Hi everyone,

Happy New Year!  The IRES Seminar Series resumes on Thurs, January 9 with 2 IRES Postdocs presenting!

January 9, 2025: IRES Faculty Seminar with Dr. Adrian Lu and Dr. Justine Townsend

Time: 12:30pm to 1:20pm

Location: Beaty Museum Allan Yap Theatre (Basement, 2212 Main Mall). Please check in at front desk on main floor before going downstairs.

No food or drinks allowed in the Beaty Museum.

Available on Zoom

Trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services along landscape and local complexity gradients in the “Salad Bowl of the World”

(in-person presentation)

Talk summary:

Biodiversity and agricultural ecosystem services generally benefit from landscape and local scale habitat complexity, but trade-offs and synergies among different ecosystem services such as pollination, pest control, crop quality/yield, and soil health are crucial for land managers. Relationships between ecosystem function and habitat complexity can also be complicated by interactions between complexity at different scales. In California’s Salinas Valley region, the source of nearly half of the United States’ strawberries, previous work has shown that pest control by birds and arthropods, as well as abundance and diversity of these service providers, benefit from multi-scalar habitat diversity.  The current project aims to reveal how habitat complexity at different scales may be managed to sustain biodiversity and facilitate a suite of ecosystem services according to stakeholder priorities.

 

     Dr. Adrian Lu, IRES Postdoc

Bio:

Adrian is a Postdoctoral Fellow working with Claire Kremen to explore the synergies and trade-offs between multiple ecosystem services along multi-scalar habitat complexity gradients in California’s Central Coast strawberry growing region.  At IRES, Adrian seeks to cultivate a deeper understanding of the relationships among traditional resource management, biocultural diversity, and human well-being. Trained as an ecologist and attorney, Adrian’s perennial challenge is to transform scientific findings into advocacy for the interests of marginalized communities.

Legal tensions and opportunities illuminated by Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) in Canada

(virtual presentation)

Talk summary:

The Province of British Columbia (B.C.), like most jurisdictions in Canada, currently lacks a proactive policy and legal framework that recognizes and supports the establishment of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) by Indigenous Nations and communities in Canada. Indigenous Nations have inherent authority to establish IPCAs under Indigenous laws; however, without additional protection afforded by Crown policy and legislation, IPCAs can be vulnerable to resource extraction and development. Indigenous Nations who are establishing and governing IPCAs in B.C. have faced multiple legal challenges. To overcome some of the limitations of existing protected area legislation, some Indigenous Nations in B.C. and Canada have pursued a multiple designation approach that uses Indigenous legal orders to establish IPCAs and Crown legislation to establish Crown protected areas. Together, these designations can be mobilized to advance legally pluralistic approaches and strong co-governance models.

    Dr. Justine Townsend, IRES Postdoc

Bio:

Dr. Justine Townsend is a Postdoctoral Fellow investigating knowledge mobilization practices in the conservation sector through a decolonial lens. This builds on her doctoral research on the possibilities for reconciliation through Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) involving community-engaged research with three First Nations in B.C. She holds a joint position, IPCA Planning and Research Lead, with the IISAAK OLAM Foundation, an Indigenous educational organization, and Vancouver Island University (VIU). She teaches in VIU’s Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas Planning Certificate. A political ecologist by training, Justine has a background in environmental assessments and community engagement.

See you on January 9 in the Beaty Museum Allan Yap Theatre! 

_______________________________________________________________________________

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