November 28, 2019: IRES Professional Development Seminar with Navin Ramankutty and Terre Satterfield

November 28, 2019: IRES Professional Development Seminar with Navin Ramankutty and Terre Satterfield

IRES Seminar Series

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

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

*********************************************************************************

*** Note: This seminar will not be recorded***

A broader view of academic integrity: doing the right thing for the right reasons

We often face many challenging situations in academia (e.g., co-authorship decisions, appropriate credit for work done) where the solutions of integrity are not obvious and for which we have little training. This workshop will provide you the opportunity to work through and discuss several such scenarios.

Standard discussions of academic integrity surround issues of plagiarism, falsifying results, etc. However, as academics, we often find ourselves in numerous challenging situations for which we have little training to navigate, and where ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ are not clear or are interpreted differently by different people. There are also scant open discussions of such issues. In this workshop, we will give you several typical scenarios that we have encountered or have heard about. You will discuss them in smaller groups, after which we will invite comments from everyone on how to best navigate them.

Navin Ramankutty

Professor, IRES
Professor, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Canada Research Chair (t1, Food Security)

Bio:

Navin Ramankutty is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Environmental Change and Food Security at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. His research uses global data and models to explore solutions for sustainably feeding humanity.

 

Terre Satterfield

Professor of Culture, Risk and the Environment, IRES

Bio:

An anthropologist by training and an interdisciplinarian by design, Terre’s work concerns sustainable development in the context of debates about cultural meanings, environmental values, perceived risk, environmental and ecosystem health. Difficult environmental policy dilemmas and the qualitative and quantitative methods that might resolve these are of particular interest. Locally, her work pertains to First Nations interest in land management, oil and gas development, and regulatory contexts. Globally, her research incorporates biodiversity management and politics, and the perceived risk of new technologies (biotechnology, fracking and nanotechnology). Terre is also a board member or research scientist for several international initiatives that seek to better integrate social science research into policy analysis normally led by the natural and engineering scientists.

Website: https://ires.ubc.ca/person/terre-satterfield/
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=1nrd2msAAAAJ&hl=en

November 21, 2019: IRES Faculty Seminar with Wendy Jepson

IRES Seminar Series

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

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

*********************************************************************************

*** VIEW SEMINAR RECORDING***

Household Water Insecurity Research: Advancing SDG 6 and the Global Water Agenda

In this talk, I discuss an emerging framework of research on household water insecurity – identifying the advances and opportunities this interdisciplinary approach offers for supporting SDG6 and the global water agenda. I expand these ideas through empirical cases taken from ongoing projects on household water insecurity in Brazil’s semi-arid Northeast region, where I have been working since 2015.  I conclude with some reflections on frontiers, challenges, and opportunities – returning (but probably not resolving) the tensions at this intersection of critical work, social scientific inquiry, and the operating space of science-policy dialogues supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Wendy Jepson

Professor, Texas A&M University

Bio:

Dr. Wendy Jepson holds a University Professorship in the Department of Geography at Texas A&M University where she has been on faculty since receiving her Ph.D. in Geography from UCLA in 2003. Since 2016, Dr. Jepson has been a Visiting Professor at the Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza (Brazil). Her research addresses contemporary debates in political ecology, human-environment interactions, and water security and governance. Dr. Jepson leads several research projects and institutional initiatives on water security.  Dr. Jepson was a recent Fulbright Scholar (2016-2017) and AAAS Leshner Fellow for Public Engagement (2018-2019).  She also is a recipient of several National Science Foundation grants that focus on water security – examining different aspects of water insecurity in south Texas colonias and urban Brazil.  Dr. Jepson leads the NSF-funded Household Water Insecurity Experiences – Research Coordination Network (HWISE-RCN), an international community of scholars and practitioners dedicated to advance research and work in the interdisciplinary field of water insecurity.  Dr. Jepson also is the principal investigator for a $1.5M Texas A&M University Presidential Excellence Grant, “Pathways to Sustainable Urban Water Security: Desalination and Water Reuse.” She has generated over $3 million in grants and awards as lead PI from NSF, private sources, and internal awards to support her research agenda.

