Assistant or Associate Professor in Nutrition and Healthy Aging

Assistant or Associate Professor in Nutrition and Healthy Aging

February 3, 2023

Assistant or Associate Professor in Nutrition and Healthy Aging

Posted on February 3, 2023

The Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada (lfs-ps-2023.sites.olt.ubc.ca) is seeking an outstanding candidate for a full-time, tenure stream position at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor within the Food, Nutrition and Health Program in the Human Nutrition group (https://lfs-ps-2023.sites.olt.ubc.ca/research/lfs-research-centres-groups/human-nutrition-group/). The anticipated start date is July 1, 2024.

Applicants must have a Ph.D. in nutrition or related area, supplemented with postdoctoral or equivalent experience. Candidates must demonstrate potential for outstanding research with relevance to human nutrition that focuses on healthy aging, in areas such as clinical nutrition, nutritional biochemistry, or public health nutrition. Applicants must also demonstrate strong potential for excellence in teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and the ability to complement the current teaching programs. As described in its Action Plan, the Faculty of Land and Food Systems uses student-centered learning to educate new generations of scientists equipped to solve the most fundamental issues faced by society (https://lfs-ps-2023.sites.olt.ubc.ca/action-plan/).

The successful candidate will be expected to (a) develop an independent, externally funded, and internationally recognized research program; (b) foster active collaborations in research and teaching within the Faculty of Land and Food Systems (LFS); and (c) teach courses related to human nutrition at the graduate and undergraduate level in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems.

Applications must be made through the University of British Columbia’s Human Resources online careers page: https://ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/ubcfacultyjobs/jobs/details/Assistant-or-Associate-Professor-in-Nutrition-and-Healthy-Aging_JR11410

Applicants should submit one combined PDF file including: (1) cover letter; (2) curriculum vitae; (3) contact information of three references; (4) statement describing five-year research plan (1-2 pages); (5) statement of teaching philosophy with evidence of potential for effective teaching (1-2 pages); and (6) statement identifying a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion (up to 1 page). To ensure full consideration, applications must be received by June 1, 2023; however, this position will remain open until a suitable candidate is identified. If you have specific questions about the application process, please contact the Chair of the Selection Committee c/o melanie.train@ubc.ca.

Applicants are also asked to complete the following equity survey. The survey information will not be used to determine eligibility for employment, but will be collated to provide data that can assist us in understanding the diversity of our applicant pool, identify potential barriers to the employment of designated equity group members, and comply with our hiring practices. Your participation in the survey is voluntary and confidential. Data collected through this survey will be held by the Dean’s office and will only be shared at the aggregate level with the hiring committee. Link: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6KyWad5iZqX6kmi

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority.

Tagged with: , ,

Tagged with , ,
Categories: Job Postings

Assistant Professor in Human Nutrition

February 3, 2023

Assistant Professor in Human Nutrition

Posted February 3, 2023

The Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada (lfs-ps-2023.sites.olt.ubc.ca) is seeking an outstanding candidate for a full-time, tenure track position at the rank of Assistant Professor within the Food, Nutrition and Health Program in the Human Nutrition group (https://lfs-ps-2023.sites.olt.ubc.ca/research/lfs-research-centres-groups/human-nutrition-group/). The anticipated start date is January 1, 2024.

Applicants must have a Ph.D. in nutrition or related area, supplemented with postdoctoral or equivalent experience. Candidates must demonstrate potential for outstanding research with relevance to human nutrition in areas such as clinical nutrition, nutritional biochemistry, or public health nutrition. Applicants must also demonstrate strong potential for excellence in teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and the ability to complement the current teaching programs. As described in its Action Plan, the Faculty of Land and Food Systems uses student-centered learning to educate new generations of scientists equipped to solve the most fundamental issues faced by society (https://lfs-ps-2023.sites.olt.ubc.ca/action-plan/).

The successful candidate will be expected to (a) develop an independent, externally funded, and internationally recognized research program; (b) foster active collaborations in research and teaching within the Faculty of Land and Food Systems (LFS); and (c) teach courses related to human nutrition at the graduate and undergraduate level in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems.

