Raincoast

As one of nineteen proposed Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export locations along the coast of British Columbia, the Woodfibre LNG project in Howe Sound, just South of Squamish has rallied many detractors. Scientists, residents and First Nations have all voiced their opposition to the project, citing concerns over everything from the dangers of natural gas […]

The oil spill in Vancouver harbour two weeks ago on April 17 was an eye opener for many of us. While there were bureaucratic issues that delayed the cleanup of this latest spill, once notified, cleanup crews were quite efficient and the overall management was, I believe, well handled. However, it was a rude awakening to […]

In keeping with the theme of my last entry, it is often hard to know what it is that one wants to do, especially when the potential options are unknown. This has certainly been the case when looking at careers. However, in the past month, two potential career options have presented themselves serendipitously. The first […]

Throughout my GRS career, the questions from friends and parents has always been “so what do you want to do once you’re finished?” or “What kind of jobs are there?”. These are good, difficult questions to answer, because frankly I just don’t know! For those wanting to become engineers, there is a defined university program […]

Having returned from my exchange in Uppsala Sweden, I am filled with the desire to return. As mentioned previously, Uppsala has been a university town for over 500 years, meaning that it is has evolved into something quite special and truly unique.   There is a unique tradition at Uppsala in the form of the student “Nations”, […]

On January 16, I will be leaving for a one-year exchange with Uppsala Universitet in Sweden. The university is the oldest in Sweden, founded in 1477, and is located in the vibrant student-oriented city of Uppsala. Now that finals are over, the reality of the situation has had time to sink in, and I can […]

Carbon sequestration has become a hot topic when talking about mitigating the effects of global warming. Carbon offset companies are big business, usually planting trees in exchange for fees collected from plane tickets and other greenhouse gas emitting activities. These trees take approximately 10-17 years until they become a carbon sink. This is because the […]

I have always been intrigued by fungi. Their extreme diversity from edible to deadly poisonous and the almost endless configurations of colours, shapes and habitats make fungi truly bizarre. Fungi are immensely important in both the visible, and invisible aspects of our daily lives. From the decomposition of organic matter in soils and the cycling […]

Over the past term, there has been great progress on the proposal for a new UBC farm compost facility. Most importantly, the UBC Sustainability Committee has become very interested in this proposal as an attractive option for reaching zero-waste targets by 2015. Support from UBC Sustainability is integral for this project to move forward, so […]

  For my last project in microbiology this term, we were to select a microbe, or microbial phenomenon and give a short presentation. Being interested in anaerobic digestion, I chose the process of methanogenesis, the process during anaerobic digestion which produces methane.  Anaerobic digestion is the broad term for turning organic waste into natural gas, including […]