Investing in student success
±«ÓãÖ±²¥ students have proven time and time again that they are some of the most creative, versatile and adaptive people in their approach to solving problems, and they’re using knowledge acquired in and outside of the classroom to generate innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing issues.
UBC names Buszard Interim Vice-President and Chancellor
Former Dean of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Associate Vice-Principal of ±«ÓãÖ±²¥â€™s Macdonald Campus, 1996-2005, and founding Dean of the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ School of Environment, 2008, Dr. Deborah Buszard has been appointed to Interim Vice-President and Chancellor at the University of British Columbia.
Read more in the UBC Broadcast
Funding brings groundbreaking ideas to life
School of Human Nutrition alumni Bianca Loge, BSc(NutrSc)’20, Kristen Sunstrum, BSc(NutrSc)’21, and Zoey Li, BSc(NutrSc)’17, reminisce about the unique extracurricular opportunities made possible by the Student Experience Enhancement Fund, and the host of real-world skills they acquired that they’ve since gone on to apply to their blossoming careers.
Filmmaker Alex Pritz focuses on human relationship with the natural world
In August, documentary filmmaker Alex Pritz, BSc(AgEnvSc)’13 – BSE has released his award-winning National Geographic documentary The Territory which “provides an immersive on-the-ground look at the tireless fight of the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against the encroaching deforestation brought by farmers and illegal settlers in the Brazilian Amazon.â€
Made by hands-on learning: Jennifer Dumoulin
Focus on Macdonald sat down with alum Jennifer Dumoulin, BSc(AgEnvSc)’11 Environmental Biology, to ask a few questions about her student experiences that led to a successful career as an environmental manager.
Read more in Focus on Macdonald
Building agricultural capacity in Quebec
In the 1960s, only about three percent of the land in Quebec was suitable for cultivation. The Province’s population and need for food outstripped the yield from Quebec farms. More than half of Quebec’s most fertile lands required improved water management – either better drainage or supplemental irrigation to maximize productivity and yield.
Langwieder: Boating around James Bay to collect polar bear hair
Researcher Alexandra Langwieder (PhD candidate NRS/Humphries) spent her summer boating over 1200 kilometres around James Bay, setting up hair snares and camera stations to keep an eye on a unique population of polar bears. Listen to the story on the season opener of CBC’s Quirks and Quarks.CFI invests $3.9 M in ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ research
Prof. Daiva Nielson (SHN) has received funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund (CFI JELF) to establish the Sensometric Lab to investigate what influences human eating behaviour, for example, genetic predispositions, the role of price promotions and advertising, as well as other sensory stimuli, like smell.
Spiders caught in a web of Internet lies
It’s no secret that the internet and social media fuel rampant spread of misinformation in many areas of life. A collective of researchers, including Catherine Scott, Postdoctoral Fellow in ±«ÓãÖ±²¥â€™s Lyman Lab, have explored this phenomenon as it applies to news about spiders. The verdict?
Killer Whales invading the Arctic – unlocking secrets from their blubber
Killer whale populations are invading the Arctic, creating major disruptions to an ecosystem already severely impacted by climate change.
A blueprint for life on MARS
Lost Hammer Spring, in Nunavut in Canada’s High Arctic, is one of the coldest and saltiest terrestrial springs discovered to date. The water which travels up through 600 metres of permafrost to the surface is extremely salty (~24% salinity), perennially at sub-zero temperatures (~−5 °C) and contains almost no oxygen (<1ppm dissolved oxygen). The very high salt concentrations keep the Lost Hammer spring from freezing, thus maintaining a liquid water habitat even at sub-zero temperatures.
Spring 2022 Convocation wraps up at Macdonald Campus
±«ÓãÖ±²¥â€™s Spring 2022 Convocation began on an overcast day on May 26th, with graduating Health Sciences students accepting their degrees under the Convocation Tent downtown. The 2022 festivities came to a close June 3rd, a glorious sunny day, at the Centennial Centre on Macdonald Campus with two ceremonies for students graduating from the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
These were ±«ÓãÖ±²¥â€™s first in-person Spring Convocation ceremonies since 2019.
For the love of family… and farming
On Friday, June 3rd, Joe Harrel accepted his Farm Management and Technology (FMT) diploma during Spring 2022 Convocation ceremonies for the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Unlike many members of the Class of 2022, however, Harrel will not be seeking employment upon graduation. Truth of the matter is, he is already gainfully employed.
200 years of ±«ÓãÖ±²¥â€™s Botanical history inspires Montreal artists
Two-hundred years ago, a young man frequented swamps, stream banks and thickets, collecting wild plants across what would become the urban core of the city of Montreal. He had recently returned home from Edinburgh, where he had gone to be receive medical training, learning there also techniques of drying and preserving plant specimens, botany and medicine then being sister-subjects.
Changing of the guard at Mac Campus Hort Centre
Although it may seem obvious that teaching and learning are at the core of the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ experience, it’s worth noting that these activities aren’t strictly happening in classrooms and labs, nor are they reserved for faculty and students. Rather, ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ staff can also be counted among this group of teachers and learners, many of whom have spent their careers acquiring knowledge, honing skills, and eventually imparting what they’ve learned on to those who will succeed them.