Website: https://geography.tamu.edu/people/profiles/faculty/jepsonwendy.html

November 14, 2019: IRES Faculty Seminar with Paige West

IRES Seminar Series

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

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

*********************************************************************************

*** Note: This seminar will not be recorded***

A prayer for the world: climate change, engaged scholarship, and the social sciences

Abstract:

Each new day, it seems, we wake to a barrage of terrible global news and horrifying images. This is particularly true with regard to climate news. It is enough to paralyze even the most empathetic and concerned citizens. In this lecture, drawing on her twenty three years of research in Papua New Guinea,  anthropologist Paige West asks us to consider what each of us can do as students, scholars, writers, and thinkers to understand the historical processes that set the conditions of possibility for our present world, to document or to witness the transformations of the present, and to use our scholars skills to work towards transforming the future.

 

Paige West

Professor, Barnard College and Columbia University 

Bio:

Paige West is The Claire Tow Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University where she holds an endowed chair and the director of the Center for the Study of Social Difference at Columbia University. Her broad scholarly interest is the relationship between societies and their environments. Since the mid 1990s she has worked with indigenous people in Papua New Guinea. She is the author of three books and the editor of five more. Dr. West has written about environmental conservation and international development, the aesthetics and poetics of human social relations with nature, and the creation of commodities and practices of consumption. She is currently writing about climate change.

Website: https://paige-west.com/

November 12, 2019: IRES Faculty Seminar with Matthew Schnurr

IRES Seminar Series

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

Location: AERL Room 107, 2202 Main Mall

*********************************************************************************

*** VIEW SEMINAR RECORDING***

Africa’s Gene Revolution: Genetically Modified Crops and the Future of African Agriculture

Africa has emerged as the final frontier in the global debate over the potential for Genetically Modified (GM) crops to enhance agricultural productivity and alleviate poverty and hunger. Proponents argue that GM crops represent one of the most promising means of improving yields and livelihoods across the continent, and have invested just under half a billion dollars in these new technological possibilities under the banner of Africa’s Green Revolution.  Opponents voice concerns over intellectual property, adverse health and environmental impacts, and the increasing control of multi-national corporations over the continent’s food supply.  Both sides have worked hard to frame the terms of this polarized debate, the result being they often speak past one another, rarely engaging in meaningful dialogue.

This presentation seeks to seeks to bridge this gap by assessing the ecological, social and political factors that are shaping Africa’s ‘Gene’ Revolution and evaluating its potential to achieve its lofty goals.  It summarizes an analysis of whether Genetically Modified crops constitute an appropriate technology given existing agricultural systems, and evaluates the implications of these findings for scholars, policy makers and farmers.

Matthew Schnurr

Associate Professor, Dalhousie University

Bio:

Matthew Schnurr is Associate Professor in the Department of International Development Studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He received his PhD from the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia in 2008. His research interests lie primarily in agricultural development, environmental justice and farmer decision-making. His new book entitled Africa’s Gene Revolution: Genetically Modified Crops and the Future of African Agriculture will be published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2019.

Dr. Schnurr will also be giving a talk on November 12 from 5-6:30 pm at UBC Green College titled “Bio-Hegemony vs. Bio-Justice: Social Movements and the Fight Against Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa.” More details here.

This is a joint seminar with UBC Green College.

 

November 7, 2019: IRES Student Seminar with David Righter and Livia Mello

IRES Seminar Series

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

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

*********************************************************************************

*** CLICK HERE TO VIEW RECORDING OF DAVID’S PRESENTATION (LIVIA’S PRESENTATION IS UNAVAILABLE)***

From groundwork to implementation: a longitudinal study of coastal adaptation planning in Nova Scotia, Canada

David will present initial findings from his analysis of coastal adaptation planning in Nova Scotia and discuss next steps for his research. What have communities accomplished so far, and what will they do next?

Coastal communities in Nova Scotia are at risk of impacts resulting from the anticipated outcomes of climate change in the region, including sea level rise and the increased frequency and intensity of storms. This study will examine the implementation of coastal adaptation actions across the province, using the Municipal Climate Change Action Plans (MCCAPs) from 53 coastal municipalities as a basis for investigation. Two overarching research questions are asked: 1) what types of coastal adaptation actions were proposed in the MCCAPs and which actions have been implemented since; and 2) what are some of the common local factors that have influenced the success of implementation? This study will evaluate the state of adaptation in Nova Scotia and offer insights for future policy development.

