IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (Pacific Standard Time)
Location: AERL Theatre, Room 120 (2202 Main Mall)
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Characterizing Diverging Scientific Perspectives of Relevance for Chemicals Management
Abstract:
The risks hormone disrupting substances pose to human health are highly uncertain and it is therefore a research area defined by controversy and expert disagreement. There is reason to believe that these disagreements, to some extent, are rooted in diverging scientific styles of reasoning. Making these areas of expert disagreement clearer can help identify if relevant perspectives are being excluded in chemicals management policy. This study trials a new methodological approach to systematically characterise diverging scientific styles of reasoning in endocrine disruptor literature, combining bibliometrics and grounded theory. The trialled method shows promise and the initial findings suggest that there are distinct ways of reasoning about the validity and purpose of different methods, policy alternatives, endocrine disruptor definition and treatment of uncertainty.
Note: For questions for Georgia’s talk:
A) If you are on zoom, please type your question in the chat.
B) If you are in AERL Theatre, please:
- Bring your phone or laptop
- Go to menti.com and enter the code shown on the presentation slides
- Type in your question
Georgia Green
MSc Student
Bio:
Georgia Green is a Master of Science student at the Institute for Resources Environment and Sustainability (IRES), co-supervised by Gunilla Öberg and Annegaaike Leopold.
Prior to joining IRES, she obtained an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Imperial College London. After working in science communication, Georgia developed an interest in the science-policy interface. Her current research focuses on different ways of knowing in science, applied to chemicals management.
Predicting the Impact of Minerals for a Low-Carbon Energy Transition
Abstract:
Production of low-carbon technologies such as solar PV, wind turbines, and electric vehicle batteries is more mineral intensive than that of fossil fuel technologies. Given that a large-scale low-carbon energy transition is proposed as a necessary step toward climate change mitigation, mining impacts could be exacerbated by increased demand for certain minerals. There is a contentious relationship between extractive industries and Indigenous communities in Canada, so it is important to consider the impact the low-carbon energy transition could have on Indigenous communities. This research will use remotely sensed imagery to develop a model that can relate various parameters of mineral extraction to the spatial extent of a mine’s impact. These impacts will then be interpreted through the context of Canadian settler-colonialism to consider the externalities of a low-carbon future where settler-colonialism remains.
Justin Huynh
MSc Student
Bio:
Justin Huynh (They/Them) is a MSc student, co-supervised by Dr. Milind Kandlikar and Dr. Nadja Kunz. Their research aims to quantify the potential for mining impacts to be exacerbated by a large-scale transition to low-carbon energy technologies. Justin hopes to integrate an analysis of settler colonialism with GIS and remote sensing methods to support movements for Indigenous sovereignty and shift narratives away from purely technocratic solutions to climate and other ecological crises. Outside of their institutional work, Justin is a community organizer working with the anti-imperialist struggle in the Philippines as well as Vietnamese migrant farm workers in Canada.
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (Pacific Standard Time)
Location: AERL Theatre, Room 120 (2202 Main Mall)
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Broadening our approach to find community-driven solutions to environmental challenges
Abstract:
Communities are facing ever-growing socio-ecological challenges due to the devastating impacts of pollution and climate change. Solving such complex environmental challenges will require new partnerships, connections, and collaborations that bring together many forms of knowledge, perspectives, and ways of communicating. We are at a unique moment where we can reimagine how science and scientists connect with society and the environment while re-centering the voices of knowledge holders from marginalized communities. Going beyond the peer-review publications and moving to include many forms of writings, knowledge sharing, artwork, and communication will be needed to find community-driven solutions to environmental problems.
Danielle Ignace
Assistant Professor, UBC Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences
Bio:
Dr. Danielle Ignace is a member of the Coeur d’Alene tribe, an ecophysiologist, and science communication enthusiast. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences at UBC. She studies how climate change and species invasions impact forest ecosystem health and Indigenous communities. Dr. Ignace is a Research Associate at Harvard Forest, Associate Editor for the journal Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, and is a Science for Social Equity Fellow (of Fair Count) finding community-driven solutions to climate change and pollution. As a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for the American Society of Plant Biology and as an Indigenous woman in STEM, she is deeply committed to developing Indigenous curriculum and her unique perspective bridges Indigenous communities, people of color, and scientists.
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (Pacific Standard Time)
Location: AERL Theatre, Room 120 (2202 Main Mall)
OR via Zoom:
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Note: This seminar will not be recorded.
