October 15, 2020: IRES Student Seminar with Balsher Sidhu and Luis Felipe Melgarejo Perez

IRES Seminar Series

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

Via Zoom

View video.

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Machine learning methods for examining the impact of climate variability on crop yields in India

Due to the strong dependence of agricultural productivity on climate, predicting crop yields as a function of climate variability has been a topic of extensive research over the past many decades. However, most previous studies have utilized seasonal average climate values in their statistical models, largely ignoring intra-seasonal climate variability. Even though the latter has been demonstrated to have disproportionately strong impacts on crop yields, it has largely remained unaccounted for in statistical crop models and global yield estimates. To address this research gap, Balsher is developing improved crop yield statistical models with dedicated variables for intra-seasonal climate variability, using India as a case study. In this talk, Balsher will discuss a part of his research showing the advantages of machine learning methods over more traditional regression techniques for predicting crop yields as a function of climate variability.

Balsher Sidhu

IRES PhD Program

Bio:

Balsher grew up in Punjab, India, a state often called the bread basket of the country. His formative years in the midst of intensive agricultural activity have played a prominent role in determining the topic of his doctoral research, for which he is analyzing the relationship between climate and agriculture in India. More specifically, he is building statistical models to quantify the impact climate variability (both intra-seasonal, and long-term climate change) has on crop yields across the country. Balsher is co-supervised by professors Milind Kandlikar and Navin Ramankutty, and is funded by UBC’s Four-Year Fellowship and the NSERC Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship.

Will the trade of novel Amazon fruits help recover the Amazon forest? Sustainable consumption of Acai in Metro Vancouver

Only 9 food plants account for 66% of global crop production from 300 that are commonly traded, while other 7,000 are disappearing along with species that feed on these fruits. Palm oil and soy are among the leading drivers of deforestation and biodiversity loss in Amazon countries, yet we consume these ingredients in almost every processed food. Existing conservation instruments (e.g. PES, REDD+) built capacity in this region but fell short in supporting shifts to sustainable agriculture. As a solution to this problem, Amazon countries are promoting the trade of native fruits considering its increasing demand in the health food industry. However, two challenges must be overcome first to allow a favourable shift: appropriate regulations and sustainable consumption of these fruits. Therefore, I focus on the trade of Acai (Euterpe oleracea) in Canada as my case study considering the growing demand for this Amazon fruit. An assessment of attitudes towards the sustainable consumption of Acai in Metro Vancouver was carried out through a Likert survey and by interpreting correlations with demographic data. In addition, a comparative analysis of eco-certifications and regulations applicable in the trade of Amazon fruits in North America and Europe offer an overview of the regulatory barriers and opportunities to develop market-based conservation mechanisms. Findings confirm that Vancouverites are increasingly concerned about the effects of their Acai products on nature and their health despite eco-certifications. This research provides insights into the sustainable consumption of Amazon fruits in Canada as an alternative to recover contested biodiverse landscapes and neglected traditional fruits.

Luis Felipe Melgarejo Perez

IRES MA Program

Bio:

Luis F. Melgarejo was born in Colombia and worked at the German International Development Agency – GIZ in several projects related to environmental conflict transformation and regional planning (M.Sc.). He studies entrepreneurships that help recovering biodiversity while sustainably managing natural forests with rural communities. A full-time foodie, particularly when it comes to neglected fruits that look promising for the food industry and to reconnect ecological corridors in contested landscapes. Before IRES, he led a Forest Protection Program in the Colombian Amazon, promoting wild fruits by supporting farmers and start-ups to gradually shift from extensive ranching and illicit crops to endemic agroforestry.

October 8, 2020: IRES Faculty Seminar with César Rodríguez-Garavito

IRES Seminar Series

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

Via Zoom

View video.

