Land and Food System Scholar Series

Invited scholar: Dr. Ermias Kebreab

Hosted by:  Marina von Keyserlingk, Applied Animal Biology

Title: Agriculture’s Transition to Net Zero Emissions – What is Livestock’s Role?

Abstract: Agriculture is a key source for greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. It is responsible for more than half of (human-driven) sources of methane, a GHG responsible for 30% of global temperature rise since the industrial revolution, as well as almost three-quarters of the sources of the nitrous oxide released annually. The Paris Agreement set a goal of reducing global agricultural methane emissions by between 24% and 47% by 2050 to limit warming to 1.5°C. Analysis of mitigation options show that the greatest reductions that can be achieved from agriculture are related to livestock, particularly ruminants. There are several mitigation strategies developed or under development to reduce enteric methane emissions. These can range from direct intervention in the adult through the use of inhibitors or even vaccines, to several indirect methods, modulation of rumen microbiome and breeding towards low methane-emitting animals. An analysis conducted to assess how the world can reduce global methane by at least 30% by 2030 (Global Methane Pledge) showed that it is possible to do so in animal agriculture, however, attaining net zero emissions from the sector will largely depend on reducing nitrous oxide emissions.

Biography: Ermias Kebreab is Associate Dean and Professor of Animal Science in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and the Director of the World Food Centre at the University of California-Davis. He also holds the Sesnon Endowed Chair in Sustainable Agriculture. He conducts research in animal nutrition, mathematical modeling of biological systems and impact of livestock on the environment. He is contributing author to 2019 IPCC update on enteric methane emissions. He co-chaired the feed additive and methane committees of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. He has authored over 250 peer-reviewed articles and received several awards including Excellence in Ruminant Nutrition and International Agriculture from American Society of Animal Science, and 2022 Chancellor’s Innovator of the year award. He served on two committees of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on methane and nutrition of dairy cattle. He is a regular invited speaker including a TED talk that has been featured as one of the ‘must-watch climate talks of 2022’ by ted.com. His research was in the top 10 of all research conducted at the University of California system in 2021. He holds a B.S. degree from the University of Asmara, Eritrea and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Reading, U.K.

Join in person or via Zoom:

Date: May 15, 2023

Time: 10:00-11:30 AM PDT

Location: In-person at MCML 160, or via Zoom

Meet and greet after the presentation: 11:30 – 12:30 PM, please register here by May 11.

 

REMINDER: Internal Deadline: Friday, May 5th 2023.
Please notify us about your attention of applying (as we need to prepare transcripts) by April 24, 2023.

Spring Graduate Awards Competition

A number of university awards for the upcoming academic year are available to current and incoming graduate students.  The maximum value of funding that can be offered to a student is $16,000, or $22,000 for the #6495 Andrew Nord Fellowships in Rheumatology.  Applicants will apply via their graduate programs with a single application that may be considered for as many of the Spring Graduate Awards as they are eligible for, taking note of the following important considerations:

• Eligibility: To be eligible to receive funding, applicants must meet both the overall eligibility requirements as outlined on the award webpage (ex. months of study) and all of the eligibility requirements for each individual Spring Graduate Award they apply for. Applicants will not be considered for an award if they do not clearly meet the criteria for the award.
  Spring Graduate Awards Competition – Graduate School – University of British Columbia – Vancouver – Canada (ubc.ca)
• Selection:   While award recipients will be selected based on the evaluation criteria, priority will be given to eligible candidates who do not hold significant scholarship funding (i.e., $16,000 or higher) for the 2023/2024 academic year (September 2023 to August 2024).  If a student is offered Spring Awards funding, and later receives other scholarship funding of $16,000 or higher for the same period, the Spring Awards funding offer would normally be rescinded.
  • Exception: Some of the Spring Graduate Awards have very niche award descriptions (eligibility requirements).  For example, the #6362 award ‘James and Setsuko Thurlow Scholarship in Peace and Disarmament Studies’.  If a Spring Graduate Award receives a very low number of eligible applications, it may be awarded to a student who already has significant scholarship funding.

 

A complete application consists of:

• Completed Application Form – PART 1
• Completed Application Form – PART 2
• Canadian CCV – CGS-Master’s version
• Up-to-date, complete transcripts for all undergraduate and graduate studies (including studies undertaken but not completed) up to December 31, 2022. Official transcripts are preferred. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted in cases where applicants were not able to obtain an official transcript in time for the deadline. If an applicant is providing an unofficial transcript, it must still be authentic, complete and up to date.
• One recommendation letter/form. (In some cases, a reference letter submitted for a previous scholarship competition may be used; see the application instructions for details.)

Deadline for graduate program nominations to G+PS: 4:00 pm PT on May 22, 2023

For more information, such as the complete eligibility requirements and application materials, please refer to our webpage: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/awards/spring-graduate-awards-competition.

