November 18, 2021: IRES Student Seminar with Yeonuk Kim

IRES Seminar Series

Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)

Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall

The Seminar video will be available later, once the paper has been published.

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Atmospheric evaporative demand in a warming climate

Abstract:

Potential evaporation (PE), also referred to as atmospheric evaporative demand, is a key control on the terrestrial water cycle. Under climate change, it is projected to increase at a greater rate than precipitation over land, implying a global scale hydrologic drying. However, recent findings suggest that projected increases in PE may be a methodological artifact, implying a hydrologic drying bias in some modelling approaches. Here, we address this critical issue by introducing an alternative PE model based on a land-atmosphere coupling theory. The alternative model most accurately reproduces observed non-water-stressed evaporation at field and watershed scales, and it does not show bias regarding temperature, unlike in current PE models. Using the proposed PE model, we suggest PE will increase at a similar rate to increases in ocean evaporation under future climatic conditions, which is much slower than the rate suggested by current PE models. Consequently, the hydrologic drying bias can be reduced using the proposed alternative. These results demonstrate a critical role of the land-atmosphere coupling in determining atmospheric evaporative demand, particularly under the changing climate.

Yeonuk Kim

IRES PhD Program

Bio:

Yeonuk Kim is a PhD candidate at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, under the supervision of Dr. Mark Johnson. His research interest is to evaluate human activities and climate change impacts on the water cycle. Recently, he has been awarded a research grant as a Co-Investigator for his research topic from Canadian Space Agency. Yeonuk holds a BSc in Rural Systems Engineering from Seoul National University. Prior to coming to UBC, he worked at the National Center for Agro-Meteorology in South Korea, where he managed observing systems of water and carbon exchanges between land and atmosphere.

November 11, 2021: No Seminar Due to Midterm Break

There will be no seminar on Thursday, November 11 due to Midterm Break (November 10-12).

November 4, 2021: IRES Professional Development Seminar with Allen Edzerza

IRES Seminar Series

Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)

Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall

Email communications@ires.ubc.ca for video.

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Storytelling by Allen Edzerza

Abstract:

Allen will be answering and discussing these 4 questions:

What is the importance and value of storytelling?
What makes a story compelling or impactful?
How can we construct or craft stories about the work that we are doing?
How might we use storytelling in our lives and work?

Guiding Principles for Allen’s Talk

A statement of sacred responsibilities and inherent rights granted to our People by the Creator.

Oneness of all Things

1) Our relationship to the land is inseparable and enduring based on the belief that all things have a spirit and are of oneness. We must listen to the spirit of the land.

Protection of the Land

2) We are born into our ancestral land and as a result have a sacred responsibility to work to preserve and protect our ancestral lands for present and future generations. We cannot be separated from our land.

Respect is Paramount

3) Respect for ourselves, each other, the land and environment is a core value passed on by our ancestors.

Water is Sacred

4) As part of our life-blood, water is a sacred and precious resource, and must be protected and respected.

Balance must be Maintained

5) Balance must be maintained with our land and all our relations now and for future generations.

6) Sharing is an important principle of our culture, including the sharing of the land and the benefits derived from the land.

Sacred Laws

7) Our sacred laws and our code of conduct are the basis of our relationship to the land and to our culture.

Traditional Knowledge

8) Traditional knowledge is an accumulation of knowledge and wisdom founded on observation and interaction with the land and passed on by our elders from generation to generation through stories and legends.

Respect for Future Generations

9) It is our sacred responsibility to strive to protect our ancestral lands for future generations.

Allen Edzerza

Consultant/Negotiator

Bio:

Allen is currently leading mining reform discussions with the Government of British Columbia on behalf of the First Nation Energy and Mining Council.

Allen worked with the Gordon Foundation to develop an IBA Community Toolkit and assisted in conducting workshops with First Nations on the IBA Community Toolkit across Canada.

Allen was appointed to the Office of the Premier, Government of British Columbia as Special Advisor on Aboriginal issues. In this capacity, Allen assisted the Province to foster a better working relationship with First Nations by improving communications and coordination between the Province and First Nations.

Allen has served as an Advisor and Chief Negotiator for the Premier and Cabinet for the Government of the Yukon in 2002/ 2003.

Allen has been a senior negotiator for the past 25 years serving as Lead Negotiator for the Tahltan Central Council, Chief Negotiator for the Kaska Nations and held several senior positions in INAC, Government of Canada.

Allen is a member of the Tahltan Nation and a recognized artist with works in several major collections.

October 25, 2021: IRES Special Seminar with Jamie McEvoy

IRES Seminar Series

Time: 4pm

Location: AERL room 107, 2202 Main Mall

View video.

