March 18, 2021: IRES Student Seminar with Madison Stevens and Rocío López de la Lama

IRES Seminar Series

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

Via Zoom

View video.

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Rights, Responsibilities, and Stewardship in a Mosaic “Lawscape”: Evidence From Community Forests in the Indian Himalaya

The role of community stewardship in biodiversity conservation has taken centre stage as conservation actors recognize the influence of the human-dominated matrix on biodiversity outcomes, and the social injustices of exclusionary protected areas. Among the oldest examples of formalized forest co-management in the world, the van panchayats of Uttarakhand, India are owned by the State and managed by local rightsholders. Though codified as discrete management units, van panchayats are not islands: the benefits they deliver are interdependent among a mosaic of management and tenure models. Drawing on qualitative research in Johar Valley, in the Greater Himalaya, this study explores how forest councils navigate their stewardship roles vis-à-vis neighboring communities and governing authorities. The distribution of forest rights and responsibilities among and between forest actors illustrates the complex topography of this “lawscape.” This study aims to shed light on the opportunities and barriers this mosaic presents for stewarding communities as they care for ecologically and culturally significant places.

Madison Stevens

IRES PhD Program

Bio:

Madison is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia, under the supervision of Dr. David Boyd and Dr. Janette Bulkan. Her research interests center on the intersection of human rights and conservation, examining the implementation of rights-based approaches to protected areas. Her dissertation work employs qualitative ethnographic methods and a political ecology lens to understand the governance dimensions of community forests in Uttarakhand, India. She is also involved in collaborative projects focused on the equity dimensions of climate adaptation and the use of evidence in conservation planning. Madison holds a BA in Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies from Franklin University, Switzerland, in 2015, where her thesis highlighted Indigenous land rights and conflict in Uganda. Her professional background includes a decade of experience working for conservation nonprofit organizations, notably as an Education Media Specialist and Logistics Coordinator with Polar Bears International since 2011. Volunteer and work opportunities with a range environmental initiatives have taken her all over the world, including an international conference on climate change in Antarctica with 2041, and research on sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa.

Who Are These Crazy People? Sharing the Stories Behind Privately Protected Areas in Peru

Private protected areas (PPA) in Peru represent an innovative way of conserving and defending nature, accounting for almost 400,000 protected hectares nationwide. Unlike PPAs in the Global North, PPAs in Peru are managed by local communities and families without any type of incentive or government support. Thus, representing a fascinating case-study for studying people’s relationships with nature and their motivations for voluntarily protecting the land. In this presentation, I will focus on PPAs run by individuals and families throughout the country. By having conducted online interviews and a legal document analysis, I hope to convey PPAs owners’ stories about their relationships with the land, wildlife and people.

Rocío López de la Lama

IRES PhD Program

Bio:

Rocío López de la Lama is a PhD Candidate under the supervision of Dr. Kai Chan. She has been working in nature conservation since 2012, mainly in Peru, focusing on people’s relationships with nature from different perspectives (e.g., small-scale fisheries, protected areas). Her current work explores voluntary land conservation in Peru, shedding light into people’s values, motivations and concerns regarding nature’s protection. Rocio is a biologist and holds a Master of Philosophy in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge.

March 9-21: Parks and Protected Areas Research Network Virtual Research Summit

Hosted by Canadian Parks Collective for Innovation and Leadership (CPCIL), the Virtual Research Summit will bring together “Knowers” (scholars/knowledge keepers), “Doers” (practitioners), and “Learners” (students, new hires) from across the country to make personal connections and build a network of passionate individuals in the parks and protected areas field.

March 11, 2021: IRES Faculty Seminar with Erika Zavaleta

IRES Seminar Series

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

Via Zoom

View video.

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Climate disruption, animal migrations and equity in conservation science

The practice of conservation science includes what we choose to study towards what goals, as well as whom we choose to work with, how we influence our organizations, and how we use science to hone our teaching and to advance justice in our field. I will focus on two projects in my group. The first aims to broaden our understanding of adaptive eco-evolutionary responses to global changes by looking at trends in wildlife migration, a phenomenon capable of rapid shifts. The second aims to expand excellence and equity in conservation science through the practice and study of inclusive, field-based experiences. Both efforts aim to advance a broader goal of strengthening conservation so that it can successfully meet the challenges of our era.