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Litigating the Climate Emergency: How Human Rights, Courts and Legal Mobilization Can Bolster Climate Action

Climate litigation based on human rights is proliferating around the world. From the Netherlands to Mexico, from Canada to South Africa to the Philippines, from the Arctic to the Amazon, from domestic to international courts, litigants are bringing legal challenges against governments and corporations to hold them accountable for massive human rights violations associated with global warming. This talk presents the first systematic study of the universe of rights-based climate litigation around the world. The talk discusses the origins and the emergent legal doctrines as well as the impact and limitations of rights-based litigation in advancing climate action.

César Rodríguez-Garavito

Director, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law

Bio:

César Rodríguez-Garavito is a director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law and the Editor-in-Chief of Open Global Rights. He has been as visiting professor at Stanford, Brown, the University of Melbourne, European University Institute, University of Pretoria, the Getulio Vargas Foundation (Brazil) and the Andean University of Quito. He has published widely on global governance, international human rights, climate litigation, socio-environmental conflicts, and business and human rights. He has served as expert witness of Inter-American Court of Human Rights, an Adjunct Judge of the Constitutional Court of Colombia, a member of the Science Panel for the Amazon and a lead litigator in climate change, socioeconomic rights and indigenous rights cases.

Reintroducing sea otters is good for the environment and the economy, and both matter

A UBC study led by Edward Gregr, an adjunct professor at IRES, notes the economic costs and long-term benefits of sea otter recovery. While sea otters are detrimental to fisheries income, economic gains in other sectors outweigh these losses.

Think You’re Making Good Climate Choices? Take This Mini-Quiz

An intuitive questionnaire tests the user’s ability to make trade-offs that impact individual carbon emissions. The New York Times quiz is based on a study by researchers in IRES and UBC’s Department of Geography.

‘Non-union’ bees make blueberries thrive — but only if they have a home

Native bumblebees — as opposed to the semi-domesticated honeybees that farmers are increasingly reliant on — are better for many B.C. farming systems, observed Claire Kremen, prof at UBC in zoology and IRES.

October 1, 2020: IRES Student Seminar with Anthony Persaud and Ilana Judah

IRES Seminar Series

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

Via Zoom

View video.

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Counter-Institutionalizing First Nation-Crown relations in British Columbia

In Canada, the advance of industrial resource extraction has been moderated by a series of key legal decisions which have found that development activities within the traditional territories of Indigenous groups may infringe on aboriginal and treaty rights, requiring a duty to consult and potentially accommodate those affected. In British Columbia this duty is primarily satisfied through the crown referrals process, whereby affected First Nation groups are notified by the crown regarding potential rights-affecting decisions and are given an opportunity to formulate a response. This form of institutionalized engagement presents an ongoing challenge for First Nation groups who struggle to manage the influx of crown referrals as well as a dilemma for those who question its fairness and inherent colonial structure. For others, it is seen as an opportunity to leverage the duty to consult and accommodate in order to strengthen territorial self-governance. In this presentation I explore the ways in which the crown referrals process has been utilized and redrawn by First Nation groups in order to achieve their territorial goals, and the trade-offs involved.

Anthony Persaud

IRES PhD Program

Bio:

Anthony is a PhD candidate and community development practitioner with a broad focus on the intersections between community well-being, economic futures, and Indigenous territorial self-governance. Under the supervision of Dr. Terre Satterfield at IRES-UBC, his action-based research seeks to understand how institutional innovations in relation to housing, natural resource management, and consultation and accommodation processes enable First Nation groups to achieve their cultural economic goals. Anthony brings to his work more than a decade of experience working directly with rural and Indigenous communities and authorities in British Columbia and internationally in West Africa and Latin America. He approaches all of his work utilizing decolonizing, community-based participatory methods with the aim of enhancing Indigenous self-determination.

Adaptive Mitigation: A framework for assessing interactions between climate adaptation and mitigation approaches in urban multifamily buildings

Understanding of the interrelationship between climate adaptation and mitigation strategies in the built environment has been very limited, potentially resulting in unintended risks, redundancies, additional costs, and missed opportunities. There is a need to expand this area of investigation and provide associated analysis tools to the building industry.