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Drought Planning and Adaptation in a More-Than-Human World

Abstract:

Drought is a threat to human communities and natural systems. This talk focuses on drought adaptation strategies that account for multispecies needs in a more-than-human world. A recent National Drought Resilience Partnership (NDRP) pilot project brought together federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and watershed stakeholders to build drought resiliency in the Upper Missouri Headwaters region in southwestern Montana, USA. This talk presents opportunities and challenges for implementing innovative drought adaptation measures, such as beaver mimicry projects as a form of natural water storage, ‘shared sacrifice’ agreements to leave water instream during times of shortage, and drought plans that account for ecological and human impacts will be highlighted. This research stems from an interdisciplinary Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP) focused on Ecological Drought in collaboration with the Montana National Drought Resilience Partnership (NDRP) pilot project in Montana.

Jamie McEvoy

Associate Professor of Geography, Montana State University

Fulbright Fellow, IRES

Bio:

Dr. Jamie McEvoy is an associate professor of Geography at Montana State University. She earned her PhD in geography from the University of Arizona in 2013. She is on sabbatical as Fulbright Fellow at UBC-IRES (fall term) and UNAM, Mexico City (spring term). Her research interests include water governance, climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the water sector, political ecology, science technology studies, and nature-society relations. Recent research has focused on how individuals and communities prepare for droughts and floods; perceptions of water quality associated with oil and gas development in eastern Montana, USA; public participation in water planning along the Yellowstone River; the impacts of desalination as a sociotechnical system in northwestern Mexico; and the feminization of agriculture in southwestern Mexico.

Hitting global climate target could create 8m energy jobs, study says

October 21, 2021: IRES Faculty Seminar with Don Carruthers Den Hoed

IRES Seminar Series

Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)

Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall

View video.

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Transforming parks and protected areas leadership by linking practitioners, researchers, and knowledge holders

Abstract:

The Canadian Parks Collective for Innovation and Leadership (CPCIL) is a pan-Canadian initiative aimed at revealing, connecting, and transforming an inclusive community of parks and protected areas leaders, scholars, community partners, and Indigenous knowledge holders. This presentation will outline the history and core programs of CPCIL and share opportunities for the academic community to get involved with real-world wicked problems, such as decolonizing parks, equity and diversity, conservation burnout, climate adaptation, and organizational sustainability – particularly tensions in financing protected areas. We will also introduce and invite participation in the Pan Canadian Parks and Protected Areas Research Network, a new element of the CPCIL project aimed at improving knowledge mobilization for parks and protected areas decision-makers.

Don Carruthers Den Hoed

Research Associate, IRES

Bio:

After nearly thirty years as a provincial park educator and land manager — who was an academic “on the side” — Don Carruthers Den Hoed left public service to complete his doctorate and lead the Canadian Parks Collective for Innovation and Leadership (CPCIL). Now a Research Associate at IRES, Don remains an academic practitioner, focusing his research on intersections between parks and reconciliation, conservation, inclusion, and sustainability. He supports hundreds of federal, provincial, and territorial park staff with leadership programs and resources, and he collaborates with parks and protected areas academics and Indigenous conservation leaders on a variety of interdisciplinary research projects.

October 14, 2021: IRES Student Seminar with Jack Durant and Alexa Tanner

IRES Seminar Series

Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)

Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall

View video.

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Epistemic Communities and Uncertainty in the Risk Assessment of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals

Abstract:

As with other complex areas of scientific research, the risk assessment of endocrine-disrupting chemicals involves significant uncertainty. However, the degree, nature and locus of this uncertainty appear to be understood differently by different scientists in the field. This study aims to take a first step towards ‘mapping’ how uncertainty is characterised by different EDC scientists through ‘brokered dialogue’. The brokered dialogue methodology involves filming interviews with experts on a given side of a conversation before showing the footage to experts from a different side for comment. This novel research technique revealed a number of surprising similarities and divergences in EDC experts’ uncertainty characterisations and discussing these and their potential significance will form the core of the talk.

Jack Durant

IRES MA Program

Bio:

Jack works as part of the Egesta lab and is supervised by Gunilla Öberg and Daniel Steel. Prior to joining IRES in 2019, Jack studied philosophy in the UK where his research projects centred on political philosophy and philosophy of mind. After a brief period of working in environmental conservation, Jack became interested in questions surrounding the production of environmental science. His focus since joining the Egesta lab has been on how the cultural components of science affect its reliability.

