Author: amoody

Thursday November 21st, 2-4 CIRS Building,

A Canadian Speaker’s Tour seeks to provide the Canadian public with an opportunity to discuss their concerns around GE foods from a scientific and regulatory perspective. The tour will feature a presentation by Dr. Thierry Vrain, a retired soil biologist and genetic engineer who, after a 30-year career with Agriculture Canada, no longer supports GE technology. Alarmed by the avalanche of scientific studies out of Europe raising many concerns about the long-term safety of GE foods, including the allergenic potential of GE plants containing rogue proteins and organ damage in rats fed GE foods over a few months, Dr. Vrain is intent on increasing public awareness about this growing issue and having the federal agencies in the US and Canada take notice. Dr. Shiv Chopra, a former Health Canada senior scientific advisor who blew the whistle on bovine growth hormone (rBGH), several additional hormones, antibiotics, and various other products endangering public health, will accompany Dr. Vrain for most of the tour. Dr. Chopra is a graduate of veterinary medicine. He holds an MSc and PhD in Microbiology and is a fellow of the World Health Organization. His book, Corrupt to the Core: Memoirs of a Health Canada Whistleblower, is an international best seller. A world-renowned speaker, Dr. Chopra is featured in many nationally acclaimed documentaries.

Check out the facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/439881536117810/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

Wednesday, November 20, 2013 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Multipurpose Room, Liu Institute for Global Issues, UBC

UBC Reads Sustainability presents, author of “The Economics of Happiness” and happiness economist Mark Anielski. Mark will explore what makes communities in both Canada and abroad flourish and experience the most happiness. His research and consulting work in Canada, China and Tahiti into what he calls Genuine Wealth, is providing individuals, businesses and communities with a practical roadmap for achieving a balanced life that optimizes wealth, health and happiness. Mark believes that wellbeing will become the new bottom line of business and communities, and that progress will be measured in terms of genuine happiness. Come explore with Mark how we can design and build vibrant communities with wellbeing in mind.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/towards-an-economy-of-genuine-happiness-creating-flourishing-communities-of-wellbeing-tickets-9097726545?ref=estw

Friday, November 15, 1:30-2:30 pm, RCB 6152 (SFU)

While the past decade has been the warmest on record, the warming trend in global mean surface temperature over the past 20 years has been much smaller than the trend over the past 60 years. This ‘hiatus’ in global warming has been the topic of much public and scientific debate. While climate model simulations of the long-term warming trend are consistent with observations, the warming observed over the past 20 years is significantly less than that simulated in a range of current climate models. Recent work suggests that this discrepancy may be linked to a cooling observed in the eastern tropical Pacific which is not reproduced in any of the climate model simulations. Possible contributions of natural climate variability, changes in climate forcings and climate sensitivity to the discrepancy between simulated and observed trends will be discussed.

Dr. Nathan Gillett is a Research Scientist at Environment Canada’s Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis in Victoria, BC. Prior to joining Environment Canada he was a Reader at the Climate Research Unit, University of East Anglia, UK. Dr. Gillett has served as Lead Author for the recently released Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and as a Lead Author for the WMO/UNEP Ozone Assessment, due to be released in 2014. He holds a PhD from the University of Oxford (2001).
Location Map of the Robert Brown Hall (RCB) building  http://www.sfu.ca/fs/Campus-Facility-Profiles/Building_Information/Robert_C_Brown_Hall.html

Looking for a way to gain hands-on experience working with sustainability related initiatives in a community-based setting?   There are a number of Reading Week (Feb. 2014) opportunities that can help you do just that!

Sustainability & Solidarity is an International Service Learning opportunity that allows students to work and learn alongside a community organization in rural Mexico that works on agricultural and ecological initiatives such as dry toilet installation into neighboring communities where access to sanitation facilities is limited.  Learning sessions about the factors and issues surrounding this project are integrated throughout the week.

Sustainability and  Coastal Conservation is an International Service Learning opportunity to work with a NGO along the Caribbean coast in Costa Rica.  This project is to work with ASVO is to make the station as self-sustainable as possible, in order to reduce impacts on the local habitat and provide a model for nearby communities and international volunteers. You will contribute to this goal by helping to build a greenhouse on the site to assist in reducing the need to bring in outside sources of food to the site and increase the diversity of plant species (vegetables) available for local consumption.

Ecosystems and Ecology is an International Service Learning opportunity to work with a NGO along the Caribbean coast in Costa Rica.  This project is to work with ASVO is to make the station as self-sustainable as possible, in order to reduce impacts on the local habitat and provide a model for nearby communities and international volunteers. You will contribute to this goal by helping to construct a water filtration system that will harvest both rain and salt water to provide volunteers and the surrounding community with a sustainable source of clean drinking water. You should expect hands-on work, manual labour, and the need to problem-solve in the field.

Interested students are invited to attend an info session to learn more.  Join us on Wednesday, Nov. 13^th at 7pm in Place Vanier Upper Atrium.  Applications can be submitted online and are due Nov. 17^th.

Interested students are invited to come to drop-in advising hours or email questions to ubc.isl@ubc.ca

CHBE Room 202, Thursday, November 14^th. Hosted by CHBE Sustainability Club. Popcorn Provided

Colin Beavan and his family embark on a year-long project to reduce their net carbon footprint by using no electricity, producing no trash and giving back to the world. No Impact Man presents the severe lifestyle changes that come with altering their entire existence.

Wed, November 20, 2013 6:00 PM – 8:15 PM MACLEOD BUILDING. Suggested donation $5. Join UBC’s Engineers Without Borders chapter in taking a fresh look at sustainable development issues: food security, environmental protection, poverty and war. Dirt! The Movie will be screened with a panel of key experts available for comment afterwards.

Panelists include:

-Elena Feditchkina-Tracy, Political Science professor and environmental journalist
-Mina Shahid, Director of Business Development, Kulemela Investments, which integrates philanthropy and profit by channeling foreign investor capital toward small and medium sized African agribusinesses.
-Avery Godfried, President of Fair Trade Vancouver
-a member of Vancouver’s sustainability and educational organization Environmental Youth Alliance
-a professor from the faculty of Land and Food Systems

Entrance by suggested donation of $5. Fair Trade tea, coffee, and baked goods (gluten free and vegan options as well) will be available for purchase. Come with your friends, make new ones and gain a new perspective on sustainable development!

RSVP at the Eventbrite page. http://www.eventbrite.ca/contact-organizer?eid=9069285477

Take a sneak-peek at the trailer of the movie at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKPcuwOOGqY

Fri, November 15, 2013 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM  Free. At the stormwater feature, near the Bookstore.

It’s not just the pretty water feature you walk by on your way to class. Doug Doyle invites you into his theatre to hear the story about the amazing new stormwater feature and how UBC is using stormwater as a resource on campus.

Wed, November 13, 2013 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM 

Clean Energy Research Centre, 2360 East Mall

Get behind the scenes of UBC’s research into clean energy. Join us for a short lecture and a tour of the facility including the Fuel Cell & Engine Combustion Lab. Limited to only 10 spots. Registration essential: https://www.eventbrite.ca/event/8880960191