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Abstract:
How many times have you seen great ideas take much longer to come to fruition than they needed to, or even fail altogether, because people or politics got in the way? Power informs the way we take up space and whether or not we leave room for others. How we unconsciously accept the way the playing field is tilted and cede ground to other people also reinforces power structures.
It doesn’t have to be this way: power literacy and competency are skills like any other that can be learned and perfected. Power Fundamentals is a foundational session to give participants a common language for power and the building blocks for a greater understanding of their own power and the power of others, as well as the tools for basic power mapping to assist advocacy and policy-making.
Andrea Reimer
Bio:
Andrea Reimer served four terms in local government from 2002-2018 including 10 years on Vancouver City Council where she led ground-breaking policy efforts on social justice, making Vancouver the greenest city in the world, democratizing engagement and the emerging economy. In government her efforts garnered numerous awards including the World Green Building Council’s Chairperson award and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal. After leaving office, she was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard in recognition of her civic leadership. She currently teaches about power at several universities and through her consultancy, Tawaw Strategies, acts as a strategic advisor to governments and advocacy organizations acting with courage on bold policy initiatives.
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 2:30pm (Pacific Standard Time)
Location: AERL Theatre, Room 120 (2202 Main Mall)
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Order of Presenters:
Prerna Gupta – 12:30pm to 1pm
Emma Gillies – 1pm to 1:30pm
15 Minute Break – 1:30pm to 1:45pm
Brynley Hanson-Wright – 1:45pm to 2:15pm
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Exploring the environmental drivers of methylmercury bioaccumulation in the Beaufort Sea
Abstract: Mercury entering aquatic systems can be transformed into methylmercury, a strong neurotoxicant that builds up in organisms and affects animal and public health. In the Arctic’s Beaufort Sea, top predators such as beluga whales—an ecologically and culturally significant species for many Inuit communities—can contain high concentrations of methylmercury. Historical methylmercury concentrations in Beaufort Sea belugas cannot be explained by mercury emissions trends alone, and environmental changes such as sea ice melt have been proposed as potential drivers of methylmercury concentrations in the ecosystem. Here, I explore the main drivers of methylmercury bioaccumulation in various species in the Beaufort Sea food web using an ecosystem modelling software and scenarios of environmental change informed by both Western Science and Inuvialuit Knowledge. This research seeks to identify drivers of mercury variability, highlight knowledge gaps, and make space for different ways of knowing.
Emma Gillies
MSc Student
Bio:
Emma is an IRES MSc student supervised by Dr. Amanda Giang. Before coming to UBC, Emma studied environmental biology at McGill University, where she conducted research on freshwater microplastic pollution and gained work experience as a journalist, field ecologist, and environmental consultant. Through her studies, Emma has become increasingly interested in fisheries, pollution, and policy, and more broadly, the connections between the environment and public health.
Boosting understanding of lifestyle carbon emissions: Evaluating the effectiveness of personal carbon calculators to promote climate action
Abstract: Climate change is driven in part by the lifestyle choices individuals make every day and yet the emissions associated with these decisions are seldom considered and are challenging for people to conceptualize. My research investigates different ways we can make these emissions more salient and enable individuals to make climate-friendly choices. Personal carbon calculators offer a unique opportunity to provide individuals with information about the climate-cost of different actions alongside personalized guidance for lowering one’s own impact. My research uses online between-subject experiments to evaluate how effective such tools may be for promoting climate action (e.g., personal emission-reducing behaviours, civic actions, and carbon offsetting). Though information provision alone is of course insufficient to address the climate crisis, my findings indicate that boosting knowledge about greenhouse gas emissions may empower individuals to reduce their personal emissions in the immediate future.
Brynley Hanson-Wright
MSc Student
Bio:
Brynley is a recent MSc graduate at IRES supervised by Dr. Jiaying Zhao in the Behavioural Sustainability Lab and is a co-president of the IRES Student Society (2021-2022). She graduated in 2018 from McMaster University’s Honours Integrated Science program with a concentration in psychology, neuroscience, and behaviour, and prior to joining IRES she worked for BC Wildfire Service and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Brynley’s current research explores the use of various behavioural interventions, such as carbon footprint calculators and carbon labels, to encourage climate-friendly choices. Whenever she finds the time, Brynley can be found on a mountain or a river: backpacking, ski touring, cycling, and canoe tripping.
