Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Problem Focused. Curiosity Driven.
WE ARE...
a problem-focused and curiosity-driven interdisciplinary research institute and graduate program, with interest and expertise in a wide range of topics under the realm of environment and sustainability.
Graduate Program
Research Themes
News and Events
Featured Event
-
January 23, 2020: IRES Faculty Seminar with Lenore Newman
When: 23rd Jan 2020 12:30:pm
Where:
The global environmental impact of rising consumption of animal products presents serious environmental challenges. One alternative is cellular agriculture: the production of animal products in-vitro. Such “clean meat” technologies promise improvements in environmental metrics, animal welfare, and human health. This discussion highlights research into the potential impact of cellular agriculture on the dairy industry; though cellular dairy could offer significant ecological benefits, these could be countered by intensification of agricultural activity in equatorial regions for the production of feedstocks for cellular agriculture. Using the concept of telecoupling, an umbrella concept that refers to socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances, this talk examines the policy landscape needed to prevent unequal distribution of the costs and benefits of alternatives to animal products.
Events See all
-
Events
January 23, 2020: IRES Faculty Seminar with Lenore Newman
When: 23rd Jan 2020 12:30:pm
Where:The global environmental impact of rising consumption of animal products presents serious environmental challenges. One alternative is cellular agriculture: the production of animal products in-vitro. Such “clean meat” technologies promise improvements in environmental metrics, animal welfare, and human health. This discussion highlights research into the potential impact of cellular agriculture on the dairy industry; though cellular dairy could offer significant ecological benefits, these could be countered by intensification of agricultural activity in equatorial regions for the production of feedstocks for cellular agriculture. Using the concept of telecoupling, an umbrella concept that refers to socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances, this talk examines the policy landscape needed to prevent unequal distribution of the costs and benefits of alternatives to animal products.
-
Events
January 30, 2020: IRES Professional Development Seminar with Steve Chignell and Erika Luna
When: 30th Jan 2020 12:30:pm
Where:Scholarly publishing is in crisis. A handful of corporations own most of the world’s top academic journals, making as much as 37% profit from library subscriptions, paywalls, and the volunteered time of researchers. Publishers have also found new ways of monetizing open access, as scholars seeking to make their results open to the public pay thousands of dollars for each paper published without a paywall. Meanwhile, companies have developed a suite of metrics that are now being sold to universities as a way to ‘track impact’ and boost rankings. This increases the pressure to publish, spurring the proliferation of hundreds of new journals of varying quality. This seminar will describe how we got here and how you, as scholars and authors, can navigate this complex system. It will then open into a discussion exploring potential alternatives and challenges to realizing them.
News See all
News
Don’t demonise farmers
Posted on December 9, 2019 by chee yang tang
Balsher Singh Sidhu, a PhD student at UBC's Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, wrote an article about agricultural burning and air pollution in North India.
News
2019/2020 Canada Graduate Scholarships-Doctoral (CGS D) Program Award Recipient: Jo Fitzgibbons
Posted on November 6, 2019 by mina phaisaltantiwongs
Congratulations to Jo Fitzgibbons, a 2019/2020 recipient of the Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral (CGS D) program! About the Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral (CGS D) Program: The objective of the Canada Graduate Scholarships-Doctoral (CGS D) Program is to promote continued excellence in Canadian research by rewarding and retaining high-calibre doctoral students at Canadian institutions. By providing […]