March 8, 2016: Special Seminar Cathryn Clarke Murray
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 10:15am to 11:15am
Location: AERL 107/108, 2202 Main Mall
Connections and Challenges: Lessons learned five years after the Great Japanese Tsunami of 2011
Abstract:
Five years after the Great Tohoku Earthquake of 2011 created a massive tsunami, debris continues to arrive on North American and Hawaiian shorelines carrying living Japanese species. In response to this unprecedented event the ADRIFT project was launched, funded by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan through the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES). The primary goal of this project is to assess and forecast the effects of debris generated by this tsunami, especially those related to non-indigenous species, on ecosystem structure and function of coastal communities. The project focuses on three main areas of research: (1) modeling movement of marine debris in the North Pacific, (2) surveillance and monitoring of tsunami-generated marine debris landfall, and (3) assessing risk from potentially invasive species to coastal ecosystems. A suite of general circulation models was used to simulate movement of marine debris arising from the tsunami. Surveillance and monitoring research has characterized the temporal and spatial variability in debris landfall. Aerial photographic surveys were conducted for the exposed coastlines of British Columbia, Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands to search for large debris items and identify debris accumulation hotspots. The invasive species team continues to characterize the invasion potential of non-indigenous associated with tsunami debris. Over 400 items attributed to the tsunami have been intercepted, and from these over 300 species of algae, invertebrates and fish have been identified; some of these species are well-known global invaders. This presentation will focus on how the lessons learned in the aftermath of this unprecedented natural event challenge traditional ecological theory and connect communities on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.
Bio:
Dr. Cathryn Clarke Murray is Visiting Scientist with the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) and Adjunct Professor in the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Murray is a marine ecologist broadly interested in the interaction between human and natural systems. She holds a PhD in biological oceanography from the University of British Columbia and a Master’s of Science degree from James Cook University in Australia. Her postdoctoral work with WWF-Canada focused on the cumulative effect of human activities and she has conducted interdisciplinary research on a broad range of topics, from the ecology of invasive species, to ecological risk assessment and ecosystem-based management. She is based in Victoria, British Columbia.
[Photo Credit: www.telegraph.co.uk]
November 24, 2015: Guest Lecture
Hugh Possingham
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30-1:30 pm
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
Dr. Hugh Possingham will be receiving an Honorary Doctorate from UBC during the November 2015 graduation convocation.
Proper problem formulation for conservation management and policy
Abstract:
I will explore some problems in conservation management and policy and show how the key to success is in formulating the problem.
We will look at issues that include: species triage, spatial prioritisation, optimal monitoring and restoration vs protection.
Bio:
Professor Hugh Possingham FAA BSc (Adelaide) DPhil (Oxford)
http://www.possinghamlab.org/ – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Possingham
Professor of Mathematics and Professor of Ecology, The University of Queensland
Professor of Conservation Decisions, Imperial College London 2013-18
Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow 2014-18
Director of The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions http://ceed.edu.au/ 2011-18
Director of The National Environmental Science Program hub for Threatened Species: 2015-20
Aside from his day job, Hugh has a variety of broader public roles advising policy makers and managers by sitting on 11 committees and boards outside the University including: The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists (founding member), Founding Editor of Conservation Letters (an international scientific journal), Queensland Rhodes Scholars selection committee and several Environmental NGO scientific advisory committees. He and Dr Barry Traill wrote “The Brigalow Declaration”, used by Premier Beattie to stop land clearing in Queensland thereby stopping 10% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions and saving an area the size of Portugal from conversion into farmland.
The Possingham lab developed the most widely used conservation planning software in the world. Marxan www.ecology.uq.edu.au/marxan.htm was used to underpin the rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef and is currently used in over 160 countries by over 5000 users – from the UK and USA to Madagascar and Brazil – to build the world’s marine and terrestrial landscape plans. Most recently Marxan was used to develop the biggest marine reserve system in the world – Australia’s federal marine reserve system. Hugh coauthored two scientific consensus statements that supported Australia’s new marine reserve system, that is a quarter the size of Europe. Many governments and ENGOs use his lab’s work for the allocation of funding to threatened species recovery and solving other conservation conundrums. He is an advocate of wise decision-making and an informal advisor to several governments.
Possingham has coauthored 499 refereed publications covered by the Web of Science (27 in Science, Nature or PNAS) and has more than 15,500 Web of Science citations (h=66). A Google Scholar profile can be found at http://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=9-veEp8AAAAJ&hl=en. He currently directs two research centres, $20 and $60 million, and he has supervised (or is supervising) 56 PhD students and 43 postdoctoral fellows.
