used, and how community fish refuges, a strategy to increase fish catch, may benefit fish access. This talk will ask both how people adapt and the constraints they face, and how they see the ramifications of environmental change for their health and well-being.

Dr. Katie Fiorella, Assistant Professor,
Department of Public and Ecosystem Health
Cornell University

Bio:

I am an environmental scientist and epidemiologist, and my research aims to understand the interactions among environmental change and livelihood, food, and nutrition security. My work is focused on global fisheries and the households that are reliant on the environment to access food and income. I use interdisciplinary methods and my work aims to foster a deeper understanding of how ecological and social systems interact, the ways communities and households adapt to and mitigate environmental change, and the links between human well being and ecological sustainability.

 See you on March 28 in the UBC Hennings Building (Room 202)!

_______________________________________________________________________________

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

After 32 years of dedicated service to the University of British Columbia, we are sad to announce the retirement of Shelley Small, the Manager of the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at the Faculty of Land and Food Systems.

Shelley supported, guided, and manifested immense compassion for our graduate students. Their success and well-being were always her priority. As we bid farewell to Shelley, we express our deepest gratitude for her invaluable contributions over the years. Her legacy will endure through the impact she has made on our graduate community, and through the plaque in the Dean’s office, honouring the winners of an award that she created: the graduate thesis and dissertation award.

We at the graduate office will miss Shelley’s presence dearly. Please join us in extending our warmest wishes for her retirement.

Kind regards,

Sumeet and Lia Maria

 Hi everyone, 

Thank you so much to those who have been able to interact with the first four short-listed candidates for the Forestry-LFS Black Faculty Cohort Hire Initiative. I am now writing to provide details on the recorded research and teaching talks, as well as to request your feedback on the candidates. 

First, the research talk and teaching demonstration recordings can be found at the following Canvas link: https://canvas.ubc.ca/enroll/PD3LEG. Please feel free to view these at your discretion, but do not share outside of the Faculties. 

Further, for those who have been able to review the recordings and/or meet with the candidates, we would like to solicit your input as we prepare for the next stage of the review process. Links to the Qualtrics surveys for each candidate can be found on the Canvas site as well as below: 

• Dr. Islamiat Raji (March 11-12): https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7P446UPOjDVBvn0
• Dr. Zelalem Taye (March 13-14): https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0P8DtkZ6XHXedam
• Dr. Senay Yitbarek (March 18-19): https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9YSsoh2Cq8bbXPU
• Dr. Timi Ojo (March 20-21): https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cA3F3nTh2KwxwaO

Please provide your feedback by Friday, March 29th.

Thank you all for your participation in this process to date and we will provide further details on our remaining two candidates once their travel schedules have been finalized. 

Very best,

Alex Moore and Hannah Wittman (co-chairs)

__________________________________

Alex Moore, PhD  (she/they)
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Forest & Conservation Sciences and Dept. of Botany
The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus | Musqueam Traditional Territory
4605, 2424 Main Mall | Vancouver BC | V6T 1Z4 Canada

The discussion will be synthesized into a draft comment that individuals can use to send their opinions on the Right to a Health Environment to the Canadian government.

Please forward the invitation email below for a 1 hour discussion on the government’s implementation plan of the “Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act”. This plan is about all Canadians’ RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT.

 

Hello Faculty, Postdocs, RAs and Students!

What does your right to a healthy environment have in common with industry bottom line? Probably nothing! So now is the time to make sure your right is just that, yours.

Public comment periods are often underutilized, not widely shared, or flooded by representatives in industry (hello conflict of interest!). So, we are inviting you to brainstorm and formulate ideas on what you would like to see prioritized in the government’s implementation plan of the “Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act”.

Formerly known as Bill S-5, this act gives all Canadians a right to a healthy environment under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. This revision of CEPA is the first time Canadians are being given this right, and therefore there are many wrinkles to iron out and conversations to be had, and we want to hear from you! From now until April 8^th the Canadian government is looking for public contribution in the form of public comments, related to the questions in the recently published discussion document found here.

On March 26^th Dr. Gunilla Oberg and MA student Dayna Rachkowski will host a 1 hour discussion period in AERL Room 107 from 1pm-2pm to discuss the questions and areas still open for discussion in the government implementation period.  Our group collaboration will be synthesized into a public comment on behalf of the IRES community who attends. We will also assist/encourage you to use this collaborative conversation to submit your own public comment.

A 10 minute synopsis on some main points and development in Bill S-5 and CEPA will be given prior to our conversation. For those who want to dive in prior to this workshop, here are some relevant reads and recent government documents on the subject:

• Government Documents 1 & 2.
• Previous Discussion Papers With Recommendations to changes made to CEPA 1 & 2
• What is a right to a healthy environment?
• UNDRIP (A right to a healthy environment is only as successful as it is equitable).

We hope to see you there, please email Dayna Rachkowski (drachkow@student.ubc.ca) if you have any questions or accessibility requests for the workshop.

 

Cheers,

Dayna