I am pleased to announce that we are now accepting departmental, institute and school nominations for the TIM AND ANN O’RIORDAN FELLOWSHIP IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. 

This fellowship, endowed in memory of his wife by Tim O’Riordan, OBE, DL, FBA, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, will be awarded to an incoming doctoral student working on sustainable development in a broad interdisciplinary perspective, ideally with some reference to British Columbia.

The fellowship currently has a value of $24,000 p.a. and may be held for a maximum of four consecutive years, subject to satisfactory academic progress (as notified by the holder’s program to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies). The award is made by G+PS on a recommendation from Green College and, with the approval of the sponsoring department and of G+PS, may be held in conjunction with other awards.

The holder will have the status of Non-Resident Member of Green College, unless they happen to be or become a Resident Member of the College. (Resident membership of the College is NOT a prerequisite.)

It is a condition of the fellowship that the holder make a public presentation of their research at the College in the final year of the award, for which additional resources may be available from the College.

Procedure and deadline:

Any UBC units admitting doctoral students to begin work in this field in 2023 is invited to forward UP TO 3 complete application files (edited as needed, but including research proposal, full academic transcripts and letters of reference) to Heather Muckart, Assistant Principal (Programs), Green College, heather.muckart@ubc.ca by 4 pm on 28 February 2023. It is currently expected that a final decision will be made by mid-March.

And do not hesitate to let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Heather 

Heather Muckart, MA, PhD (she, her)

Assistant Principal (Programs), Green College

The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus | Musqueam Traditional Territory

6201 Cecil Green Park Road | Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z1

Phone 604 822 0676
heather.muckart@ubc.ca | @GreenCollegeUBC
https://greencollege.ubc.ca

Call for Applications: IAR Research Travel Grant

The Institute of Asian Research would like to invite UBC graduate students working on research in Asia to apply for the IAR Research Travel Grant. The grant will award $1000 to successful applicants who plan to travel for field work.

The fund should go toward research

• Related to key contemporary issues in Asia, including social, political, cultural, or economic
• Which require travel between March 2023 to Dec 2023

Application

Application period: JAN 16 – FEB 16

Deadline: FEB 16, 2023

Applicants should submit their application with required documents to iar.sppga@ubc.ca.

The applicant must either be a current Master’s or Ph.D. candidate at UBC whose research is focused on Asia. They can be either domestic or international students.

Application requires:

• Short research proposal (approx. 1 pg)
• An email of support from a UBC faculty member
• Budget for Research and list of other sources of funding
• CV

Each application will be evaluated based on:

• Strength of the research proposal
• Suitability of research topic
• Academic and professional experience and qualifications

Successful applicants will be notified by March 15, 2023.

Next week’s IRES Seminar is in the Beaty Museum Theatre.  Reminder: No food or drinks allowed in the Theatre.

February 9, 2023: IRES Faculty Seminar with Sumeet Gulati

The elephant in the room: forest clearing and fatal human elephant conflict in India

Time: 12:30pm to 1:20pm

Location: Beaty Museum Theatre (2212 Main Mall)

Click here to register in advance to receive a Zoom link.

Zoom Rule: If we encounter technical difficulties during the first 5 to 10 mins of the seminar, Zoom will be terminated.

Talk summary:

Human Elephant Conflict (HEC) is the high impact component of human-wildlife conflict in India. It involves large scale crop and property damage, and is tragically associated with approximately 500 human and 150 elephant fatalities every year. It has been theorized that the frequency, intensity, and the outcome of interactions between humans and elephants in India is influenced by anthropogenic degradation, fragmentation and destruction of elephant habitat. However, an empirical relationship has not been formally established. We estimate a causal relationship between forest clearing for infrastructure development, and media reports of fatal HEC. We also demonstrate the potential of using media reports to analyze spatial and temporal trends in human-wildlife conflict, especially in the face of severely difficult to obtain official data on HEC. Preliminary results indicate that if the Government of India approves 43 squared kilometres of linear deforestation in an elephant district over the previous five years, there is an additional human fatality in the current year. The effect of nonlinear infrastructure development on fatalities due to HEC is weaker, where the approval of 122 squared kilometres of nonlinear deforestation over the previous five years leads to an additional human fatality. These results are robust to a broad degree of variation across specifications. Our estimate contributes to an accurate quantification of the cost of infrastructure-driven deforestation in countries like India. While it has been demonstrated that human casualties are the most significant component of the cost of human-wildlife conflict in India, these costs are not typically included in cost-benefit analyses of infrastructure projects in India. Rather, as per 2017 Government of India guidelines, such calculations focus on the costs that arise from a loss of ecosystem services, resettlements, infrastructure diversion and habitat fragmentation. These costs are calculated based on the Net Present Value (NPV) of forests, a measure which was last calculated in 2008 and has not been meaningfully revised since. Understanding the cost of forest clearing is also important given the policy context of a stated Government of India decision to fast track environmental approvals for forest clearance since 2014. Our estimates will help quantify the impact of this policy change.

Dr. Sumeet Gulati, Professor in Food and Resource Economics, Faculty of Land and Food Systems

Bio:

Sumeet Gulati is Professor in Food and Resource Economics, in the faculty of Land and Food Systems, at the University of British Columbia.  His research spans two main themes: 1) the economics of wildlife conservation, and 2) the economics of urban transportation. Currently, he is most interested in the economics of conservation. Sumeet is focusing on human wildlife conflict in India and Canada. All his projects in conservation economics are listed at the Wildlife and Conservation Economics Laboratory.

See you next Thursday in the Beaty Museum 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