David Righter

IRES MSc Program

Bio:

David joined IRES in September 2018 as a MSc student under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie Chang. His research focuses on climate change adaptation and natural disaster resilience in coastal communities of BC and Nova Scotia. As a Research Assistant with the Resilient-C Project, David contributes to an online platform that connects communities in their efforts to reduce risk. He hopes to demonstrate that a growing network of communities sharing knowledge and experiences will not only benefit the individual contributors, but help to build resilience across entire regions.

October 31, 2019: IRES Student Seminar with Vikas Menghwani and Maayan Kreitzman

IRES Seminar Series

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

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

*********************************************************************************

*** CLICK HERE TO VIEW RECORDING (Vikas 6:35-33:21 ) (Maayan 35:08-1:02:35)***

Perceived Grid Uncertainty as an Impediment to Transition: Visualizing Low Carbon Investment Risk in Tanzania

Using Tanzania as a case, this study explores the impact of uncertainties around grid expansion on DG investments.

Meeting SDG 7 (universal energy access) requires significant investment in renewable energy based Distributed Generation (DG) systems. However, the investment environment for DG systems in developing countries is not without high risks. One of the risks DG faces is uncertainty around grid extension. Using Tanzania as a case, this study explores the following questions: i) What is the impact of perceived uncertainties (based on optimistic/pessimistic public perceptions) around grid expansion on DG investments? ii) How do competing technology investments under uncertainty change the spatial pattern of technology diffusion

Vikas Menghwani

IRES PhD Program

Bio:

Vikas is a PhD candidate at IRES, working with Dr. Hisham Zerriffi since Fall 2014. His work includes energy systems modelling for energy access, and the theoretical domains of transitions and energy justice. He completed his Mechanical Engineering (with a Masters  degree in Energy Technology) education in 2009 from Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He worked in the area of climate change consulting for 3 years, covering renewable energy and energy efficiency projects across India and South East Asia, followed by 2 years in the area of business research.

Perennial polycultures in the US Midwest: environmental and food production outcomes

Perennial polyculture farming is management that integrates multiple woody perennial crops in the same field. Such enterprises on a commercial scale in the temperate North are not well studied. Can perennial polyculture offer a viable alternative for food production? This study gathered original primary data on multiple ecosystem service proxies (soil properties, insects, birds, vegetation) and food production in a paired observational study design in the US Midwest. Perennial fields show significantly higher total soil carbon and active carbon, and less soil compaction in the top soil layer (0-15 cm) than paired conventional annual cropland. They have comparable or higher N and P levels. Perennial fields also had significantly higher bird, insect, and soil fungus diversity, and more non-crop vegetative plant cover and diversity. Food production (calories) from perennial fields was significantly lower, but nutritional diversity was higher. Perennial polyculture farms in the US Midwest’s numerous environmental and nutritional benefits must be weighed against their lower yields.

Maayan Kreitzman

IRES PhD Program

Bio:

Maayan is a PhD candidate at IRES. She’s a graduate of the UBC Biology program (BSc. Biology) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (MSc. Genetics). She worked at the BC Cancer Agency’s Genome Sciences Centre as a bioinformatician before returning to UBC to start her PhD. Maayan’s research focuses on perennial crops, perennial agriculture landscapes, and their environmental and agronomic outcomes. She is also a coordinator with Extinction Rebellion Vancouver.

October 24, 2019: IRES Professional Development Seminar with Vicki Lynne George

IRES Seminar Series

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

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

*********************************************************************************

*** Note: This seminar will not be recorded***

Truth BEFORE Reconciliation

Vicki is the Assistant Director, Programming at the First Nations House of Learning, UBC. She is a truth-teller and a frequent guest speaker at various events on Indigenous topics, and is a consultant on Indigenous cultural awareness training, Indigenous and colonial history, and advancing Indigenous initiatives in companies and post-secondary institutions. Vicki will provide an overview of the political and legal landscape in BC and Canada as well as Truth and Reconciliation processes. Our work towards Truth and Reconciliation today will affect generations to come. We need to learn about Canada’s true history regarding its treatment of Indigenous peoples since European contact. We need to understand what it is that we are trying to reconcile and that only comes with being truthful first, doing our own homework, learning, listening and being respectful with each other as we navigate, at times, very difficult discussions.

