Imagine what someone in your community could do with $100,000 to advance conservation and environmental justice. Who do you see leading this project?

A couple of weeks ago, I shared that Washington Conservation Action will award the esteemed $100,000 Bullitt Prize in perpetuity! 

We are grateful to the Bullitt Foundation for allowing us this incredible opportunity to broaden, strengthen, and diversify the current and future leadership of the environmental movement. The prize invests in emerging leaders advancing conservation and environmental justice efforts in the Pacific Northwest.

The $100,000 Prize will be awarded annually to an individual or collaborative group, from Washington State or the Pacific Northwest region if their work impacts Washington, are 35 years or younger and have demonstrated academic, professional, or grassroots leadership that advances conservation and environmental justice.

I wanted you to be the first to learn: our application opens on Friday, March 1, 2024. Please share the application with anyone you know who a great recipient of the Bullitt Prize would be.

 

Apply Here

For the next three months, we’ll continue reaching out to you, our partners, and to leaders across the Northwest. Help us find emerging environmental justice leaders by sending us your suggestions for potential Bullitt Prize candidates. The application will be open for three months and will close on June 1, 2024.

Onward for environmental justice,

Alyssa Macy (she/her)
CEO, Washington Conservation Action
Citizen, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon

Join us for Spark: Powering Transformative Change, our annual event on May 9, 2024.
We are excited to gather in community to meet the moment for healthy communities, a clean environment, and justice!

We are excited to share an exciting new position at Cascadia Seaweed we thought graduates of your programs might be interested in.

We’re looking for a visionary Director of Agricultural Products with a deep-rooted passion for revolutionizing agriculture, driven to develop and market sustainable, earth-friendly products to address climate change and food security. We are transforming a sustainable ocean crop into natural solutions for farmers to increase yields, reduce emissions and manage costs.

For the full job ad and instructions on how to apply, please visit the careers page of our website.

We would be grateful if you could post this opportunity or share it with anyone who you think might be a good fit!

With gratitude and respect,

Jesse Kenny (she/her)

Office Manager at Cascadia Seaweed

1 778 351 4484

 

IOF SEMINAR – March 15, 2024 The Canary in the Coal Mine is Black and White: Chemical Contaminants of Concern and Hydrocarbons in Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales from BC, Canada Killer whales (Orcinus orca) from British Columbia (BC, Canada) are among of the most contaminated cetacean species in the world. They are ecologically, culturally and economically-important species in Canada’s west coast and powerful spiritual beings for coastal First Nations communities. Yet, endangered southern resident killer whales (SRKWs), with a small population of ~73 or 74 individuals, are affected by cumulative environmental stressors and human-made threats, including lack of both quality and quantity of its main diet item (Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), physical disturbances by underwater noise (acoustic pollution), marine pollution and climate change.  Concentrations and potential health implications of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), new persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in SRKWs have been scarcely documented. In this seminar, I will share the findings of the first concerted ecotoxicological assessment of CECs: alkylphenols (APs), triclosan, methyl triclosa;  and, new POPs such as  hexabromocyclododecane [HBCCD], and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), known as “forever chemicals” (PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS), as we ll as PAHs in skeletal muscle and liver samples of SRWK and investigate in utero transfer of these contaminants. Samples were collected from stranded, necropsied individuals from 2006-2018 in BC, Canada, in collaboration with Fisheries and Ocean Canada (DFO) and the Animal Health Centre, BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. The most prevalent compounds were 4-nonylphenol (4NP), a predominant AP (median 40.84 ng/g ww), and interestingly, 7:3-fluorotelomer carboxylic acid (7:3 FTCA) was the primary PFAS (median 66.35 ng/g ww) observed for first time in killer whales from BC, followed by PFOS and PFOSA. For PAHs, C3-phenanthrenes/anthracenes (mean: 632 ng/g lw), C4-dibenzothiophenes (mean 334 ng/g lw), and C4-phenanthrenes/ anthracenes (mean: 248 ng/g lw) presented the highest concentrations across all tissue samples. PAH diagnostic ratios indicated a dominant petrogenic-sourced contamination for SRKWs (i.e., more contaminated with hydrocarbon coming from oil/petroleum sources) in comparison to Bigg’s (transient) killer whale, which showed  a dominant signal of pyrogenic hydrocarbon sources (e.g., coming from vegetation and coal biomass burning and wildfires). A mother-fetus skeletal muscle pair revealed evidence of CECs, POPs, and PAH maternal transfer. Maternal transfer ratios indicated 4NP as the most transferred contaminant from mother to fetus (95%), while low molecular weight PAHs (C3-fluorenes, dibenzothiophene, and naphthalene) also exhibited higher maternal transfer rates. Our contaminant data serve to inform regulation and mitigate pollutant sources and contamination by emerging chemicals (e.g., “forever chemicals” or PFASs) in SRKWs’ critical habitat and prevent oil spills by improving hydrocarbon emission regulations and transitioning away from fossil fuel consumption with the aim to conserve this iconic species.

Juan Jose Alava Research Associate, IOF PI, UBC’s Ocean Pollution Research Unit

Friday, March 15, 2024 – 11:00am  – 11:50am Live: AERL Theatre, 2202 Main Mall, UBC Online over Zoom

UBC – LFS Announces The Oral Examination for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy
(Human Nutrition)

Hadis Mozaffari

“The Impact of Dietary Diversity on Type 2 Diabetes: An Investigation of the Cross-national EPIC-InterAct Cohort”

Thursday, March 14, 2024 – 9 AM

Exam Location: 6112, Pharmaceutical Sciences Building, 2405 Wesbrook Mall.

EXAMINING COMMITTEE

Chair: Dr. J. Johnson

Supervisory Committee:
Dr. A. Conklin – Supervisor
Dr. R. Murphy – Committee member
Dr. M. Jessri – Committee member
Dr. F. Imamura – Committee member

Defense Committee Composition
Dr. A. Conklin – Supervisor
Dr. R. Murphy – Committee member
Dr. T. Cohen – University Examiner
Dr. S. Stringhini – University Examiner
Dr. D. R. de Souza – External Examiner