The results of this competition will be announced in mid-August.

Hello,

 

Please forward the following information to your graduate students:

The Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) will be offering a Graduate Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) on June 12, 14 & 16, 2023.

The Grad ISW is a 24-hour, fully participatory, and peer-based professional development workshop for graduate students that is beneficial to both new and experienced instructors.

Please note: You must attend all face-to-face sessions and complete all independent work for the complete duration of the workshop, (i.e. the entire 24-hour workshop).

To apply for the waitlist for June 12, 14 & 16, 2023 ISW click here: https://events.ctlt.ubc.ca/events/graduate-instructional-skills-workshop-june-12-14-16-2023-preliminary-application/

Application opens on April 28 at 9 am and closes on June 7, 2023 at 4:30 pm. By clicking this link, you are applying for the WAITLIST only and this DOES NOT register you for the workshop. Graduate ISWs at UBC are in high demand. To create an equitable registration process all graduate students who apply for an ISW will first be enrolled on a waitlist, from which participants are randomly selected. If a participant has applied for more than one ISW waitlist, their name will appear more frequently when generating the participant list, giving them a higher chance of being selected for an ISW. If you are accepted into the workshop, you will be contacted by our office to confirm your registration. For more information and a list of all upcoming sessions visit: http://ctlt.ubc.ca/gradisw

 

Workshop Eligibility:

 

A participant who wishes to take the Grad ISW is eligible if they are:

• a full-time or part-time registered graduate student at UBC during the academic term when the ISW is offered
• a graduate student at UBC who has completed degree requirements but has not yet convocated
• a joint degree graduate student who is enrolled at UBC and another institution
• a graduate student at UBC pursuing non-degree studies
• a visiting graduate student that is eligible to take courses

 

A participant who wishes to take the Grad ISW is not eligible if they are:

• not a graduate student at UBC
• a graduate student at UBC who has on-leave status
• a visiting graduate student that is not eligible to take courses

Elisa Herman
Event Coordinator
Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology
The University of British Columbia

http://www.ctlt.ubc.ca

Application Deadline Approaching for Ages Foundation Fund scholarships and bursaries for research at rare

This Earth Day (Friday), Southbound Drivers on Blair Road Are Invited to Give Two Bucks (or more) to Preserve Our Natural Spaces Now and for the Future

Graduate students looking to fund environmentally-related research projects in environmental science or arts have until midnight on Sunday, April 30 to apply for the Ages Fund Research Fellowships and Bursaries Program. The fund is open to Canadian and International graduate students planning to do research projects at the rare Charitable Research Reserve. Each year, two $5,000 scholarships are awarded, along with up to five $1,000 bursaries. 

Approved graduate student research projects will have access to the preserved natural areas of rare in Waterloo Region and Wellington County. These areas offer relatively undisturbed sites close to urban areas, offering points of comparison for research.

“We’ve hosted several projects that have used rare as a control site to study the impact of urbanization on local wildlife,” explains James Bow, communications officer at rare. “Last year, we were pleased to host Alannah Grant, a PhD Candidate at the University of Guelph working on a project on the influence of environmental stress on urban and rural eastern grey squirrels. Megan Schmidt of the University of Waterloo worked on gathering data on the carbon dynamics of Southern Ontario swamps, which expands our understanding of how these lands absorb greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide and methane.” 

The fellowship program includes a $5,000 award in support of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Colour (BIPOC) graduate students. The research the award funds must have an environmental component and take place at least partly at the rare Charitable Research Reserve between May 2023 and April 2024. The winning applicants will be required to provide a final report to rare a year after receiving their prize, which includes a list of any presentations or publications of the work to date. 

The successful applicant will be notified on or before July 15, but applications can be awarded earlier, depending on the proposed start date of the research. Further details and the application form can be found at raresites.org/research/scholarship/

The rare Charitable Research Reserve is an urban land trust and environmental institute protecting and preserving over 1,200 acres of environmentally sensitive lands in Waterloo Region and Wellington County. The Ages Foundation Fund was established by a supporter at rare seeking to support research at the site and help environmental scientists at the start of their careers. In the nearly fifteen years since rare partnered with the Ages Fund, over $100,000 in fellowships and bursaries have been awarded.

To Learn More: https://raresites.org/research/scholarship/

To Submit: If you are not currently conducting research at rare, download and complete the rare Research and Land Use Application Form, including Appendix One. Note you are required to submit one letter of recommendation with your application (see pg. 10 for more details).

If you are currently conducting research at rare and have already completed a research application form for your project, download and complete Appendix One. This will be reviewed in conjunction with your research application.

Any Questions: Please contact James Bow, Communications Officer at rare at james.bow@raresites.org