He has one known psychological disorder, a compulsive desire to watch birds.
January 7, 2016: Faculty Lecture
John Beatty (First Seminar for Term 2)
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30-1:30 pm
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
The Ambiguity of Consensus
Abstract:
Abstract: Perhaps the most familiar notion of “consensus” involves some sort of counting – e.g., vote tallying – resulting in unanimity or a majority. But consensus is a heterogeneous category. And some important forms, as practiced, are quite different from this. I will consider a form of consensus that goes by various names, referring to its various aspects: “decision by interpretation,” “apparent consensus,” “nemine contradicente,” “joint agreement.” It is not about counting, not about unanimity or a majority. What especially concerns me here is the manner in which this form of consensus represents the epistemic state-of-play of a community of experts, without revealing differences among the community members with regard to the issues under consideration. Such apparent consensus can therefore mask considerable disagreement. I will discuss contexts and senses in which such decision procedures are, and are not, advantageous for groups of experts. I will illustrate differences between such consensus practices, and the more commonly analyzed unanimity and majority practices, with reference to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Bio:
John Beatty teaches history and philosophy of science, and social and political philosophy, in the Department of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. John’s research focuses on the theoretical foundations, methodology, and socio-political dimensions of genetics and evolutionary biology. His current research projects concern more specifically: 1) the distinction between “history” and “science,” and the respects in which evolutionary biology is as much like the former as it is like the latter; 2) changing views of contingency and necessity in the evolutionary biology; 3) relationships between biology and “the state,” from the Manhattan Project to the Human Genome Project; and 4) issues concerning the nature of scientific “authority.”
Yaron Cohen’s seminar video is now up!
The video for Yaron Cohen‘s seminar on June 9, 2015 is now available.
Organizational Constraints on Carbon Management in Airports
Abstract:
Airports are complex multi-stakeholder organizations that can be as challenging to manage as small cities, due to the high number of parties involved in their operation. Carbon emissions have begun to occupy an important place in airports’ environmental management plans in the recent years, as part of the overall attempts to reduce carbon emissions from air-travel. As a result of the high number of tenants involved in airports’ operation, collaborative carbon management is required in order to succeed achieving the carbon reduction goals.
My research focuses on airports from around the world, and their ways of managing carbon policies together with their tenants. In this talk I will present the preliminary findings from my survey that was distributed in collaboration with Airport Council International (ACI) to airports in different parts of the world. The purpose of this study is to assess barriers for collaborative carbon management in airports, as reflected in current and planned carbon policies.
Bio:
Yaron Cohen is a Master of Science student at the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability (IRES) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is supervised by Dr. Milind Kandlikar and Dr. Jasenka Rakas (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering – UC Berkeley). He has a bachelor degree in Business Administration from the Interdisciplinary Center – Herlizya (Israel), as well as a LEED Green Associate credential.
Yaron’s research uses organizational GHG accounting tools, as well as other methods to understand how carbon emissions from air-travel are monitored and managed at an airport’s level, and what might be the implications of the current situation on a possible future solution to mitigate GHG emissions from air-travel. Other than airports and sustainable aviation, his research interests include green buildings, sustainable transportation planning at both the city and regional levels, and renewable energy.
Back in 2010 he attended the prestigious leadership program “The Global Village for Future Leaders of Business and Industry” at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, where he took part in a project to develop a community engagement tool for a cement company. In addition, he used to work in business development for a small Israeli start-up company in the clean-energy sector.
Due to his interest in the world of aviation, Yaron enjoys plane-spotting (from time to time), as well as writing his blog “Airportonomy” about the relationship between airports, society, and the environment.
The blog’s address: http://airportonomy.com
November 17, 2015: Guest Lecture
Takayoshi Kusago
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30-1:30 pm
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
A story of Minamata’s revitalization: a shift from industrial pollution and social divisions to environmental model city
Takayoshi Kusago
Abstract:
Minamata-city was chosen one of the first six environmental model cities by the central government of Japan in 2008. Once the city was known as the worst pollution case in the Japanese history and perhaps one of the worst cases in the world, and now it is officially acknowledged as a leading city in environmental management. How this was accomplished in Minamata? This micro-level change is not only a local interest; rather, it is a common concern for all of us who have followed industrialization and modernization for decades and have faced various forms of environmental degradation. In this seminar, a story of Minamata’s community revitalization will be presented from Minamata-disease problem to environmental model city by paying closer attention to Moyainaoshi (collaboration among different local agents), local autonomy, and an innovative development method to revitalize communities.
