Atlanta-Marinna Grant

Atlanta-Marinna Grant

Portrait photo of Atlanta-Marinna Grant

Atlanta-Marinna Grant

MA with Hannah Wittman & Maggie Low, 2023

Contact Details

atlanta.grant@ubc.ca

mobile: 9053926458

Research Interests

Climate change, Community-based research, First Nations and Resource Management, Food security

Bio

Kwe (hello!) 

Atlanta Grant is an Iroquois woman (she/her) with mixed Huron-Wendat and German ancestry, originally from the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Ojibwe, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. She is a present guest on the traditional territories of the xwməθkwəýəm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.

Atlanta is a recent graduate (M.A) of the University of British Columbia in the Institute of Resources, Environment, and Sustainability. Her research focuses on Indigenous Food Systems, Indigenous Food Sovereignty, Decolonized Research Methodologies, Cultural Preservation, and Cross-Cultural Collaborations.

Atlanta’s Master’s thesis focused on Indigenous food ‘cycling’ practices and the reinstatement of Indigenous Natural Law, operating in opposition to the settler-colonial industrial food systems production of food ‘waste’. Food ‘cycling’ contains the processes of ‘intentional honor’ and ‘intentional repurpose’ that surround the consumption of animals and plants, how they inform Indigenous Law, and other Indigenous Biocultural Heritage practices and teachings.

Her professional work focuses on what safe decolonized collaborative spaces should look like within cross-cultural partnerships between non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples. Focusing on collaboration that is rooted within Indigenous customs, protocols, and traditions, in ways that avoid the over-burdening of Indigenous knowledge systems, inappropriate integrations of Indigenous Knowledge into Western systems, and the pan- Indigenizing of Indigenous voices.  Atlanta can be contacted through her website https://atlantagrant.com/ and/or through the University of British Columbia’s  Food Sovereignty Research Lab.

Celeste Pomerantz

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Celeste Pomerantz

MSc Student

Research Interests

Energy, Geosciences

Bio

Celeste Pomerantz is a masters (MSc) student in the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, supervised by Dr. M.V. Ramana. Her research focuses on energy storage and grid optimization in Canadian remote and off-grid communities. She has a BSc in natural sciences from the University of Calgary concentrating in alternative energy and geosciences. During her undergrad, she focused her projects on alternative energy storage systems writing and co-authoring several papers including Fuel Cells for Heavy Freight Transport, Pumped Hydroelectric Storage, and Hydrogen as a Future Energy Source. She also aided Dr. Jason Donev on his award winning Energy Education Encyclopedia where she had over twenty pages published to the educational site.

Celeste grew up on the north shore of Vancouver and spent nearly all of her time outdoors, her interests became deeply rooted in the natural environment and as a result, has dedicated her education and future career to saving it. Immediately after her undergrad, she moved to Squamish, BC to spend as much time outside as possible, you can find her backcountry skiing in the winter or mountain biking in the summer.

Mauricio Carvallo Aceves

Portrait photo of Mauricio  Carvallo Aceves

Mauricio Carvallo Aceves

PhD student, P. Eng.

Peter Wall Legacy Award

Les Lavkulich Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service, 2023

Mitacs Accelerate Fellow

Four Year Fellowship Recipient, NSERC Alexander Graham Bell


IRES Student Society Co-President, 2022-2023

Contact Details

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/mauricio-carvallo-aceves-92567a106

Research Interests

Adaptation, Climate change, Environment, Infrastructure systems, Natural hazards, Participatory action research, Policy and Decision-making, Resilience, Sustainability, Urban Sustainbility, Vulnerability and risk

Bio

Mauricio joined IRES in 2020 as a PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie Chang. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at ITESO (Mexico) in 2012. Having lived in big cities all his life, he quickly became passionate about sustainable urban development. Through his involvement in various projects during his undergraduate studies, Mauricio started working on infrastructure, and more specifically, drainage networks. He later went on to study a Master of Engineering at Polytechnique Montreal in 2014, focusing on sustainable stormwater management. Beyond the technical aspects of infrastructure, Mauricio is interested in a more holistic analysis by incorporating aspects such as social perception and acceptance, environmental impacts/benefits, and economic costs.

