Emma Gillies

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

Contact Details

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Sabrina Ho

Finance/HR Manager

Contact Details

AERL Building (Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory) Room 427
2202 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Canada

sabrina.ho@ubc.ca

6048220027

Bio

Coordinates the planning, and day-to-day finance and HR activities of IRES
Manages Faculty, Postdoctoral Fellows and Staff appointments
Oversees department payroll for hourly and salaried student, staff and faculty
Advises Faculty on financial/budget planning, assesses impact of surplus/deficit, and various reports

Julia Craig

MSc with Kai Chan, 2022

Research Interests

Biodiversity conservation, Ecology, Ecosystem services

Bio

Julia was a MSc student in the CHANS Lab, supervised by Dr. Kai Chan. She graduated from Carleton University with a combined honours in Humanities and Biology. In her undergraduate research, she explored hearing in various species of butterflies and tested their behavioural responses to various auditory stimuli. For her graduate research, she has turned her attention to slightly larger flying creatures. At IRES, she researched bats in cities and how bat boxes may be used to facilitate their residence in urban spaces. When she is not studying biology, she can be found admiring 19th century art, reading fiction, or cycling distances more sensibly done by foot or car.

Coverage of Julia’s work:
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/ubc-researcher-rides-bicycle-around-vancouver-to-study-how-city-affects-bats?

Anna R Santo

PhD Student

Contact Details

asanto@student.ubc.ca

mobile: 6519005451

Research Interests

Behavioral change, Biodiversity conservation, Climate change, Collaborative Governance, Environmental and cultural values, Social ecological systems

Bio

Anna Santo is a PhD student at the Institute for Resource, Environment and Sustainability (UBC). She is supervised by Professor Kai Chan. She is interested in the social dimensions of ecosystem rewilding and climate change mitigation.

Anna received her B.A. in biology and environmental studies at Oberlin College and her M.Sc. in Human Dimensions of Environmental Conservation from Virginia Tech. She has since worked as an applied social science researcher for Virginia Tech’s Conservation Social Science Lab, Advanced Conservation Strategies, and the University of Oregon’s Institute for a Sustainable Environment. Her work has included:

understanding private ranchers’ attitudes toward exotic, invasive beavers in the Tierra del Fuego region of Chile and Argentina
exploring strategies for expanding a volunteer community bird monitoring network in Mexico
understanding participation and nonparticipation in private lands conservation programs for endangered species in the U.S.
social and economic monitoring of forest management policies in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest
understanding strategies for increasing the use of prescribed burning across the U.S. West

Anna grew up in Minnesota and now considers Washington State to be home. She loves gardening, tending to her chickens, paddling the Salish Sea, and exploring the North Cascades mountains.

Featured Publications

Link to Google Scholar page

Santo, A. R., Donlan, C. J., Hagen, C. A., Luque, G. M., & Sorice, M. G. (2020). Characteristics and motivations of participants and nonparticipants in an at-risk species conservation program. Human Dimensions of Wildlife. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2020.1817631

Abrams, J., Huber-Stearns, H., Gosnell, H., Santo, A., Duffey, S., & Moseley, C. (2020). Tracking a Governance Transition: Identifying and Measuring Indicators of Social Forestry on the Willamette National Forest. Society and Natural Resources, 33(4), 504–523. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2019.1605434

Santo, A. R., Guillozet, K., Sorice, M. G., Baird, T. D., Gray, S., Donlan, C. J., & Anderson, C. B. (2017). Examining Private Landowners’ Knowledge Systems for an Invasive Species. Human Ecology, 45(4), 449–462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-017-9920-7

Santo, A. R., Sorice, M. G., Donlan, C. J., Franck, C. T., & Anderson, C. B. (2015). A human-centered approach to designing invasive species eradication programs on human-inhabited islands. Global Environmental Change, 35, 289–298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.09.012