Applications must be made through the University of British Columbia’s Human Resources online careers page: https://ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/ubcfacultyjobs/details/Assistant-Professor-in-Human-Nutrition_JR11408

Applicants should submit one combined PDF file including: (1) cover letter; (2) curriculum vitae; (3) contact information of three references; (4) statement describing five-year research plan (1-2 pages); (5) statement of teaching philosophy with evidence of potential for effective teaching (1-2 pages); and (6) statement identifying a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion (up to 1 page). To ensure full consideration, applications must be received by May 1, 2023; however, this position will remain open until a suitable candidate is identified. If you have specific questions about the application process, please contact the Chair of the Selection Committee c/o melanie.train@ubc.ca.

Applicants are also asked to complete the following equity survey. The survey information will not be used to determine eligibility for employment, but will be collated to provide data that can assist us in understanding the diversity of our applicant pool, identify potential barriers to the employment of designated equity group members, and comply with our hiring practices. Your participation in the survey is voluntary and confidential. Data collected through this survey will be held by the Dean’s office and will only be shared at the aggregate level with the hiring committee. Link: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_40yeQKAXqCBtRQy

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority.

Tagged with: ,

Tagged with ,
Categories: Job Postings

Researchers call for caution on agricultural pesticides

February 2, 2023

Researchers call for caution on agricultural pesticides

Risa Sargent
Risa Sargent

Feb. 2, 2023 – Common pesticides used in agriculture could be impacting organisms in unexpected ways through their ecological interactions.

A recent publication by UBC researchers says regulators need to carefully review the impact of common pesticides and take steps to reduce them until their impact on the ecosystem—including pollinators, animals, waterways, etc.,—is more fully understood.

The review, titled Common pesticides disrupt critical ecological interactions, is online and will be in the March 2023 print issue of Trends in Ecology and Evolution. Bringing together some current research on pesticides, the review was a collaboration by Risa Sargent, associate professor and Juli Carrillo, assistant professor in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, and Claire Kremen, a professor in the Faculty of Science.

We asked Dr. Sargent to provide some insights.

What were the key findings?

This is a review paper where we describe concerning evidence that pesticides can indirectly impact critical ecosystem functions such as pollination, biological control and mutualistic fungal associations, causing unexpected downstream effects for agriculture and aquaculture, among other things.

What did the research team find surprising in the results?

Most people are aware that pesticides can directly affect non-target organisms, such as bees and birds. However, their ability to cause serious, negative downstream effects, such as a collapse of a fishery in Japan, are surprising.

In one case, a lake in Japan’s Shimane Prefecture has seen its commercial harvest of smelt fish collapse by more than 90 per cent since 1993, when insecticides known as neonicotinoids were first introduced to the area. It just so happens that zooplankton—the tiny creatures in the water that fish feed on—declined by 83 per cent during the same period.

Similarly, most people think of herbicides as mainly impacting weeds, which is their main intention. However, new research supports the idea that they can interrupt critical gut microbial communities, making animals sick or changing their behaviour or reproduction.

In regards to microbiomes, how do pesticides impact animals?

Several recent papers have come forward showing that gut microbial communities are changed following pesticide exposure. It’s not entirely clear why, but it’s likely that gut biota are reduced by some pesticides, altering the community.

Do pesticides impact humans?

We know that some compounds impact human gut microbiota communities, sometimes severely – antibiotics are a good example. This type of research is difficult to do in humans because exposing them to pesticides to explore changes to their gut microbiota would be unethical. At the same time, humans live in complex environments and pinpointing pesticides as a driver of living gut microbial communities would be nearly impossible. In insect systems we can do experiments that are not possible in humans.

What is the biggest concern you have, given what you learned from the review?

The area of agricultural land treated with pesticides in Canada has increased dramatically in recent decades. At the same time, the legislation that governs pesticide application in Canada is not keeping up with current research. For example, at this point we do not consider broader ecological implications of pesticide use in the Pest Control Act. The Act does not currently align with our Species at Risk Act, making it difficult, for example, to regulate pesticides in order to conserve species at risk, such as Monarch Butterflies or threatened bumblebees, such as the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee. This is in spite of the fact that pesticides are major contributors to the decline of these endangered species.