Reason and Risk: Challenging the expert-public divide in the risk debates on uranium mining in India
Abstract: For the last two decades, India’s oldest uranium mines have been mired in controversy. These mines located in the Adivasi (or indigenous) land are suspected of having caused adverse health effects on mine workers and the inhabitants of the villages nearby. The controversy has involved contentious claims about the veracity of these health effects, the causes and the linkages with radiation, with different positions staked out by local anti-nuclear activists, NGOs, physicians, physicists and officials from the state-owned Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL).
Perception of risks from radiation has come to acquire a central space in this debate. Some people, mine workers and activists around the mines are convinced that the radiation from the mines is the source of the ill-health they have observed in the area over generations. UCIL dismisses these claims as “myths” rather than “facts” which they, as the scientific-technical expert authority claim to hold in this controversy. Mainstream discourse and some scholars of risk too make a distinction between objective assessment of risk by experts and subjective – value or emotion-based perception of risk by the public. This study adds to the literature in risk studies that questions this objective-subjective binary by looking at the risk debates around Jadugoda’s uranium mines.
Prerna Gupta
PhD Candidate
Bio:
Prerna’s PhD research investigates what cultural, economic and political factors affect people’s acceptance or rejection of nuclear energy in India. She has been engaging with nuclear issues for more than six years both academically and through civil action. Prerna’s Master’s thesis “Normalising Nuclear: A cultural study of how India learnt to love the bomb” was completed at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. It explores how a nation once invested in the Gandhian ideals of non-violence came to embrace a weapon of mass destruction from a cultural studies perspective. Her experience with various social movements drives her passion for socially relevant research and creative projects. She is also a documentary filmmaker and is interested in exploring the relevance of the form of documentary for research in social sciences. Her previous documentary films include: “Kadak Bai”, the story of a daily wage female worker who struggles to feed her family during India’s demonetization and “Like Dust We Rise”, the struggles of contract sanitation workers at the Bombay Municipal Corporation.
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (Pacific Standard Time)
Location: AERL Theatre, Room 120 (2202 Main Mall)
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Understanding air quality with lower-cost sensors: technical and community considerations for impactful research
Abstract:
Increasingly, lower-cost air pollution sensors are being used by academics, government agencies and community organizations to understand local patterns of air quality and the impacts of sources such as traffic and wildfires. Given that this research typically happens in community settings (e.g., campus or community as a ‘living lab’), there are a number of important technical and community considerations that must be addressed. These considerations can range from sensor siting, to stakeholder relationship building, to data reporting and more. In this talk, I will go over some recent lower-cost sensor research studies in Metro Vancouver and explore the air quality science outcomes, as well as provide insights into how these kinds of studies are designed and executed for maximum impact.
Naomi Zimmerman
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia
Canada Research Chair in Sustainability
Bio:
Dr. Naomi Zimmerman is an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering at UBC and Canada Research Chair in Sustainability. Prior to UBC she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies at Carnegie Mellon University and also holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the measurement of air pollutants in complex environments to better understand the health and climate impacts of new technologies and policies, with a focus on the transportation and energy sectors. Dr. Zimmerman is also a lead investigator of the Rapid Air Improvement Network (RAIN).
This seminar is co-sponsored by UBC Clean Energy Research Centre and UBC IRES.
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (Pacific Standard Time)
Location: AERL Theatre, Room 120 (2202 Main Mall)
OR via Zoom
Note: This seminar will not be recorded.
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Reflections on COP26 in Glasgow: What Happened and What’s Next for Canada’s Climate Policy and Economy
Abstract:
Kathryn Harrison recently attended COP26 in Glasgow as one of eight UBC delegates (live tweets from @profkharrison), and previously attended COP25 in Madrid. She will reflect on her attendance at COP26 in Glasgow, which followed the first working group report from the IPCC’s sixth assessment, and was the first critical “ratchet” period where countries are expected to increase their target ambition under the Paris Agreement. What happened at COP26 and what’s next in international negotiations in the context of the Paris Agreement? What are the implications of COP26 (and COP27 this year) for Canadian climate policy and for Canada’s economy, especially fossil fuel exports?
Kathryn Harrison
Professor, Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia
Bio:
Kathryn Harrison is a Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia. She received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering before completing her PhD in Political Science. Before entering academia, Dr. Harrison worked as a policy analyst for both Environment Canada and the United States Congress. She has published widely on Canadian and US environmental and climate policy. Dr. Harrison has advised governments from the local to international level, and is currently chair of the Expert Advisory Panel on climate mitigation of the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices.