Below are news items from the UBC IRES community.
New book from Stephanie Chang: Legacy in the Landscape
Discover how urban growth drives disaster risk. This accessible book links tech, economy, and landscape with hazards, using a new Urban Risk Dynamics framework and six global cities to guide better planning.
Q&A with Vicky Lucas on the private sector at COP30
With COP30 in full swing, IRES Master’s student Vicky Lucas wants us to watch the attendee list as closely as the agenda.
TA Opportunity for UBC Course: ASIC 220
This is an introductory course to provide a comprehensive introduction to sustainability from a science, economics, and societal perspective.
IRES’s Kate Reynolds situates Palestinian identity within relationships to plants, place and food
Reynolds's work on Palestinian displacement and ecological identity takes memory from the abstract into the sensory, exploring how taste and smell bring land and people closer together.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Transforming Chemical Risk Management with Indigenous Expertise
The candidate will work under the supervision of Dr. Amanda Giang, with supervisory support from Dr. Susan Chiblow, and Dr. Élyse Caron-Beaudoin, on a subproject linking Indigenous experiences on chemicals policy development across scales.
Meet the Canadian Aiding Trump’s ‘Insane’ War on Climate Science
Curious in how climate scientists are responding to Ross McKitrick contributing to Trump administration studies? Dr. Simon Donner's response is featured in DeSmog saying, “I cannot state enough how insane it is that the same old debunked arguments from the same old debunked individuals are actually emerging in the year 2025."
Water companies under fire after shocking surge in dangerous incidents: ‘Continued systemic failure’
Dr. David Boyd is featured in The Cool Down for his insights on a new report from the U.K. Environment Agency has found that water company pollution incidents rose across England in 2024.
How ‘eco improv’ can help manage climate anxiety
Anaïs Pronovost-Morgan and Samantha Blackwell are featured in CBC for their workshop on 'eco improv'. While it won't fix the climate crisis, it can create community and spaces to empower people
Is your dog keeping Swiss Re’s underwriters up at night?
When asked to rank a range of lifestyle choices - from flying to recycling - by their climate impact. The results were sobering: most people failed to identify the most carbon-intensive actions, while overestimating the significance of lower-impact habits. Dr. Jiaying Zhao is featured in Insurance Business, explaining why and how this can happen.
Emily Shilton, IRES alumna, sounds alarm on vaping as Canada’s “addictive e-waste problem”
Shilton's research reveals how nicotine vaping devices—small, battery-powered electronics—are slipping through regulatory cracks, causing serious environmental concerns.
As the World Confronts Climate Change, the US Leaves Our Future Behind
Former and current UN special rapporteurs David Boyd and Elisa Morgera are featured in The Nation, noting that a recent opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights fails to call directly for broad fossil fuel phaseout.
3 PhD & 2 Postdoc positions at UCLouvain with former IRES visiting prof Patrick Meyfroidt
Announcing positions at UCLouvain in collab with IRES's Navin Ramankutty! Examining land use and democratic backsliding via cross-country studies + cases in Europe, Canada (northern BC & AB, YT & NT), Mozambique.
World’s top court paves way for climate reparations
"The court's clear and detailed articulation of state obligations will be a catalyst for accelerated climate action and unprecedented accountability," Dr. David Boyd responds to the International Court of Justice's historic statement that climate change is an urgent and existential threat and countries have a legal duty to prevent harm from their planet-warming pollution in France 24.
Want a Carbon Fix? It’s Closer than You Think
Carbon sequestration solutions like kelp and forests do more than just capture carbon. Dr. Kai Chan is featured in the Tyee for his advice on the benefits carbon sequestration can have on both animals and overall ecosystems
Jiaying Zhao helps people enjoy protecting the planet
Can we make meaningful climate action feel happy instead of miserable? Dr. Jiaying Zhao answers this and more in the American Psychological Association.