Do you have any recommendations on what you’d like to see happen?

I would like to see a few steps taken in Canada that I can summarize as follows.

  1. Data on potential downstream ecological impacts, such as those on microbiomes, pollinators, birds and invertebrate communities, should be considered before a pesticide is allowed to be released. Cumulative assessments should be performed on all existing and potential pesticides, as most pesticides are applied together with a number of different formulas and compounds (e.g., fungicides, insecticidal seed coats are increasingly being used on our most common crops).
  2. Canada should follow the recommendations of the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy and reduce pesticide use and risk by 50% by 2030.
  3. Canada should require risk assessments of species at risk and their habitats and ban the use of pesticides in protected areas.
  4. Canada should collect and make available data on pesticide use across agricultural lands, including neonicotinoid seed coats applications, for which we currently have very little data on application rates and areas. There is almost no usable Canadian data available for research, making pesticide impacts very difficult to study in Canada (this is in contrast to the U.S., which keeps very good detailed records of application rates by county). Most of our recommendations for Canada can only be extrapolated from U.S data.

Read the review here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016953472200310X?via%3Dihub

Tagged with: , ,

Tagged with , ,
Categories: News

Paul Molund

January 25, 2023

Paul Molund

About

Degree & Grad YearPhD, 1985
MajorFood Science

To celebrate his 2023 Alumni Builder Award, we checked in with Paul Molund, an alumnus who is one of many amazing volunteers who give back to the Faculty.

For more than 12 years, Paul has served as a mentor and inspiration for Land and Food Systems (LFS) students and alumni to be an active part of their community and strengthen their ties to the faculty and UBC. Paul’s generosity, compassion and insight has guided many students through critical career choices and his excellence in mentoring is activating and energizing the next generation of LFS mentors.

Congratulations on receiving a 2023 Alumni Builder Award. How do you feel?

I am extremely delighted and humbled to receive this award. It has been a great honour to be part of other people’s lives and help guide and encourage them to reach further, to achieve their dreams. It has given me a renewed sense of purpose and makes me that much happier to get up in the morning and live my life more fully.

What motivates you to volunteer?

There are many reasons that I like to volunteer. To see the look on people’s faces, when they have somebody who actually listens to them, encourages them and is cheerleader for their life’s journey . I try to give them a safe space to talk, and think about possibilities without being judged. I’ve never been a parent, and not having had kids, I don’t talk to them like a parent; I talk to them as if I’m meeting a friend.

My main motivation for volunteering is that I lost my wife fifteen years ago, and so it’s in her memory that I am inspired to help others. It was a very tough thing, losing her. So not only did I feel that I was helping other people, but I was helping myself.

Are there other ways that you feel you benefit by volunteering?

I feel that I’m getting more effective as a volunteer, able to better connect with people and gain better results for their outcome. I’ve mentored more than 100 people: professional people, people in university, people who have graduated, and I’ve helped them in their life journey. It has been really rewarding, and is one of my life’s purpose. It’s a great reason why I get up in the morning, with a smile, and think, “who can I help today?”

What is one message you would like to share with students about how they can prepare for the world of work?

I want them to look more deeply, to expand their comfort zone and apply for jobs and experiences that will open up possibilities to achieving their dreams. I’ve been mentoring about twelve years now, and have noticed many women don’t have confidence in themselves, yet they are just amazing!!! I try to help them see their strengths and encourage them to apply for the jobs they really want, and be their best cheerleader that I know how to be. I support them to think positively about their abilities and what they bring to the world. And I think it’s really been life-changing for many of them.

How did you envision your own career journey would be when you started university?

When I was in my early 20s, I had a sense of where my life was going to go, and so I had these visions of what my future might become. And I can say that almost none of it came true—[laughing] almost nothing! Not the way that I ever perceived that it would be. However, it turned out really, really wonderful! I mean, I have no regrets. I probably could have done many things differently, and better. But the reality is, the way that my life has unfolded for the things I could control was all good.

