Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Problem Focused.
Curiosity Driven.
WE ARE...
a problem-focused and curiosity-driven interdisciplinary institute for research and learning. Our mission is to cultivate the knowledge, skills, and actions that will accelerate transitions to a sustainable and just world.
Graduate Program
News and Events
Featured Events See all
Climate Conversations UBC Botanical Garden | May 22, 8:45am to 4:45pm
IRES's Dr. Kai Chan will be one of the expert panelists speaking alongside Keynote Speaker Lisa Brideau, author of Adrift (winner of the 2024 Evergreen Award) and senior sustainability specialist with the City of Vancouver.
John P. Bell Global Indigenous Rights Lecture presents Dr. Dolly Kikon | March 13 5:30pm
The Woman who Became a Deer: Sacrifice and Salvation in the Indigenous World
In this talk, I present the Naga world through stories and focus on the web of connections about sacrifice and salvation. I invite you to meditate on knowledge, culture, and sustainability that are grounded in everyday lives of the Naga world. Far from romanticising Indigenous cultures as timeless, I draw attention to ongoing challenges such as extractive regime, structural violence, and inequality. Drawing from my ongoing engagements on repatriation, reconciliation, and redistribution, I offer some reflections about working together to humanize and care for one another, and dwell on Indigenous values as possible pathways of holding on to hope and healing during uncertain times.
-Dr. Dolly Kikon
News See all
Two global Frontiers Planet Prize winners call for a future of diversified farming
For James and Klassen, who were PhD students at IRES while contributing to the award-winning study, what matters most is what comes next. Will the world be willing to do the hard work of supporting farmers diversify their practices?
Rethinking agricultural data through a justice lens
Governments are increasingly asking farmers to share more data, especially around environmental concerns like nutrient management. And the private sector is racing ahead with new digital tools. But the question remains: who benefits?