Our research asks how the design process for multifamily buildings in urban neighbourhoods can effectively integrate both climate adaptation and mitigation considerations. Urban multifamily buildings are an important typology because of their concentration of GHG emissions, occupant densities, and often vulnerable residents. Drawing from a wide range of literature, guidelines, policies, and input from key experts, we developed an integrated building adaptation and mitigation assessment (IBAMA) framework to help practitioners more effectively evaluate solutions. IBAMA is being developed for BC Housing with funding provided by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions.

Ilana Judah

IRES MSc Program

Bio:

Ilana is an MSc Student under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie Chang. A practicing architect for over 20 years, she was formerly a Principal and Director of Sustainability at FXCollaborative, a New York City architecture firm known for their pioneering work on sustainable high-rises. Ilana served on several industry task forces to address sustainability, climate change mitigation and adaptation in buildings. A Certified Passive House Designer, she was co-author of a research study on the feasibility of implementing the Passive House standard on residential high-rise buildings. Ilana studied architecture at McGill University and is a registered architect in Quebec and New York.

September 24, 2020: IRES Faculty Seminar with Areef Abraham

IRES Seminar Series

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

Via Zoom

View video.

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My 30-year journey (with bumps and breakdowns on the way)

Areef has worked for over three decades with underserved communities who struggle to pay their energy bills. This presentation will discuss how and why it all began, and the successes and pitfalls he experienced along the way. Areef’s learned experience speaks to the importance of working effectively at the interface of communities, governments and tradespeople to improve outcomes for all.

Today Areef’s family business, Kambo Energy Group, is a 40+ person equity-based social enterprise run by his children—all of whom are UBC alumni. Through its two main programs—Empower Me and Community Power—Kambo Energy Group works with Indigenous Nations, lower income households, immigrants, and new Canadians with an aim to provide energy solutions for all.

Areef Abraham

President & CEO at Community Power and Director at Kambo Green Solutions

Bio:

Areef is a natural community collaborator who has had led a rich career helping clients move from ideas to on-the-ground action. As a mechanical engineer, he has dedicated the past 30+ years of experience in energy efficiency sectors in North America and across the UK.

Areef is the Founder of Kambo Energy Group, a social enterprise which encompasses two divisions – Community Power and Empower Me. Community Power works with First Nations and other underserved groups to manage and reduce energy costs. Empower Me focuses on providing in-language energy education by community mentors to newcomers and immigrants.

Areef’s overriding business philosophy is to focus on what matters, and to matter you need to execute.

Commentary: Road to recovery post-coronavirus paved with green bricks

In the aftermath of COVID-19, UBC IRES and IOF prof Kai Chan resists a return to our pre-pandemic practices that contribute to crises in climate and ecology by detailing transformative pathways towards a thriving, sustainable future.

September 17, 2020: IRES Faculty Roundtable with Milind Kandlikar, David Boyd, and Claire Kremen

IRES Seminar Series

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

Via Zoom

Please email communications@ires.ubc.ca for video.

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COVID-19 and the Environment: Status-quo ex-ante or a long term transition?

In March and April of 2020 as COVID-19 lockdowns were put in place around the world, observers noticed a palpable change in environmental conditions. As economic activity and movement of people stalled environmental quality improved. For example, air quality in places with notoriously bad levels of pollution became a lot better, observations of animal and bird life went up, and emissions of carbon dropped. However, six months into the pandemic we seem to be back to where we were in early 2020. This panel will address what we have learnt from this episode, and whether it provides lessons for a longer term transition to improved environmental and human health protection, including: the relationship between emerging infectious diseases, wildlife trade and deforestation, and the importance of actions to prevent future pandemics; how COVID-19 reveals the many frailties of our food system; and the future implications of COVID-19 for air quality and climate change.

