Susanna Klassen

Susanna Klassen

Portrait photo of Susanna Klassen

Susanna Klassen

PhD with Navin Ramankutty & Hannah Wittman, 2022
Liu Scholar

Research Interests

Climate change, Food security, Management of biodiversity, Political ecology, Science-policy interface, Social ecological systems, Sustainability

Bio

Susanna’s research focuses on understanding the processes and dynamics that mediate food system sustainability, and the multi-functionality of farming systems. She uses interdisciplinary approaches to examine how context shapes the adoption of sustainable practices (the geography of sustainable agriculture), and how governance and policy interventions can facilitate more sustainable agroecological futures.

Her PhD work investigates how organic agriculture is contributing to food system sustainability by assessing the adoption of practices and approaches that enhance agro-ecosystem health and social welfare on organic farms in Canada. She is working with collaborating agencies to ground her research in the institutional context of the organic sector, and to ensure results are relevant to policy and regulatory discussions in Canada and globally. She is supervised by Hannah Wittman and Navin Ramankutty.

Susanna is a member of the Food Secure Canada Board of Directors, an Advisor for the Meal Exchange Good Food Challenge, and an Articling Agrologist with the BC Institute of Agrologists. She has a BSc (honours) in Land Surface Processes and Environmental Change from McGill, and an MSc in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems from UBC. She has worked on the integration of climate change adaptation into programs and policies with the BC Ministry of Agriculture and the BC Agriculture & Food Climate Action Initiative. Many of these interests were first cultivated by her time working on small farms in Quebec, Oregon, and Latin America, and her work with campus food and sustainability initiatives at McGill University.

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Susanna_Klassen

Featured Publications

Klassen, S., & Murphy, S. (2020). Equity as both a means and an end: Lessons for resilient food systems from COVID-19. World Development, 136, 105104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105104

Nawaz, S., Klassen, S., & Lyon, A. (2020). Tensions at the boundary: Rearticulating ‘organic’ plant breeding in the age of gene editing. Elem Sci Anth, 8(1), 34. https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.429

Chapman, M., Klassen, S., Kreitzman, M., Semmelink, A., Sharp, K., Singh, G., & Chan, K.M.A., 2017. 5
Key Challenges and Solutions for Governing Complex Adaptive (Food) Systems. Sustainability, 9(9), 1-­30.

Klassen, S. E., & Wittman, H., 2017. Place-­Based Food Systems: ‘Re-­Valuing Local’ and Fostering Socio-­
Ecological Sustainability. Sustainable Food Futures: Multidisciplinary Solutions. Ed. Jessica Duncan and
Megan Bailey. London and New York: Routledge.

Klassen, S. E., 2016. Decreasing Distance and Re-­Valuing Local: How Place-­Based Food Systems Can
Foster Socio-­Ecological Sustainability. Solutions, 7(August), 22–26.

Rocío López de la Lama

Portrait photo of Rocío López de la Lama

Rocío López de la Lama

PhD with Kai Chan, 2023
Postdoc at UBC SPPGA

Contact Details
rocio.lopezdelalama@gmail.com

www.limanatural.org

Research Interests

Behavioral change, Biodiversity conservation, Climate change, Cultural ecosystem services, Ecosystem services, Environmental and cultural values, Food security, Gender, Management of biodiversity, Policy and Decision-making, Public policy and analysis, Social ecological systems, Sustainability

Bio

Rocío López de la Lama was a PhD student at IRES exploring people’s different relationships with nature through a relational values lens. In particular, she was interested in understanding how people’s relationships with nature might motivate and foster the creation of Privately Protected Areas (PPAs), focusing in Peru (her home country). Although the government does not provide any economic incentives (i.e. tax reductions, property rights) for PPAs’ implementation, their coverage continues to expand and currently protect over 300,000 ha of the Peruvian territory. Therefore, Rocio’s research sought to identify what motivates people to set up these areas and how effectively they are contributing to nature conservation and human well-being. Rocio was working under the supervision of Kai Chan, and was part of the CHANS Lab. She has an MPhil in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge (UK), and a BSc in Biology from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (Peru). Her previous work has focused on sustainable seafood, small-scale fisheries, gender studies and exploring people’s relationship with nature.