Bio:
Dr. Takayoshi Kusago is a Professor at Kansai University, Osaka, Japan and a Visiting Professor, IRES, UBC for 2015-2016. From the perspective of human development and capability approach, he has studied a variety of subjects pertinent to modernization and sustainable development. He places enormous importance on how local people can actively engage in creating own community/society where they can achieve higher level of well-being. He has community-based well-being action-research projects in Japan, Bhutan and Nepal. He has published research papers in academic journals such as World Development, Social Indicators Research, and coauthored GNH (Gross National Happiness) in Japanese, 2011.
November 10, 2015: Student Lecture
Ivana Zelenika & Lisa Westerhoff
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30-1:30 pm
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
Sustainability through Practice: Examining Waste Diversion Efforts, Barriers and Solutions
Ivana Zelenika
Abstract
The University of British Columbia is matching Metro’s target to divert 70% materials from landfills by 2016 and 80% by 2021. Given that both Metro Vancouver and UBC’s waste diversion rates are currently at 55%, there is a need for research on effective mechanisms and strategies to help achieve the 80% diversion target for the region.
This talk will present research objectives and the theoretical framework of my thesis, research completed to date, as well as research in progress. One goal is to examine the influence of infrastructure design and layout as a pro-environmental behaviour setting strategy with an emphasis on convenience, simplicity and usefulness. The other goal is to examine the key elements that enable behaviour in culture dependant inter-locking arrangements consisting of physical artefacts, meaning and knowledge/ skills. Persistence and consequences of engaging in waste diversion are also explored.
Bio
Started the PhD studies in 2012, working with co-supervision of Dr. Jiaying Zhao and Dr. John Robinson. Prior to coming to UBC completed a Master’s of Environmental Studies at Queen’s University (Kingston), and a B.A. from Carleton University (Ottawa) in Environmental Studies, minor in Political Science. Research interests are in Applied Sustainability, Sustainable Social Change, Biomimicry and Innovation through Collaboration. Research is supported by the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship and the UBC 4 Year Fellowship.
Active member in campus life, I was a member of the Common Energy at UBC and served as a Zero Waste coordinator with Campus Sustainability office for 2 years in a work-learn position. Previously at Queen’s University I was a Sustainability Coordinator for the Graduate Society and helped establish a community garden and bring 11MW of electricity generating PV panels to the University’s portfolio.
City Stories: From narrative to practice in Vancouver’s Olympic Village
Lisa Westerhoff
Abstract:
Vancouver’s Olympic Village is both an iconic development in the City of Vancouver and a globally recognised attempt at creating a sustainable urban community. Its final form as it stands today represents the culmination of nearly 2 decades of planning and design, a process that was fraught with raucous debate and financial woe along the way. But how has the neighbourhood’s vision actually unfolded in practice? In my dissertation (and in this presentation), I tell the story of this unique urban development from the perspective of some of the many voices that have created it: the people who live and work there. By combining narrative with insights and methods from social practice and place theories, I explore how the sustainable intentions of the Olympic Village are playing out in the lives of its residents and managers, which show that the Village’s particular narrative of sustainability has intervened into residents’ and managers’ practices, perceptions and identities in interesting ways. I conclude that while the neighbourhood has been instrumental in pushing sustainability efforts forward, it nevertheless missed key opportunities to address the expectations and experiences of its future inhabitants.
Bio:
Lisa Westerhoff recently defended her PhD in Resource Management and Environmental Studies at UBC, working under the supervision of John Robinson. Her work interrogates the different narratives of climate change and sustainability adopted by different groups and at different scales, and their implications for citizen engagement and decision making around sustainability in the built environment. Prior to her PhD, Lisa worked as a Geography instructor at the University of Guelph, as well as a researcher on EUR-Adapt, a four-year project on multi-level governance in climate change adaptation at Umeå University in Sweden. She holds an MA and a BA in Geography.
October 6, 2015: Guest Lecture
Mark Jaccard
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30-1:30 pm
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
Mark Jaccard
Simon Fraser University Professor
School of Resource and Environmental Management
How do we get effective climate policy?