Milind Kandlikar

Director & Professor at IRES, Professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs

Bio:

Milind Kandlikar (PhD Carnegie Mellon) is a Professor at the Liu Institute for Global Issues and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. His work focuses on the intersection of technology innovation, human development and the global environment. Dr. Kandlikar’s current projects include the regulation of agricultural biotechnology including implications for food security; air quality in Indian cities; risks and benefits of nanotechnology; solar lighting systems in the developing world; and development and climate change. He has also published extensively on the science and policy of climate change.

David Boyd

Associate Professor at IRES, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment

Bio:

David R. Boyd is an environmental lawyer and internationally renowned expert on human rights and the environment. He has a PhD in Resource Management and Environmental Studies from UBC, a JD from the University of Toronto, and a business degree from the University of Alberta. His primary focus is on identifying laws and policies that will accelerate the transition to an ecologically sustainable and just future, both in Canada and across the world. Areas of particular interest include environmental justice, environmental rights and responsibilities, the rights of nature, the debate between regulation and economic instruments, and urban environmental issues. Boyd is the author of seven books and over 100 articles on environmental issues. His most recent books include The Optimistic Environmentalist (ECW Press, 2015), Cleaner, Greener, Healthier: A Prescription for Stronger Canadian Environmental Laws and Policies (UBC Press, 2015), The Right to a Healthy Environment: Revitalizing Canada’s Constitution (UBC Press, 2012) and The Environmental Rights Revolution: A Global Study of Constitutions, Human Rights, and the Environment (UBC Press, 2012).

Claire Kremen

Professor at IRES, Professor at the Department of Zoology, President’s Excellence Chair in Biodiversity

Bio:

Claire Kremen is President’s Excellence Chair In Biodiversity with a joint appointment in IRES and Zoology at the University of British Columbia. She is an ecologist and applied conservation biologist working on how to reconcile agricultural land use with biodiversity conservation. Current research questions in her lab include: How do different forms of agricultural land management influence long-term persistence of wildlife populations by promoting or curtailing dispersal movements and population connectivity? Specifically, can diversified, agroecological farming systems promote species dispersal and survival? How do different types of farming systems affect ecosystem services, yields, profitability, sustainability and livelihoods? How do we design sustainable landscapes that promote biodiversity while providing for people? Before coming to UBC, she held faculty appointments first at Princeton University and then at University of California, Berkeley, where she was also founding Faculty Director for the Center for Diversified Farming Systems and the Berkeley Food Institute. Prior to those appointments, she worked for over a decade for the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Xerces Society, designing protected area networks and conducting biodiversity research in Madagascar, a biodiversity hotspot. Her work both then and now strives to develop practical conservation solutions while adding fundamentally to biodiversity science. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Conservation International, Field Chief Editor for Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, and, since 2014, has been noted as a highly-cited researcher (Thomson-Reuters’ “World’s Most Influential Minds”/Clarivate Analytics).

September 10, 2020: IRES Awards Session with Kai Chan (First Seminar in Term 1)

IRES Seminar Series

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

Via Zoom

Please email communications@ires.ubc.ca for Zoom video.

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IRES Awards Session

Want to write an application that you’ll be proud of for an NSERC or SSHRC master’s or doctoral award? Nervous about crafting a research proposal that will make your application stand out? Join this Awards Info Session and kick-start the writing process with some great tips and direction for creating a successful application.

During this session, IRES Professor Kai Chan will provide guidance from 15 years reviewing NSERC & SSHRC applications at departmental, university and national levels. He welcomes questions from the audience.

Kai Chan

Professor, IRES

Bio:

Kai Chan is a sustainability scientist whose work straddles social and natural systems with a focus on values and transformative change. He is a professor at the University of British Columbia, a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists (2017), a Coordinating Lead Author of the IPBES Global Assessment, a Lead Editor for the new journal People and Nature, a member of Canada’s Clean16 for 2020, and co-founder of CoSphere (a Community of Small-Planet Heroes).