How did that career journey actually take off?

I wanted to be a professor, and that’s why I did a PhD at UBC in Food Science. I was one year behind Rickey [Dean Rickey Yada]. So we both did our PhDs together, but Rickey ended up doing the career that I thought I was going to be doing, and I ended up doing food product development for two years, taught at BCIT, worked for Health Canada, and then worked for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

What is something that you are proud of that you have accomplished in your career?

As a Federal food inspector, doing an audit, most companies are afraid of you because you have the power to shut them down. But my style of inspection was to wear my “education hat” about 90% of the time; more than my “enforcement hat”. After the first 10 minutes, the companies realized that I’m actually there to help them, and improve the quality and safety of the Canadian Food supply. Over the years, I had many, many companies phone me to advise them. I had their confidence, so I was able to work with them to help improve the quality and safety of the food supply in Canada.

I also spent a lot of time in Asia, helping to educate food industry, government and universities on how to produce safer food for their citizens and for export to other countries.

And finally, what advice would give to encourage alumni to become mentors?

Being a mentor has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have had in my life. To be an integral part of other people’s lives and witness their journey as an observer and participant is fulfilling on every level. To see someone you have helped achieve success and know that you have a been a small part in helping to change the world towards a more positive future is a great feeling.

I tell everyone of my students that I am a mentor as a volunteer. My only hope is that they themselves will become a mentor someday to help others.

Tagged with: , ,

Tagged with , ,
Categories: News, Profile Alumni, Profiles

Message from the Dean for LFS Community Connects: January 2023

January 23, 2023

Message from the Dean for LFS Community Connects: January 2023

Dean Rickey Yada

Welcome to a new year, a fresh start for many people.

As we start the year I would like to say a huge thank you to all our alumni who volunteer and mentor, our donors who continue to support our student scholarships and research, our global community who stay connected and share our successes and stories – LFS couldn’t do it without you.

At LFS, I’m excited by the large projects that are underway and soon to be completed!

First off, the UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre, which first opened in 1997 in Agassiz, B.C., is undergoing major renovations. The team in Agassiz are overseeing the installation of robotic milkers and building upgrades, which are slated for completion this spring. Once done, the dairy centre will become the largest robotic milking research site in North America.

This will allow UBC to expand into research enabled by big data collection, providing new insights into animal welfare, animal reproduction and other areas. As we have a strong track record of sharing our findings, this enables us to mobilize new knowledge with the dairy industry, and those in the community.

Another large project is the Food and Beverage Innovation Centre (FBIC), which has just started construction on the UBC Vancouver campus. The FBIC will support B.C. food companies, entrepreneurs and members of the B.C. Food Hub Network in advancing food technology and being more competitive in the marketplace.

Led by Dr. Anubhav Pratap-Singh, who holds the UBC Food and Beverage Innovation Professorship, the FBIC will promote advances in food technology, safety, security and sustainability of local supply chains. The FBIC will be opening next year – you can learn more here and sign up to hear updates.

The last project that I will mention is a new big data lab to be shared by two LFS researchers – Drs. Mahsa Jessri and Frederik Noack. More LFS research programs are relying on artificial intelligence (AI) insights that can arise from the collection and analysis of big data.

Dr. Jessri works at the intersection of nutritional sciences and population and public health. She is using AI to model how Canadians’ health outcomes could be impacted by food policy and nutritional guidelines, with the goal of reducing the burden of chronic diseases. Dr. Noack is a researcher in food and resource economics. He is using big data compiled from citizen science, e.g., ebird, satellite images, and other satellite technologies to track environmental changes, and therefore, creating new opportunities for environmental economics research.

I wish each of you a wonderful year ahead and hope to visit with many of you in person.