Last updated May 2024

Featured Publications

López de la Lama R, De la Puente S, Riveros JC. (2018). Attitudes and misconceptions towards sharks and shark meat consumption along the Peruvian coast. PLoS ONE 13(8): e0202971. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202971

López de la Lama R., Valdés-Velasquez, A., Huicho, L., Morales, E., Rivera, M., (2018). Exploring the building blocks of social capital in the Sechura Bay (Peru): Insights from Peruvian Scallop (Argopecten purpuratus) aquaculture. Ocean & Coastal Management 165(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2018.08.030

López De La Lama, R., De La Puente, S., & Valdés-Velásquez, A. (2018). Bringing sustainable seafood back to the table: Exploring chefs’ knowledge, attitudes and practices in Peru. Oryx, 1-9. doi:10.1017/S0030605318000273

Chris Barrington-Leigh

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Chris Barrington-Leigh

Visiting Professor

Bio

Chris Barrington-Leigh is an Associate Professor at McGill University, jointly appointed at the Institute for Health and Social Policy and the School of Environment, and is an associate member in McGill’s Department of Economics.  One strand of Chris’ research is focused on empirical and quantitative assessments of human well-being, and their implications for economic, social, and environmental policy.  He uses large international as well as national surveys, experiments, and economic theoretical modeling to understand individual and aggregate consumption benefits, and their implications for policy, including a broad transition to sustainability. Another current strand of work aims to understand household economic and health effects of Beijing’s rural household heating coal-to-electricity programme. A third interest of Chris’ is the structure of urban road networks, globally, and their implication for development and climate policy.

IRES Visiting Professor term: December 2017 to June 2018

Bradley Eyre

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Bradley Eyre

Previous Visiting Professor

Bio

Professor Bradley Eyre is a biogeochemist and the foundation Director of the Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry at Southern Cross University, Australia. His publications include topics such as whole ecosystem carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus budgets, net ecosystem metabolism estimates, benthic and pelagic production and respiration, dissolved organic carbon fluxes, carbon stable isotopes (fluxes and assimilation), carbon burial and air-sea GHG flux estimates, benthic denitrification, benthic habitats and seascapes, historical and ecosystem comparisons, ocean acidification, hypoxia, eutrophication, submarine groundwater discharge, permeable sands and carbonate sediment dissolution. Professor Eyre has 157 articles in Scopus listed journals (H-index = 44, Total citations >5000, Google Scholar; H-index = 35, Total citations>3500, Scopus) and has attracted over >$20 million in funding. He has mentored 14 early- and mid-career researchers and supervised 32 PhD students.

IRES Visiting Professor term: December 2017- February 2018

Rumi Naito

Rumi Naito

Adjunct Professor

Contact Details

—
rumisen@gmail.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rumi-naito-441373a/

http://chanslab.ires.ubc.ca/people/rumi-naito/ http://zhaolab.psych.ubc.ca/people.html

Research Interests

Behavioral change, Biodiversity conservation, Climate change, Cultural ecosystem services, Environmental and cultural values, Management of biodiversity, Perceived risk and new technology, Policy and Decision-making, Political ecology, Resilience, Resource governance and management, Resource scarcity, Science-policy interface, Social ecological systems

Bio

I am a conservation social scientist with a background in behavioral science, informing evidence-based solutions to advance environmental sustainability. With 15+ years in research and project management, I specialize in REDD+, community-based conservation, and behavior change. My work explores psychological and social factors driving pro-environmental behaviors, applying behavioral insights to motivate both individual and collective action. I am interested in finding effective ways to influence public behaviors and perceptions to combat climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental pollution. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, I design experiments to assess the impact of conservation interventions across diverse populations. My current focus includes designing effective behavior change interventions in the context of demand reduction in the global wildlife trade, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, and promoting sustainable land-use practices among rural communities.