How a lottery-style refund system could boost recycling
Dr. Jiaying Zhao and Jade Radke are featured in the Conversation for their innovative study to increase recycling rates through a green lottery. If done right, offering a chance to win a higher amount of money for recycling can meaningfully increase recycling rates, contribute to a circular economy and allow people to choose the refund option that works best for them.
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?
This is a climate election
Dr. Simon Donner is featured in the analysis of the main party platforms on climate change seems to suggest that emissions would continue a gradual decline under a Mark Carney government, but not under one run by Pierre Poilievre.
Farm-diversification research wins high kudos
An international group of researchers, including IRES alum and current faculty, are named U.S. national champions of the Frontiers Planet Prize for research that finds environmental and social benefits of agricultural diversification.
Q&A: How maritime experts are charting a course to cut emissions by 40% per shipment by 2030
While international shipping accounts for over 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, there’s optimistic news emerging from the experts working to decarbonize this critical sector. According to a new study by IRES’s Imranul Laskar, Dr. Hadi Dowlatabadi and Dr. Amanda Giang, many experts in the shipping sector are confident in the possibility of meeting short-term […]
Solid Carbon receiving $24 million to advance ocean-based carbon dioxide removal
Dr. Terre Satterfield is co-leading a $24-million initiative over six years through the Government of Canada’s NFRF to advance the Solid Carbon research project—one of the most promising ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) initiatives of the modern era to combat the climate crisis.
$22 million awarded to Indigenous-led and multi-institutional research project for Indigenous and community-based approaches to chemical risk management
IRES has partnered with 20 researchers and collaborators from Canada and Aotearoa (New Zealand) on a large international research initiative that puts Indigenous experts as leaders in designing how chemical risk is evaluated and managed.
The age of extinction – Why fear of billion-dollar lawsuits stops countries phasing out fossil fuels
A UN report by Dr. David Boyd has been featured in the Guardian to explain how companies can sue governments for closing oilfields and mines – and this risk of huge damages is already stopping countries from passing green laws!
Job Posting: Associate Professor, Faculty of Education
The Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences and IRES invite applications for the position of Assistant Professor (tenure track) of Teaching in Environmental Science.
Extreme weather puts pressure on fruit and vegetable costs and supply | CBC
Climate change is causing more heat domes and deep freezes, and as the CBC's Camille Vernet explains extreme weather affects food prices and supply.
The Growing Movement to Buy Local | CTV News
Canada Food Flows Co-creator, Navin Ramankutty discusses the growing movement to buy local on CTV Morning Live.
UK failing to match EU in fight against ‘forever chemicals’, say scientists
The UK government responds to a letter from 59 experts, including IRES's Gunilla Öberg, which called for wide-ranging restrictions on “forever chemicals”.
Here’s how a scarcity mindset forms—and how to overcome it
Dr. Jiaying Zhao spoke about scarcity mindset.
Have a very sustainable Christmas: 5 tips from the experts
UBC researchers Dr. Jiaying Zhao, Dr. Kai Chan, Dr. Johan Foster, Dr. Guangyu Wang, Dr. Nadine Borduas-Dedekind, and master’s student Daphne Chevalier gave advice on how to make the holiday season sustainable!
Want folks to use reusable mugs? Give them a chance to win free coffee: UBC researchers
A chance at a free coffee works better than a discount to encourage people to bring in their reusable mugs at coffee shops. UBC Psychology and IRES researchers are featured in Prince George Post for their findings.
TA Opportunity for UBC Course: ASIC 220
Looking for a TA for an introductory course that provides a comprehensive introduction to sustainability from a science, economics, and societal perspective!
COP29 preview
Dr. Simon Donner spoke to CBC about what to expect from COP29, the 29th UN climate change conference
How much progress has Canada made since the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015?
Dr. Simon Donner spoke about B.C. and Canada’s progress since the 2015 Paris Agreement was signed.
The smog capital of India
A study by Dr. David R. Boyd explained the urgency for treating air pollution as a human rights issue.