Sincerely,

Rickey Yada

Dean and Professor

Tagged with: , , , ,

Tagged with , , , ,
Categories: News

Jason Pang

January 20, 2023

Jason Pang

About

 Undergraduate Student
DegreeBachelor of Science in Global Resource Systems
MajorCustomized for GRS students
HometownRichmond, BC, Canada

Jason is passionate about learning how environmental, social, and corporate governance principles can help transition businesses to a greener economy, and has been able to lay the academic foundation for this pursuit through his studies in the Bachelor of Science in Global Resource Systems. Not only has his learning shaped his UBC experience, he has also found community by getting involved in Faculty events, such as LFS Firsts events in first-year, and now as a Residence Advisor.

What are three adjectives that describe you?

Passionate, ambitious and tall

What advice would you give new students to help them make the transition from high school to university?

First-year students in LFS are required to take a communication course such as LFS 150 (Scholarly Writing and Argumentation) or WRDS 150 (Writing and Research). I personally found the expectations for academic writing in university to be much different than what I was used to coming out of high school. Fortunately, I was able to find writing support through the UBC Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication. There, I received evidence-based writing consultations which supported my writing through feedback from a broader perspective of the discipline.

What does a typical week look like for you during the school year?

I have classes Monday to Thursday usually from 9:30-3:30. In between my classes I will have lunch with friends, go to the gym, or find a quiet place on campus to study. After 3:30 I spend the rest of the afternoon working on some projects for work or I will have meetings scheduled with my teammates to discuss future club events. Having a 4-day class schedule allows me to relax during Fridays and weekends where I spend my free time exploring new restaurants around Vancouver, take a stroll down Pacific Spirit Regional Park, or head back to Richmond to spend quality time with family.

How are you involved outside of your academics at UBC?

Outside of academics at UBC, I joined different clubs and student groups to make new friends and contribute back to the campus community. During my first year I joined the Land and Food Systems Undergraduate Society (LFS|US) which acts similarly to a high school student council for the students studying in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems. LFS|US organizes events and is committed to building a sense of community amongst LFS students. I was even honored to be the elected President for LFS|US from 2021-2022!

Interested in studying in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems? Learn more here!

Tagged with: , ,

Tagged with , ,
Categories: Profile Undergraduate, Profiles

Addressing community needs in the food system

January 17, 2023

Addressing community needs in the food system

To advance goals important to our surrounding communities, UBC’s Partnership Recognition and Exploration (PRE) fund has awarded 47 community-university initiatives.

Three Faculty of Land and Food Systems initiatives received funds of up to $1500 through PRE to work with these community partners: Watari Counselling and Support Services; ARC Arts Roots and Culture Community Society; and, FarmFolk CityFolk Society.

Each partner is addressing a unique need in the B.C. food system.

Tabitha Robin Martens

Stephanie Lim, Community Relations Coordinator, Faculty of Land and Food Systems

Watari Counselling and Support Services

Watari supports people experiencing marginalization in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and the surrounding communities, through youth and community programs, and through counselling.

The new UBC project builds on an existing collaboration: Watari staff members will continue mentoring UBC students around the challenges and opportunities of working in contexts of high adversity and in turn, Watari participants learn about nutrition and meal planning. This new project supports Watari in creating early childhood nutrition resources for parents with precarious immigration status.

“Watari works with community members facing multiple barriers to health, safety, and belonging,” says project lead Stephanie Lim, Community Relations Coordinator in land and food systems.

“The programs connect participants with resources and supports, and this work is rooted in principles of justice, and relationships of trust. I deeply appreciate Watari’s willingness to mentor our students around both skills and values, and it’s great that LFS students are able to contribute to Watari’s goals in return.”

Since 2021, Watari has partnered with students in UBC’s Food, Nutrition and Health 473 course (Applied Public Health Nutrition). To date, students have developed menu plans for Watari’s meal programs serving residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and developed guidelines for nutritional and culturally appropriate emergency food kits for Watari’s membership (3-day kits tailored for seniors, pregnant people, children, and others).

UBC students have learned to advance Watari’s organizational philosophy, which includes the provision of trauma-informed services, recognition of individuals’ innate capabilities and desire for wellness, and the rights of individuals to make informed choices.