After his Master’s degree, he went on to work for 4 years as a municipal engineer in the Montreal area, setting up and calibrating drainage network models for developing long-term water management plans.

Through his doctoral studies, Mauricio aims to contribute to climate change adaptation strategies by improving our understanding of the trade-offs of different coastal adaptation strategies under uncertain sea level rise scenarios, in the hopes of developing more robust long-term plans. He is also participating in the Resilient-C project, an online platform seeking to connect coastal communities across Canada to exchange ideas on strategies for facing coastal hazards. His work at IRES is supported by  an NSERC – Canada Graduate Scholarship.

When he is not working, chances are Mauricio is out on a terrace with friends or practicing lindy-hop with a swing dance troupe.

Featured Publications

Carvallo Aceves, M., Fuamba, M., & Angui, J. (2017) Water Quality Performance of In-series BMPs. Journal of Water Management Modeling, doi: 10.14796/JWMM.C430

Sebti, A., Carvallo Aceves, M., Bennis, S., & Fuamba, M. (2016). Improving Nonlinear Optimization Algorithms for BMP Implementation in a Combined Sewer System. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 04016030.

Carvallo Aceves, M. Fuamba, M., (2016). Methodology for selecting Best Management Practices integrating multiple stakeholders and criteria. Part 1 : Methodology. Water 8 (2), 55 doi:10.3390/w8020055

Carvallo Aceves, M. Fuamba, M., (2016). Methodology for selecting Best Management Practices integrating multiple stakeholders and criteria. Part 2 : Case study. Water 8 (2) 56 doi:10.3390/w8020056

 

Emma Gillies

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Emma Gillies

MSc with Amanda Giang, 2022
Biologist, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Contact Details

emmajgillies@gmail.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-gillies-057414137/

Research Interests

Climate change, Data science, Ecology, First Nations and Resource Management, Marine conservation, Policy and Decision-making, Public policy and analysis, Science communication, Social ecological systems

Bio

Emma was an MSc student, supervised by Dr. Amanda Giang in the Lab for Environmental Assessment and Policy. Her research involves modelling mercury contamination in Beaufort Sea beluga whales using Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science. She is particularly interested in ecotoxicology and environmental policy and is eager to use data science and community consultation to explore the connections between environmental and public health. She is now a biologist for Fisheries and Oceans Canada (a department of the Canadian federal government).

Emma holds a first-class honours degree in environmental biology from McGill University, where she completed a thesis on freshwater microplastic pollution and gained work experience at a newspaper, ecological research centre, environmental consulting company, and tech start-up. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, creative writing, photography, and supporting her favourite soccer team, Arsenal.

Read a Q&A with Emma here!

Last updated April 2024

Diana Bedolla López

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Diana Bedolla López

MA with Gunilla Oberg, 2023

Research Interests

Climate change, Environmental Law and Policy, Philosophy of Science, Science communication

Bio

Diana holds a Bachelor of Earth Science from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) with an area of specialization in environmental science. During her undergraduate studies, she became interested in environmental law and policy, climate change governance and philosophy of science. She has worked as teaching assistant in a course on the philosophy and ethics of science at UNAM. Diana is excited to join the Egesta Lab, and to work with an interdisciplinary team. Her research interests include the social dimension of scientific knowledge, science communication and ED science for policy.