Prior, I lived and worked in Indonesia for over 7 years, leading sustainable land-use, forestry, and REDD+ projects. I am fluent in English, Bahasa Indonesia, and Japanese. I hold a PhD in Resources, Environment and Sustainability from The University of British Columbia and a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University. 

Robin Harder

Portrait photo of Robin Harder

Robin Harder

Contact Details

Research Interests

Bio

Robin is an environmental systems scientist with a background in urban water management and a keen interest in farming and soil regeneration. He earned his BSc from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Civil Engineering), MSc from Delft University of Technology (Sanitary Engineering), and PhD from Chalmers University of Technology (Chemical Environmental Science). He currently aims to apply and extend his knowledge to design nutrient recycling from human excreta to food production for long-term soil health.

Robin is employed as international postdoctoral researcher at Chalmers University of Technology through a mobility starting grant for young researchers from the Swedish Research Council Formas. At UBC, he is appointed as honorary postdoctoral fellow at IRES (Egesta Laboratory) and the Faculty of Land and Food Systems (Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes Laboratory).

Chalmers: https://www.chalmers.se/en/staff/Pages/robin-harder.aspx

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinharder/
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robin_Harder

Projects

Courses

  

Featured Publications

Madison Stevens

Portrait photo of Madison Stevens

Madison Stevens

PhD with Dr. Terre Satterfield, 2023
Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Indigenous-Led Ecological Restoration, Boise State University

Contact Details

madison.stevens@ubc.alumni.ca

phone: 4065481582

https://www.linkedin.com/in/madison-stevens-616b7494/ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Madison_Stevens2 https://pif.forestry.ubc.ca/people/madison-stevens/

Bio

At IRES, Madison Stevens was a PhD candidate and UBC Public Scholar at the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia, under the supervision of Dr. Terre Satterfield. Her research interests focus on the nature of conservation decision-making, asking questions about how evidence and knowledges are applied to conservation problems, who makes decisions, and how conservation models account for human rights. For her dissertation research, she employed mixed social science methods and a political ecology lens to understand the governance and stewardship dimensions of community forests in Uttarakhand, India. She was also involved in projects focused on the equity dimensions of climate adaptation and the use of evidence in conservation planning in Canada. In 2021 Madison acted as a Climate Expert for the Climate Teaching Connector program at UBC, and a Project Assistant for the Canadian Mountain Assessment project. She holds a BA in Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies from Franklin University, Switzerland, in 2015, where her thesis highlighted Indigenous land rights and conflict in Uganda. Her professional background includes a decade of experience working for conservation nonprofit organizations, notably as an Education Media Specialist and Logistics Coordinator with Polar Bears International since 2011. When not working, she likes to spend her days playing outside, immersed in appreciation for the wilder places.

Last Updated May 2023

Featured Publications

Stevens, M, & Norris, R. (2022). A mixed methodology for evaluating use of evidence in conservation planning. Conservation Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13876

Stevens, M, & Ramesh, K. (In press). ‘If there is jangal, there is everything’: exercising stewardship rights and responsibilities in van panchayat community forests, Johar Valley, Uttarakhand, India. In J. Bulkan, J. Palmer, M. Hobley, & A. M. Larson (Eds.), Handbook on Community Forestry. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9780367488710/routledge-handbook-community-forestry-janette-bulkan-john-palmer-mary-hobley-anne-larson

Adler, C, Wester, P, Bhatt, I […] Stevens, M (Contributing Author). (2022). Cross-Chapter Paper 5: Mountains. Second Order Draft. IPCC WGII (Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability) Sixth Assessment Report. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-ii/

McDowell, G, Stevens, M, Lesnikowski, A, Huggel, C, Harden, A, DiBella, J, Morecroft, M, Kumar, P, Joe, ET, Bhatt, I. (2021). Closing the adaptation gap in mountains. Mountain Research and Development 41(3) A1-A10. https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00033.1

Rustam Sengupta

Portrait photo of Rustam Sengupta

Rustam Sengupta

Adjunct Professor

Contact Details

Research Interests

Bio

Rustam Sengupta is a renewable energy entrepreneur, impact investor and subject matter expert with extensive research experience of over a decade in sustainable social enterprise design, rooftop solar and renewable energy access. He has an expertise in identifying, designing and analysing strategies that affect energy systems and policies with a geographical focus on South Asia. He is the author of the book ‘De-Mystifying Impact Investing an Entrepreneurs’ Guide, which provides strategic, advises and recommendations on impact investment and has served as a guide for several emerging entrepreneurs and investors.