Tabitha Robin Martens

Camil Dumont, Education Manager, Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (CSFS) at UBC Farm

ARC Arts Roots and Culture Community Society – Freedom Farm School

Freedom Farm School is a program run through ARC Arts Roots and Culture Community Society. It supports Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) elementary-aged youth in developing meaningful relationships with the land, as colonization and systemic racism in the food system have resulted in BIPOC communities lacking equitable access to food.
This project enables youth to visit UBC Farm at the Vancouver campus, to learn skills related to growing food, foraging, crafting natural plant medicines, survival skills, fire tending, cooking and environmental stewardship.

Leading this project is Camil Dumont, Education Manager, Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (CSFS) at UBC Farm.

“The group of parent volunteers and instructors at ARC are working to better the education options for kids in our community. Many learners benefit from instructional models and options that are outside the dominant educational K-12 paradigm,” says Dumont.

“ARC intentionally centres Black and Indigenous knowledge and experience in its pedagogical approach. It is a project of active community building, love, respect and equity. Providing a degree of support in partnership through the CSFS and land/infrastructure access for the betterment of this project is a great privilege. We are lucky to share our space with these folks.”

Youth will have the chance to play and explore the land, and recognize it as a place of safety and a place where they belong.

Freedom Farm School helps offers safe and inclusive access to farmlands and forests. Dumont hopes to provide access to Indigenous wisdoms regarding the land, and provide interactive education about other relevant African and agricultural practices as a means of developing a sense of cultural pride.

Solveig Hanson, former Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (CSFS) at UBC Farm

FarmFolk CityFolk Society

This project was led by Solveig Hanson, former Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UBC Farm’s Centre for Sustainable Food Systems.

Through her work with the Canadian Organic Vegetable Improvement Project (CANOVI), Hanson partnered with FarmFolk CityFolk Society to promote and support farmers in organic vegetable seed production, a sector still in its infancy in B.C.

“Over the life of the 5-year project, CANOVI engaged over 150 Canadian organic farmers in trialling carrot, pepper, radicchio, and rutabaga varieties on their farms,” says Hanson.

“Farmers tell us that they benefit from seeing how varieties do in their particular conditions, comparing their observations with aggregated trial results, and being part of a grower network interested in seed security and seed sovereignty.”

CANOVI and FarmFolk CityFolk want to create a resilient organic seed sector serving the needs of B.C. organic vegetable farmers and seed growers. Funding through PRE promoted their work and supported farmers by engaging the public through programs and events, including tasting trials where the flavour of different varieties were rated.

Data gathered through public tasting events helps to inform future plant breeding projects and builds a knowledge base around consumer preference for vegetables varieties.

Read about all funded projects in 2022 by visiting UBC’s Office of Community Engagement.

Tagged with: , , , , ,

Tagged with , , , , ,
Categories: News

Exploring land-based relationships with a fresh view

January 10, 2023

Exploring land-based relationships with a fresh view

Understanding the climate and nature emergency from different perspectives is the goal of the Catalyst Collaboration Fund offered by the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies (PWIAS). This year, 10 UBC researchers – including two from Land and Food Systems – received funds of up to $10,000 to support their collaborative projects, knowledge translation and mobilization initiatives related to the climate and nature emergency.

Congrats to all recipients! Here’s a highlight of the Land and Food Systems-led projects, which explore land-based relationships in a unique way.

Tabitha Robin Martens

Tabitha Robin Martens

Indigenous care for the land

Assistant Professor Tabitha Robin Martens received funds for her project titled Caring for the Land: Indigenous Defenders, Guardians, Seed Keepers and Love.

She will be working with Stephanie Lin, an ISLFS (Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems) master’s student, to explore how Indigenous guardians, watchmen, protectors, and seed keepers express their love and care for the lands of British Columbia. A storytelling methodology will highlight the experiences and motivations of these caretakers, especially in the face of climate change, resource extraction and racism. Challenging common narratives of damage-centered research, Robin’s work foregrounds the importance of community-based actions of love and care for the land, rather than focussing only on the impacts of climate change on the land and communities.