Abstract:
Getting our politicians to implement effective climate policy is inherently difficult. In this talk, Mark Jaccard combines anecdotal and research evidence to develop strategic advice for those seeking effective climate policies. He will cover a range of relevant topics including democratic reforms, institutional design, policy design, policy evaluation, public perceptions, and climate activism.
Bio:
(on Twitter @MarkJaccard and blogging at markjaccard.com)
Mark has been professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, since 1986 – interrupted from 1992-97 while he served as Chair and CEO of the British Columbia Utilities Commission. His PhD is from the Energy Economics and Policy Institute at the University of Grenoble. Internationally, Mark has been involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, and the Global Energy Assessment. Mark’s research and applied focus is on the design and application of energy-economy models, especially for assessing the cost and effectiveness of climate policies. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Research Fellow with the CD Howe Institute, and in 2009 was named BC Academic of the Year by the Confederation of University Faculty Associations. In 2006, his book, Sustainable Fossil Fuels, won the Donner Prize for best policy book in Canada.
September 29, 2015: Faculty Lecture
Villy Christensen
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30-1:30 pm
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
Modeling Ecosystems: Lessons Learned and the Road Ahead
Villy Christensen
Bio:
Villy Christensen is Professor and Co-Director of UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. He is the lead developer of the Ecopath with Ecosim approach and software, which is used extensively throughout the world for ecosystem-based management of marine and freshwater areas. This work is coordinated through the Ecopath International Research and Development Consortium, which has 24 institutional members, and for which he serves as the Executive Board Chair. He has led more than 50 related training courses and workshops throughout the world, and through this gained considerable experience with the ecology and management of marine ecosystems. He has also authored or co-authored close to 300 publications, including >115 peer reviewed. He currently serves as Coordinating Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and has been involved in numerous global assessments, e.g., CBD’s Global Biodiversity Outlook, UNEP’s Global Environmental Outlook, EU’s The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, and UN’s Millennium Assessment.
Abstract:
Villy will give a brief and subjective overview of the history of ecosystem modeling, going back to Raymond Lindeman, passing by the International Biological Program, and fast forward with an overview of how foraging arena theory came into the picture. The foraging arena theory has fundamentally improved our capability to model the history of ecosystems, and helped improve our modeling capabilities to the degree that it provides just a little bit of confidence that we may be able to model how our actions may impact ecosystems in the future. He will briefly touch upon where ecosystem modeling is heading, and his own current and coming activities and research interests.
March 17, 2016: Student Lecture
Maery Kaplan-Hallam & Jill Guerra
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30-1:30 pm
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
Details TBA
Maey Kaplan-Hallam
Bio:
Maery is a Master of Arts student working under the direction of Drs. Terre Satterfield and Nathan Bennett. She entered the interdisciplinary environment of IRES after completing a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from the University of Victoria where her coursework focused on human geography, natural resource management, and environmental sustainability. Her primary research interests include natural resource governance & management and the intersections of perception, livelihoods, and change processes within social-ecological systems.
Marine protected areas (MPAs), increasingly implemented, have produced both positive and negative consequences for adjacent communities. Maery’s current work contributes to research on the human dimensions of conservation by situating MPA governance within a context of broader social-ecological changes affecting coastal communities. Her research is grounded through a qualitative investigation of changes, impacts and adaptations in a fishing village located within a Mexican biosphere reserve and is supported by both the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and Mitacs.
Jill Guerra
Bio:
With a background in international development, economics and Latin American studies, Jill has long been studying issues of poverty, inequality and sustainable development – both in the classroom and in the field. In recent years her research focus has narrowed in on the role of the food system in improving, or sadly exacerbating, instances of poverty and inequality around the world. Taking a social-ecological perspective and guided by tenets of food sovereignty and agroecology, her work highlights the connections and trade-offs between social and economic well being like food security or sustainable employment and the challenge of achieving agro-environmental sustainability. Her Master’s research within the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability probes these connections and trade-offs. Through a case study of Brazil’s National School Feeding Program (Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar – PNAE), Jill’s research explores how the incentives within the PNAE can improve the wellbeing of the country’s often marginalized family farmers while also encouraging their transition to organic agriculture and/or agroecology – systems of farming intended to be more environmentally sustainable. Her research employs mixed methods analyzing Brazilian agricultural census data while adding important nuances through in-depth, qualitative interviews conducted with a sample of farmers participating in the program. She hopes that her interdisciplinary research will contribute to growing sustainability literature highlighting the challenges and opportunities for creating a more sustainable and just food system.