Erika Zavaleta

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, University of California Santa Cruz

Bio:
Erika studies cross-scale ecological responses to climate and biodiversity changes. Her teaching emphasizes inquiry-based, experiential learning. Erika founded and directs the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at UCSC, whose goal is to diversify U.S. conservation. In 2018 she founded the Center to Advance Mentored, Inquiry-Based Opportunities (CAMINO) to expand inclusive undergraduate research experiences. Erika received the Ecological Society of America (ESA) Sustainability Science Award for work on responses to climate change in Alaska’s boreal forest, and the California Book Award for Ecosystems of California. She is an ESA and California Academy of Sciences Fellow and enjoys time outdoors with her family.

March 4, 2021: IRES Professional Development Seminar with Helina Jolly, Simon Donner, and Mark Cembrowski

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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Work-Life Balance in Grad School – Panel Discussion

The pandemic has enhanced the struggles of academic life for graduate students, faculty, and staff. These struggles seem to have been carried forward from pre-pandemic times and have been exacerbated working from home. Boundaries between work and leisure have disappeared; people are working from unconventional spaces like laundry rooms and cars; corridor conversations have been replaced by zoom fatigue; and people feel increasingly obliged to be available at odd hours.

We believe it’s important to actively address such issues related to work-life balance. This seminar hopes to bring together perspectives from people at different career stages within academia, and kick-start conversations around expectations, limitations, and strategies to strive for.

Helina Jolly

IRES PhD Program

Bio:

Helina Jolly is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Resources Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia. She is a National Geographic Explorer (2018), UBC Public Scholar (2017 and 2018), and Liu Scholar (2016). An ecologist and environmental policy analyst by training, she studies the relationship between forest ecosystems and Kattunayakans, a lesser-known hunter-gatherer society of South Asia. Her doctoral research examines the complexities of human and nature connections within the forest landscapes of the Western Ghats in Kerala, India, through the conversations on human-wildlife interactions, food security, forest fire, and rights. As a part of her work, she directed and produced an ethnographic documentary ‘Gidiku Vapathu‘ which was screened at the recent Portland Ecofilm Festival. She is also a co-founder of the Collective for Gender+ in Research at UBC that seeks to develop a network to articulate methods and tools to engage gender in research. Helina is a Commonwealth Scholar and has an MSc in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Simon Donner

Professor, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia

Bio:

Simon Donner is an interdisciplinary climate scientist and professor in the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia, where he teaches and conducts research at the intersection of climate change science and policy. He is also the director of the UBC Ocean Leaders program, and holds appointments in UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and UBC’s Atmospheric Sciences Program. He is currently a lead author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report. Simon is also an IRES Faculty Associate.

Mark Cembrowski

Assistant Professor, Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, University of British Columbia

Bio:

Mark is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences at the University of British Columbia, and an Investigator with the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health. He has a PhD in Applied Mathematics, and his lab at UBC combines experiments and mathematics to understand how the brain forms, stores, and retrieves memory. In his spare time, Mark practises and teaches yoga, handstands, and calisthenics.

Feb 26: CIC YPN: In Conversation with UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment

To help us understand the issues around global climate action, the CIC Young Professionals Network is being joined by Dr. Boyd who will speak to attendees on the connections between combatting climate change and human rights.

February 25, 2021: IRES Faculty Seminar with Andrew Baron

IRES Seminar Series

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

Via Zoom

View video.

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Are we born racist? The roots of implicit bias in childhood

Implicit bias has many pernicious effects on behavior including affecting hiring and voting decisions, and even treatment recommendations by medical professionals. Moreover, research shows that this form of bias is notoriously difficult to change in adults, underscoring the need to identify its roots in development. In this talk, I will examine the foundations of implicit bias in early childhood. By drawing on studies with young children, including infants, I will address the human capacity for racism. Further, I will reveal potential strategies for reducing implicit forms of bias in childhood and suggest that to disrupt the fabric of racism that has been sewn across generations of human history, childhood and not adulthood, may represent the best frontier to combat implicit bias.

Andrew Baron

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia

Bio:

Dr. Baron is an Associate Professor of Psychology at UBC. His research examines the human capacity to be prejudiced. This work focuses on identifying the cognitive foundations of intergroup bias from infancy through adolescence with a particular emphasis on developing optimal strategies for reducing implicit bias. He is also a member of the Engendering Success in STEM Consortium (http://successinstem.ca) where he spearheads a team dedicated to fostering greater engagement and interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) among primary school-aged girls. Dr. Baron is also the founder and director of the Living Lab at Science World, a community-university research partnership in Vancouver. Dr. Baron received his MA and PhD in Psychology from Harvard University.

March 18, 2021: IRES Student Seminar with Madison Stevens and Rocío López de la Lama