Bulgan Batdorj

Portrait photo of Bulgan  Batdorj

Bulgan Batdorj

PhD Student, Institute of Asian Research Fellow

Contact Details

bulgan.batdorj@gmail.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bulgan-batdorj/

Research Interests

Collaborative Governance, Comparative Research Method, Complexity Science, EITI, Mining, Qualitative Research Method, Resource Curse, Social Network Analysis, Sustainability, Wicked Problem, Worldviews

Bio

Bulgan Batdorj is a Ph.D. student at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, supervised by Professor Nadja Kunz. Before joining the IRES, Bulgan completed her master’s degree at the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering. In her master’s thesis, she focused on theories of collaborative governance, resource course, wicked problem and social networks, basing it on the case of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative in Mongolia.

In her doctoral work, Bulgan examines whether there is a correlation between participatory processes and improved mining outcomes, with improvement defined as a reduced mining-related conflict resulting from improved trust and understanding and increased mining-related initiatives.

Before her academic journey, Bulgan conducted policy analyses of the mining sector, foreign policy issues, and media coverage at the Canadian Embassy in Mongolia for over seven years. She also worked with Young Women for Change and has assisted in the first production of V-monologue in Mongolia.

In addition to her academic work, you will find her articles on Mongolian democratic development on the Mongolia Focus blog and other media. She also sits on the board for BC Mongolians society. In her free time, she gardens and tends to her houseplants.

Bulgan lives in Vancouver with her husband and two daughters.

  

Featured Publications

Fraser, J., Kunz, N. C., & Batdorj, B. (2019). Can mineral exploration projects create and share value with communities? A case study from Mongolia. Resources Policy, 63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2019.101455

Mongolia Focus

Batdorj, B. (2021. February 28). Mongolian democracy through the lens of Animal Farm. Mongolia Focus. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from http://blogs.ubc.ca/mongolia/2021/mongolian-democracy-animal-farm/.

Other media

Batdorj, B. & Dierkes, J. (2020, May 22). Mongolia’s Next Election Will Feature New Types of Candidates: The breadth of Mongolian democracy is widening. The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2020/05/mongolias-next-election-will-feature-new-types-of-candidates/

Batdorj, B. (2020, July 29). Mongolia and the Survival of Democracy in an Authoritarian Neighborhood. Italian Institute for International Political Studies. https://www.ispionline.it/en/pubblicazione/mongolia-and-survival-democracy-authoritarian-neighborhood-27098

Taya Triffo

Portrait photo of Taya Triffo

Taya Triffo

MA with Leila Harris, 2022

Contact Details

ttriffo@student.ubc.ca

Research Interests

Cities, Community-based research, Policy and Decision-making, Political ecology, Resilience, Resource governance and management, Social ecological systems

Bio

Taya Triffo is a graduate student with the Institute of Resources, Environment, and Sustainability, and she is working toward her Master of Arts. She earned her undergraduate degree — a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics — at the University of Regina, convocating with great distinction and the President’s Medal.

Under the supervision of Dr. Leila Harris, Taya is developing her thesis research on equity, urban water resilience, and resource planning in the City of Vancouver. She plans to investigate how residents articulate, envision, and prioritize water resilience, specifically, and climate resilience, broadly, in their neighbourhoods. In particular, this research is interested in the equity dimensions of water resilience, including how equity concerns are articulated in water governance strategies. Taya is growing increasingly passionate about methods, specifically exploring feminist memory-work workshops, critical mapping, archival research, discursive textual analysis and interview methods in her research.

To this research, she brings her keen interest in the social and political dimensions of transformative change. Taya is interested in how communities articulate, organize, negotiate, and envision possible futures. To date, Taya’s work has mostly been interested in how communities set agendas and attempt collective action within the food sovereignty movement and the just energy transition movement. She has participated in advocacy for the 100% Renewable Regina project — both as a community facilitator and as a policy researcher. She has worked with the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and the Community Engagement and Research Centre, supporting the development of a report on Saskatchewan farmers’ participation in and perception of local food systems. She has worked as a program analyst with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. Further, she has done research with Guatemalan communities pursuing agrarian reform and a comprehensive rural community development strategy.