“There are few Indigenous conceptions of care and love for the land, in the literature,” says Robin. “I am a seed keeper and run a seed library in Treaty One/homeland of the Manitoba Metis Nation, which has given me insight into grassroots approaches of caring for the land. I hope this leads to a larger project across Turtle Island and we can better understand Indigenous Nations’ conceptions of care and articulate the importance of people who care for the land. These are invaluable roles within Indigenous food systems.”

Robin plans to use an Indigenous research paradigm in this project. Her work is rooted in the richness and complexities of Indigenous food practices, as she seeks to rebuild traditional food systems.

Trail use impacts on grizzly bears

Sumeet Gulati

Professor Sumeet Gulati’s funded project is Causal Impacts of Human-Trail Use on Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Grizzly Bear Detections in the South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park, B.C.

Through the Catalyst Collaboration Fund, Gulati will create a new research partnership with BC Parks and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to study how human activity may impact the movement patterns of grizzly bears.

James Vercammen

Gulati, who researches environmental and resource economics, will work on this project with UBC Professor James Vercammen and PhD student Maithili Devadas. Gulati’s current research is on the economics of wildlife conservation, with a focus on human-wildlife conflict.

“We are interested in how recreational tourism in BC impacts wildlife,” says Gulati. “Further, our lab is working on the economics of human-wildlife conflict in India, and this seemed like an obvious application of our expertise to an issue close to all of us in British Columbia.”

Interested in Food and Resource Economics (FRE) research? Check out the website here!

Tagged with: , , , , ,

Tagged with , , , , ,
Categories: News, Research

Sean Smukler to lead UBC Farm’s CSFS

January 2, 2023

Sean Smukler to lead UBC Farm’s CSFS

Sean Smukler

Associate Professor Sean Smukler is Director of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (CSFS) at UBC Farm as of Jan. 1, 2023. He will take over from Dean Rickey Yada, who was interim Director for the past two years.

Smukler is excited to start in this position and is already well-acquainted with the CSFS’s research, teaching and outreach activities, as he’s been a CSFS Associate member since joining the Faculty of Land and Food Systems in 2012.

His research focusses on agricultural landscapes in B.C., as well as in various locations in the developing world, to assess management options on agricultural land that maximize biodiversity and the availability of ecosystem services. Smukler currently serves on the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Food’s Advisory Group on Regenerative Agriculture and Agritech (RAA), and he holds the UBC Chair, Agriculture and the Environment.

For the Faculty, Smukler recently served as the Associate Dean, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Smukler has transitioned those duties to Professor Sumeet Gulati. Gulati teaches in the Food and Resource Economics program in LFS, and his research involves the economics of urban transportation and the economics of wildlife conservation.

Tagged with: , ,

Tagged with , ,
Categories: News

25 Year Club: Dairy Education and Research Centre Staff

December 1, 2022

25 Year Club: Dairy Education and Research Centre Staff

animal welfare pig

Congratulations to these staff members for being inducted into UBC’s 25 Year Club! Bill Kramer (2nd from left), Bradley Duncan (3rd from left) and Barry Thompson (4th from left) – all three are Farm Workers at the Dairy Education and Research Centre in Agassiz, B.C. Standing next to them are Ronaldo Cerri, Director of the Dairy Centre and Nelson Dinn (far right), Associate Director.

The UBC 25 Year Club was established in 1971 by President Walter Gage to recognize non-faculty staff with 25 years of uninterrupted or accumulated service. Learn more about the 25 Year Club here.

Bill Kramer

For the past 25 years, Bill has been invaluable to the smooth operations of research equipment at the Dairy Centre. He helps numerous students and scholars that pass through the Dairy Centre each year.

Bradley Duncan

Bradley has been a key team player at the Dairy Centre for over a quarter century. His ability to recognize potential issues with the herd has helped the Dairy Centre adhere to high standards of animal care.

Barry Thompson

Barry has been a part of the Dairy Centre family since the beginning of operations in Agassiz. He brings a solution-minded approach to problems that has been vital to the Dairy Centre through the years.

Tagged with: , ,

Tagged with , ,
Categories: News