Zihan Li

I often feel that it was a fateful coincidence (缘分) that I took BIOL 420. Guylian seashell chocolates were a family favorite; though I’ve always read the Project Seahorse statement with curiosity, I’ve never thought of searching online to learn more at the time, nor did I know where it was located. I applied to UBC oblivious that this course existed, but was thrilled ever since I discovered it on the course registration page. A New Understanding of Ocean Conservation Having taken the course, I’d definitely say that it exceeded…read more

“I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm)people.” As a UBC student, this is the land acknowledgement I’ve been hearing since the beginning of university. I did not think much about the meaning behind it back then; as an international student, I was intrigued by the local Indigenous art, but I’ve always felt that I am only a visitor to their territories. As a biology student, my courses rarely touched on these subjects. The fact of how…read more

This trip was an anchor point that tied in the concepts explored in the course and grounded me to the reality of these issues. Two aspects that stood out to me were the changes in how we fished and the anecdotal & documented impact we see as a result. The Life of Fishermen As someone who grew up in inland regions, the opportunity to see large-scale fishing gear up close really put the numbers to reality. Walking into the net loft of the Britannia Shipyard Historical Site, I stood in…read more

To me, this field trip was a series of surprises that made me realize how little I knew the city I’ve lived in in the last three years. As we started near the Vancouver Maritime Museum, Amanda introduced that there are no legal regulations on boat disposal, leading to many boats being abandoned on shorelines and ports. This is problematic since these boats can leak fuel and toxic chemicals if left untreated. Fishing boats are usually abandoned since there is little market interest in buying them. I plan to read…read more

Did you know that mangroves store more carbon than most forests on land? Aside from securing the carbon in the soil with their expansive roots, these saltwater forests are home to hundreds of species, and provide protection to local communities from storms and erosion. Indonesia boasts the world’s largest mangrove forests, which comprise around 23% of the global mangrove area. However, 40% has been deforested in the past 3 decades, primarily for shrimp aquaculture, but also for agriculture and palm oil plantations. What the Government is Doing The Indonesian government…read more