Research interests: Resilience, Collective Action, Transformation, Community-based Research; Policy and Decision-Making; Political Ecology; Resource Governance and Management; Social-Ecological Systems; Ecological Economics; Philosophy of Economics; Epistemology.

Contact information: ttriffo [at] student [dot] ubc [dot] ca

Reem Salameh

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Reem Salameh

PhD Student

Research Interests

Energy, Nuclear energy

Bio

Reem is a PhD student at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Her doctoral research is focused on Nuclear Power and Energy Choices in the Middle East. She is working under the supervision of Professor M.V. Ramana.

Previously, Reem has joined the American University of Beirut (AUB) as a MasterCard Foundation Scholar and has earned a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health and a master’s degree in Energy Studies. Outside of school, Reem enjoys long distance running; she has run many half-marathons and aspires to run longer distances in the future.

Ilke Geladi

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Ilke Geladi

PhD Student, Trip Coordinator, 2022-2023

Contact Details

ilkegel@student.ubc.ca

Research Interests

Ecosystem Services, Landbird Conservation, Evolutionary Ecology, and Socio-Ecological Systems

Bio

Ilke Geladi is a PhD student in the WoRCS Lab under the supervision of Claire Kremen. Her research explores questions related to the conservation of landbirds in the agricultural zone of Santa Cruz island in the Galapagos archipelago.

During her undergraduate studies at McGill University in Montreal, QC, Ilke studied the evolutionary adaptation (or lack thereof) of two native fish prey species in response to a major impoundment event and to the introduction of an invasive predator in Gatun Lake in Panama. This fascinating study captivated her to join the research world.

Ilke continued her studies to obtain a Master’s degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems through the Erasmus Mundus Masters Programme (TROPIMUNDO). During her Master’s work, Ilke examined what agricultural landscape features were promoting landbird diversity and abundance in Santa Cruz, Galapagos. She also conducted semi-structured interviews with farmers to gain a basic understanding of landbird-farmer interactions.

Through her doctoral studies, she aims to tie together aspects from ecological, evolutionary and social disciplines to help inform a conservation plan. More specifically, she will study the ecosystem services and disservices landbirds provide to farmers as well as the effect of agricultural landscapes on evolutionary processes. She will work closely with local stakeholders with the aim of identifying optimal sites within the agricultural zone for forest restoration to aid landbird conservation. Her work at IRES is supported by an NSERC-CGSD grant.

In her free time, you can find her hiking through a forest, exploring new parts of the world or sharing a beer with friends.

Nigel Deans

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Nigel Deans

MSc Student

Research Interests

Adaptation, Behavioral change, Climate change, Energy policy, Public policy and analysis, Resilience, Resource scarcity, Science communication, Science-policy interface, Social ecological systems, Sustainability, Vulnerability and risk

Bio

Nigel Deans is a MSc student in the Behavioral Sustainability Lab, under the supervision of Dr. Jiaying Zhao. He is interested, broadly, in improving public and policymaker understanding and application of science. His research takes an experimental psychological approach to improving the effectiveness of climate change communication by individualizing climate change messaging. Nigel is also a climate expert with UBC’s Climate Teaching Connector, a teaching fellow for Research Methods (PSYC 217) and Behavioural Data Analysis (PSYC 218) in the Department of Psychology, a 2021 UBC Sustainability Scholar, and an associate with the Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning, where he is currently enrolled in the Certificate Program in Advanced Teaching and Learning.

Before joining IRES, Nigel was the research coordinator for Royal Roads University’s Resilience by Design Lab, where he worked with post-secondary institutions and professional organizations across BC to design and deliver climate change adaptation courses that work for professionals. He holds a BSc in psychology with a science specialization in biology from the University of Victoria, where he also completed three co-operative work terms in three countries and a year-long academic exchange at the University of Utrecht’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. He loves languages, hiking, and sleeping outside, especially above 4000m.