IRES Seminar Series: Thurs, Dec 5 with Victor Cardenas and Ted Scott

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Next week is our last IRES Seminar in Term 1!  In the Beaty Museum Allan Yap Theatre:
December 5, 2024: IRES Student Seminar with Victor Cardenas and Ted Scott
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.
Click here for Zoom link. Zoom will be terminated if we encounter tech problems 5 to 10 mins into the seminar.

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Estimating climate change impact in financing to vulnerable smallholder farmers via microfinance financial resiliency

Talk summary:

Climate change may exacerbate the finance challenges faced by smallholder farmers (SHFs) due to increased capital costs affecting agricultural operations. Microfinance institutions (MFIs), as financial providers, may restrict their lending capacity to smallholder farmers (SHFs) affected by disasters, which might halt output or increase economic costs. The research on the effects of climate change on MFI lending capacity and SHF financing is still in its early stages. Since the establishment of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) by developed economies in 2016, climate change and financial institutions have garnered scholarly interest; yet, research on microfinance institutions for smallholder farmer research remains unexamined. My study investigates worldwide trends in physical risk assessments for microfinance institutions to smallholder farmers. I evaluate catastrophic tropical storms and floods that impact MFI lending ability. I analyze the effects of climate change on 4,500 microfinance institutions (MFIs) based on climatic scenarios (RCP).

 

  Victor CardenasIRES PhD student

Bio:

Victor is a 3rd-year PhD student at IRES, Climate and Costal Ecosystems Lab member, and Large Language Model Climate Solution Scholar.  He has 22 years of public and private practice in disaster risk and climate risk financing and experience in the field in 30 developing economies. He advises multilateral financial organizations and UN agencies; he is member of the UNFCCC expert group for the Warsaw mechanism for Loss and Damages. He has a B.A. in Economics from ITAM in Mexico and a master’s in finance from IE Business School in Spain. He is passionate in extreme risk modeling using data science and AI.

 

What is happening to summer? A global and multi-scale analysis of the changing summer season length under global warming

Talk summary:

Summer is changing dramatically in our lifetimes. The increasing frequency and severity of extreme events under global warming has been connected to changes in the timing of summer onset, duration, and withdrawal, which impact phenology, economic cycles, and energy demand. My work updates and expands prior studies of summer timing and duration by separately considering midlatitude land, ocean, and coastal margins, where many of the global population resides. I find that each of those areas has seen a substantial increase in summer length since 1990, and compared with previous work, the average rate of growth has doubled to nine days per decade when including more recent data. While changes to summer are not uniformly distributed, in most areas the onset of summer is rapidly moving earlier. If the length of summer continues increasing even under an apparent linear warming rate, associated impacts can increase non-linearly, exceeding thresholds for human health, ecosystems, and infrastructure.

 

  Ted ScottGeography PhD student

Bio:

Ted Scott is a 2nd year PhD student in Geography in the Climate and Coastal Ecosystems Lab and the Climate Dynamics Group, co-advised by Simon Donner and Rachel White (EOAS). His current research investigates multi-scale patterns in surface temperature and heat accumulation since the late 20th century. Prior to his study at UBC, he earned a PhD in Geophysics at the University of Minnesota, has worked as a data scientist at Microsoft, and more recently taught high school math and science.

 

See you on December 5!

 

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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

CGSM: Approaching Deadline and Important Reminders

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Reminders:

The deadline for students to submit their CGS-Master’s applications via the Research Portal is before 5:00 pm PT on December 2, 2024*. This deadline is set nationally and is not flexible; UBC has no administrative authority/means to extend the deadline for applicants.

  • *Note: As the annual December 1 deadline for the CGS-Master’s competition falls on a weekend in 2024, per the CGS-M webpage, applications must be submitted by the following business day before 5:00 pm PT.
  • However, applicants are strongly encouraged to plan to submit their applications at least a day early, to avoid any unexpected issues.

Unlike the Doctoral competition, CGS-M application materials cannot be revised after the deadline. Applicants are strongly encouraged to follow the application instructions and presentation standards when preparing their application. Applications cannot be updated or added to after the deadline, including reference assessment forms and transcripts.

Important reminders regarding reference assessment forms:

  • Referees (faculty members) are strongly encouraged to complete their assessments and submit them via the Research Portal well in advance of the December 1 deadline (instructions).
  • Applicants cannot submit their CGSM application until the two reference assessment forms have been completed and submitted in the Research Portal. The deadline will not be extended for applicants who are unable to submit because of missing reference assessments.

 

THESIS DEFENSE – MSC – PLNT – DAPHNE CHEVALIER WALFORD

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Announces

The Oral Examination for the Degree of

Master of Science
(PLNT)

Daphne Chevalier Walford

Lights, Camera, Attraction! Changes in Arthropod Activity Due to Artificial Light at Night”


Tuesday, December 10th, 2024 – 9:00 AM

 Exam Location: MCML 350 (Hybrid)

 

EXAMINING COMMITTEE

Chair: Dr. S. Castellarin

Supervisory Committee:
Dr. J. Carrillo – Co-Supervisor
Dr. Q. Geissmann – Co-Supervisor                                                                                                       Dr. T. Knipfer – Committee member                                                                                                  Dr. M. Johnson – Committee member                                                                                               Dr. E. Perkin – Committee member

Defense Committee Composition
Dr. J. Carrillo – Co-Supervisor                                                                                                                 Dr. Q. Geissmann– Co-Supervisor                                                                                                       Dr. M. Johnson – Committee member                                                                                              Dr. E. Perkin – Committee member                                                                                                    Dr. M. Tseng – External Examiner

THESIS DEFENSE – MSC – FOOD – XIWEN WANG

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Announces

The Oral Examination for the Degree of

Master of Science
(FOOD)

Xiwen Wang

Cascara as a Source of Bioactive Phenolic Acids with Antioxidant Capacity to Regulate Intestinal Functionality”


Wednesday, December 18th, 2024 – 11:00 AM

 Exam Location: MCML 258

 

EXAMINING COMMITTEE

Chair: Dr. V. Measday

Supervisory Committee:
Dr. D. Kitts – Supervisor
Dr. T. Yang– Committee member                                                                                                        Dr. B. Stefanska – Committee member

Defense Committee Composition
Dr. D. Kitts– Supervisor                                                                                                                            Dr. T. Yang– Committee member                                                                                                        Dr. S. Castellarin – External Examiner

THESIS DEFENSE – MSC – PLNT – SARAH KNOERR

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Announces

The Oral Examination for the Degree of

Master of Science
(PLNT)

Sarah Knoerr

“Grassland Set-asides as Nesting Habitat for Bumble Bees in Agroecosystems”


Tuesday, December 17th, 2024 – 2:00 PM

 Exam Location: MCML 350

EXAMINING COMMITTEE

Chair: Dr. S. Castellarin

Supervisory Committee:
Dr. R. Sargent – Supervisor
Dr. S. Gillespie– Committee member                                                                                                 Dr.  J. Carrillo – Committee member

Defense Committee Composition
Dr. R. Sargent – Supervisor                                                                                                                    Dr. S. Gillespie – Committee member                                                                                                Dr. S. Benson-Amran – External Examiner