Year: 2014

Raw Milk: Science to Policy Symposium

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The Department of Food Science at the University of Guelph is hosting a conference on April 22, 2014. The theme of the conference isScience to Policy. We will use as our exploratory case study current policies relating to raw and pasteurized milk.

By engaging a wide spectrum of experts, we will be able to identify and understand how scientific research is, and can be used for better policy-making decisions. We hope the conference will stimulate discussion on the need for a structured and transparent process to ensure that the most reliable scientific knowledge is used to enable governments and other organizations to determine effective policy decisions.

For registration and further details please see: https://www.uoguelph.ca/foodscience/content/raw-milk-science-policy-symposium (There are student discounts for up to 30 student registrants, first come, first serve. Please contact Kay at ScienceToPolicy@uoguelph.ca for the discount code).  A webinar will also be made available.

TerreWEB Seminar This Week: Mascha Gugganig

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This week in the TerreWEB seminar series we are excited to have Mascha Gugganig, who will be talking this Thursday about“Education, Activism and ʻGMOs’: Environment-based learning between Hawaiian cultural education and civic engagement on Kauaʻi” Everyone is welcome!

When: This Thursday, March 20th
Where: Macmillan Building, Room 154
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (3:30 for scholars)

Abstract: The Hawaiian Islands have been defined as space of timeless romanticism. The Terreweb community is invited to ‘paradise’ of 15 months fieldwork on the island of Kaua‘i where the presence of several biotech companies has provoked increasing awareness of land use and local/global food production. Both at a Hawaiian-focused charter school and in the public, ʻGMO’ has become a hotly debated issue, which culminated in a County Bill on the regulation of genetically engineered crops and pesticide use. In this talk, I will give a glimpse into my doctoral research on spheres of learning at a school and a wider public concerned with the biotechnology of genetic engineering. The presentation accompanies the exhibit ʻHawaiʻi Beyond the Wave, Hawaiʻi Beyond the Postcard,’ which will be shown in March 2014 at the Liu Institute. For more information please visit http://hawaiibeyond.wordpress.com/

Bio: Mascha Gugganig is a PhD candidate in anthropology, and a scholar at the Liu Institute at UBC. Mascha’s interest in visual arts as communication tool is reflected in her current project, the traveling exhibit ʻHawaii Beyond the Wave, Hawaii Beyond the Postcard.’ Besides visual arts and anthropology, science, technology and society studies (STS) provide a medium to better understand social change, food production, and land use in the 21st century. Originally from Vienna, Austria, Mascha earned her Master’s Degree in anthropology at the University of Vienna in 2009. She has conducted research in Hawaiʻi on cultural and environmental education since 2007, and plans to continue these endeavours in the future.

More info about TerreWEB seminars can be found HERE.

Healthy Eating Strategy Survey

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Add your voice to defining the priorities that will have the greatest impact on healthy eating and food security in BC

The BC Ministry of Health is refreshing the Provincial Healthy Eating Strategy.  Stakeholders from many sectors throughout the province are being consulted to ensure the Strategy addresses the most important priorities.   The aim is to make the healthiest choice the easiest choice wherever British Columbians live, work, learn and play.

We invite you to participate in shaping the Provincial Healthy Eating Strategy by completing a short on-line survey at http://fluidsurveys.com/s/healthy-eating-priorities/.  Your input will help to establish the priorities for collective action province-wide.  It will take about 10 minutes to complete the survey.  Your response is requested by April 4th.

Please feel free to pass on the link below to others who are engaged in promoting healthy eating and food security.

Thank you in advance for your interest.   Questions about the survey may be directed to lynda.corby@shaw.ca

Here is the survey link http://fluidsurveys.com/s/healthy-eating-priorities/

Today: IRES Seminar Series with Peter Arcese

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When: March 18th, 12.30pm-1.20pm, AERL 120
Speaker: Peter Arcese, Professor, Forestry Renewal BC Chair in Conservation Biology
Title: Empiricists and Environmental Policy: Designing Research to Address Multiple Audiences

Abstract: Many conservation biologists are ‘converted’ empiricists in ecology and evolution. I followed that path intentionally because of an assumption that some mechanistic understanding would be necessary to predict how species and ecosystems might respond to the direct and indirect effects of humans on environment. I describe how empirical approaches to understanding have influenced conservation policy, wildlife harvest and over-fishing in Africa by identifying and testing critical assumptions of policy hypotheses, and by applying simple economic models to human-wildlife systems. I then show how empirical understanding can shape land use policy in the Georgia Basin, BC, again by understanding the cultural and economic drivers of ecological change.

2014 President’s Awards for Staff Nomination Deadline Extended

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Do you know UBC staff who have made outstanding contributions to the University community? Faculty, staff and students are invited to submit nominations for this year’s President’s Service Award for Excellence and President’s Staff Awards (Vancouver campus).

We have extended the deadline for nominations for the President’s Service Award for Excellence and the President’s Staff Award to March 31, 2014. We encourage you to nominate an outstanding staff member staff in your unit for these awards. Download nomination forms here.

President’s Service Award for Excellence

Introduced in 1991, the President’s Service Award for Excellence is UBC’s  top award to recognize staff members who demonstrate outstanding achievement and excellence within the UBC Community.

Up to five recipients are selected annually by a committee of representatives from the University community. Permanent members of staff with 10 years or more of UBC service are eligible for nomination.

Awards are presented during Congregation ceremonies. Each recipient receives a medal and $5,000.

President’s Staff Awards (Vancouver campus)

Open to all permanent UBC Vancouver campus staff with three or more years of service, the President’s Staff Awards are awarded in the categories of:

  • Leadership
  • Creativity and Innovation
  • Enhancing the UBC Experience
  • Global Citizenship
  • Emerging Leadership
  • Advancing Diversity and Inclusion

Up to 12 winners are selected every year. Winners receive $2,000.

Please visit http://www.focusonpeople.ubc.ca/awards/presidents-awards-for-staff/ for more information and the nomination form. The nomination deadline is 4:00 p.m., March 31, 2014.