Multi-hazard risks: Understanding how context and interacting factors influence natural hazard beliefs and management actions

Abstract:

Given the increasing frequency of disasters and consequences of occurrence, due, in part, to climate change and the amount of property and infrastructure at risk, scholars and practitioners have urged communities to strive for building disaster resilient communities. However, working towards resilience requires understanding how experts and communities perceive and make decisions around natural hazard risks, particularly when faced with multiple hazards. This presentation opens with a brief background of multi-hazard risks and natural hazard and risk perception research before presenting the results from a series of twenty-nine interviews with emergency and risk managers in British Columbia. The presentation will focus on understanding how different natural hazards are perceived and managed, how multi-hazard perspectives are incorporated into practice, and how future threats may change practices.

Alexa Tanner

IRES PhD Program

Bio:

Alexa Tanner is a PhD Candidate at the University of British Columbia in the Institute for Resource, Environment and Sustainability. The focus of her research is understanding how people perceive risks and make risk management decisions associated with natural hazards. In her recent work, this is applied to risk management in multi-hazard environments, the maritime transportation system, and emergency evacuation behaviour. Her research incorporates risk perceptions into natural hazard risk management with the aim of fostering disaster resilient communities.

October 7, 2021: IRES Faculty Seminar with Edward Gregr

IRES Seminar Series

Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)

Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall

View video.

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Living marine resources in a changing climate: Are spatial models up to the challenge?

Abstract:

Understanding the distribution of species and the services they provide is critical to effective resource management. This understanding typically relies correlations between observations of species and the environment. However, both these data sets contain biases and generalizations which can limit the utility of the resulting models. Using the British Columbia coast as a case study, I will briefly review the evolution of spatial models over the last 25 years, and describe four (at least) persistent challenges to what are now established approaches to predicting species distributions. I will show how these methods are not up to the task of dealing with the uncertainty and novelty of a changing climate, and argue that more mechanistic approaches will likely be necessary to deal with potential range shifts.

Edward Gregr

Adjunct Professor, IRES

Bio:

I completed my PhD with Dr. Chan at IRES, studying the sea otter – kelp forest trophic cascade and the associated changes in ecosystem services. This interdisciplinary work compliments my earlier academic training in Zoology (M.Sc. 2000) and Computer Science (B.Sc. 1992), which is reflected in my over 25 years of experience in field research design and sampling, research, consulting, and project management. I consider myself a Systems Ecologist studying the intersection of ecosystem services, risk, and human values. My research interests centre on using various types of spatial models to inform ecosystem-based management, and on making such models more credible, relevant, and legitimate. Understanding model uncertainty is the foundation of model credibility, and to that end, I am exploring ways of making models more credible through the explicit consideration of model assumptions. To be effective, model results must also be relevant to managers, and perceived as legitimate by stakeholders. These goals are most likely to be achieved if model objectives and scope are defined collaboratively with interested managers and vested stakeholders. I continue to pursue opportunities to build such models in contentious and complex social-ecological contexts.

September 30, 2021: National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

On September 30th, UBC will be observing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Classes are cancelled and university employees who are normally entitled to provincial and federal holidays will receive this day off. The day is designated as an opportunity to ‘recognize and commemorate the legacy of residential schools.’ Please consider attending A Participatory Reading of the 94 Calls to Action from the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission or joining an intergenerational march to mark the national day of Truth and Reconciliation.

September 23, 2021: IRES Faculty Seminar with Rachel White and Simon Donner

IRES Seminar Series

Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)

Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall

View video.

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Roundtable Discussion on the 2021 IPCC Report

Abstract:

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. The IPCC provides regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. Please click here for more details.

Rachel White

Assistant Professor, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia

Bio:

Rachel is an Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Sciences working on large-scale climate dynamics and climate modelling in the EOAS Department at UBC. She trained as an Atmospheric Physicist at Imperial College London, before completing post-doc positions at the University of Washington and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. Her current research focusses on the connections between large- scale atmospheric dynamics and extreme weather events, particularly heatwaves. She also enjoys playing with climate models to understand how forcing affects our climate, whether that forcing is anthropogenic greenhouse gases, the presence of ice sheets or different land configurations in paleoclimates.

Simon Donner

Professor, IRES & Geography, University of British Columbia

Bio:

Simon Donner (he/him/his) is an interdisciplinary climate scientist who aims to address societally-relevant questions surrounding climate change. Most of his research is at the intersection of physical climate science, marine science and public policy. His current areas of focus are patterns of ocean warming and sea-level rise; climate change adaptation in the developing world, especially in coastal areas; and climate change and coral reefs. This research involves a combination of numerical modelling, large-scale geospatial analysis, and both scientific and interview-based field work in the south and central Pacific. Donner takes his privileged position as a professor seriously, and spends a lot of time translating the science of climate change to different audiences in hopes of helping people make better decisions about the future. Simon recently joined IRES as a new faculty member.