Rustam is also the founder and Chairman of Boond (www.boond.net), an energy access enterprise that creates rural entrepreneurs and distribution channels for development products like solar rooftops and solar micro grids in remote parts of India. He was selected as one of the top 36 entrepreneurs who accompanied the Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi as a part of his Start up India delegation to the US in 2015. In addition to his role in impact investment advisory and deal structuring to start-ups, he has had wide experience in private banking and strategic consulting and has worked in agencies like Standard Chartered (in Singapore), Syngenta (in Switzerland) and Deloitte Consulting (in the US). He is the board member and investor of Emsys Electronics (P) Ltd (a company that designs and manufactures high quality electronic products), Mynergy Solar (P) Ltd., (a company that specializes in leasing and asset management company for solar rooftop projects) and WithIndia (P) Ltd (a company that manufacturers environmentally friendly, insect and fire proof panels and tiles. Rustam also holds the position of Associate Director at the John Hopkin’s University Institute of Sustainable Energy Policy (ISEP) where is charged with finding and implementing projects related to market-led solutions to sustainable energy policy. He is also the lead founding partner of Boond Energy Expert Group (BEEG) that works with governments, policy makers and bilateral institutions on energy storage, smart grids, distributed rooftop solar and electric transportation.

 

Projects

Courses

  

Featured Publications

Paige Olmsted

Portrait photo of Paige Olmsted

Paige Olmsted

Adjunct Professor

Contact Details

Research Interests

Bio

Paige is an environmental scientist whose research focuses on how we account for, make decisions about, and value nature – from a personal as well as economic standpoint. She is currently based at the Smart Prosperity Institute, a policy think tank based in Ottawa. There she leads their conservation finance initiative, examining financial mechanisms and enabling conditions to catalyze interest and investment to support ecosystem services and the natural environment. Her expertise centers around ecosystem services, nature-based solutions for climate change, ecological economics, and environmental and relational values. With a common thread of connecting people and nature, her work has spanned rural agricultural settings in Latin America and South East Asia, to advocating for change in international policy settings, to providing sustainability guidance to private sector actors. In this work and past positions at the Earth Institute in New York City and UNEP in Geneva, she enjoys working with a range of stakeholders to address conservation challenges — including local communities, NGOs, various scales of government, academia, and the private sector. Paige maintains affiliations with the CHANS (Connecting Human and Natural Systems) Lab at IRES, and the Copenhagen Business School as part of the Impact for Innovation Lab. She holds a PhD from the Institute of Resources, Environment and Sustainability at UBC and a Master’s of Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University.

Projects

Courses

  

Featured Publications

Nadja Kunz

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Nadja Kunz

Assistant Professor, Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering
Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs

Bio

Nadja Kunz is appointed at SPPGA and Mining Engineering, not at IRES, and instead is a Faculty Associate of our unit. She may supervise students in our RES graduate program.

http://mining.ubc.ca/person/nadja-kunz/

https://sppga.ubc.ca/profile/nadja-kunz/

Our Faculty Associates play a special role in IRES, compared to many other units. A large percentage of the graduate student population (of over 100 students) in IRES are supervised by advisors from other departments, hence Faculty Associates are crucial for the role they play in supervising the interdisciplinary graduate students in our institute.

IRES Faculty Associates do not have voting rights and are nominated and seconded by an IRES faculty member. Becoming a Faculty Associate also requires the agreement of the Dean and the home department head, and is generally based on previous involvement with our institute. To learn more about how to become an IRES Faculty Associate, please click here.