2025 Wall Legacy Award Recipient: Dr. Andrea Frommel
Congratulations to Dr. Andrea Frommel from the Faculty of Land and Food Systems on being one of the recipients of the 2025 Peter Wall Legacy Awards. This prestigious award supports research addressing urgent sustainability challenges in BC and beyond.
Smell Steers the Salmon: Bringing Pacific Salmon Home in BC Using Cutting-Edge Olfactory Analysis
Pacific salmon are vital to British Columbia’s economy and cultural identity, but their populations are rapidly declining. Hatcheries release millions of juveniles annually to augment wild populations, yet many fail to return to spawn. Salmon return depends on olfactory imprinting (a chemical memory formed in early development) at the hatchery and olfactory navigation towards imprinted odorants by adults returning from sea. In conjunction with hatcheries and stream-keeper organizations, UBC researchers will investigate how stressors such as high levels of CO₂ and urban pollutants affect salmon’s sense of smell, ultimately producing recommendations to best support Pacific salmon conservation.
The Peter Wall Legacy Awards provide $4 million annually, including fellowships worth $1 million each to two UBC faculty members—providing five years of transformative research support.
Made possible by an extraordinary gift from Dr. Peter Wall, now exceeding $100 million, the Wall Legacy Awards reflect a bold investment in UBC’s research future.
Tagged with: 2025, Applied Biology, Awards