Vicki Lynne George

Assistant Director, Programming, UBC First Nations House of Learning

 

Bio:

Vicki is from the Wet’suwet’en Nation. She is trained in the legal, executive and corporate world with over 23 years of experience.

Born and raised in the lower mainland, Vicki continues to stay connected with her Indigenous roots and extended family members in Northern BC. She understands the importance of carrying on the work of her parents and family relating to Indigenous issues.

Her father, Ron George, was a prominent Indigenous leader and her late mother, Phyllis, worked at key Indigenous organizations. Vicki grew up with law, politics and history discussions around the dinner table. Her parents’ knowledge and teachings enable Vicki to continue their work and achievements in today’s world.

Vicki developed and produced “The Constitution Express: A Multimedia History” (2005-2006), a joint project with UBC’s First Nations Studies program and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs. Generational activism has deep roots for Vicki. Her father was a key participant and organizer in the Constitution Express, and Vicki’s multimedia project started an archive for this historical movement that resulted in Section 35 being included in the Canadian Constitution. To date, Vicki’s project is still the only published and significant work on this extraordinary Indigenous history. This university project led to her being a documentary subject in the film “The Road Forward”, (released 2017) written and directed by Marie Clements. Vicki has screened “The Road Forward” film around BC to further Truth and Reconciliation education in companies, universities and at film festivals.

Vicki is a guest speaker at companies and universities in the lower mainland, including Vancity Savings Credit Union, National Film Board, Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia. She also applies her knowledge and experience with consultation services that includes Indigenous cultural awareness training, history and advancing initiatives in companies and post-secondary institutions. Vicki builds bridges and works at improving relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to move forward with Truth and Reconciliation.

October 17, 2019: IRES Faculty Seminar with Sieglinde Snapp

IRES Seminar Series

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

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

*********************************************************************************

*** VIEW SEMINAR RECORDING (Audio begins at 4:17min)***

Action research tackles the ‘wicked’ sustainability problem of agricultural intensification

Abstract:

Agricultural development is facing a sustainability crisis. Conventional science has focused on intensification pathways that support crop yield gains, at the cost of pollution, biodiversity loss and food system vulnerability. Action science offers an alternative, one that builds on client-oriented, participatory approaches to co-learning in an iterative manner. This talk will draw on decades of agroecology action research in Malawi to explore an alternative to reductionist, conventional approaches. Beyond enhancement of adaptive capacity, refined agroecology principles of diversification and slow processes were identified. Agricultural system performance for multiple domains was enhanced through functional trait complementarity and redundancy. We found evidence for a ‘goldilocks’ semi-perennial growth type as an overlooked form of crop diversity. Multipurpose, shrubby food legumes was a goldilocks innovation that was a farmer preferred means to recouple carbon and nutrient cycles and improve yield stability. Come learn about participatory action research on agroecology, for novel alternatives to annual-centric intensification of crops.

 

Sieglinde Snapp

Professor, Michigan State University, Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences

Bio:

Sieglinde Snapp is a Professor of Soils and Cropping Systems Ecology, Assoc. Director, Center for Global Change Earth Observations at Michigan State University, and Senior Advisor to Innovation Systems for the Drylands, ICRISAT. She is ‘Mother of the Mother and Baby Trial’, used in dozens of countries as a participatory action approach to improve research relevance. Through interdisciplinary, open-access science, her team has helped shape agricultural policy in Malawi, flagged declines in soil productivity, and identified overlooked forms of crop diversity for sustainable food systems: http://globalchangescience.org/eastafricanode. She is an Agronomy Fellow and a Soil Science Fellow, and received the ASA International Service Award.

Website: https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/snapp

 

Note:

Sieglinde Snapp is also an International Visiting Research Scholar at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies.

October 10, 2019: IRES Student Seminar with Evan Bowness and Abhishek Kar

IRES Seminar Series

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

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

*********************************************************************************

*** CLICK HERE TO VIEW RECORDING (Abhishek 3:58-33:50 ) (Evan 35:40-1:05:04)***

Using Photography and Videography for Community-Engaged Socio-ecological Research

Community-engaged research depends on building relationships with community partners and making scholarly work more relevant to broader publics. These are not ‘auxiliary objectives’ above and beyond traditional academic ones – they are fundamental to the research process. To this end, a trend towards transformative and transdisciplinary scholarship has brought about methodologies that prioritize reciprocity and research relevance. One example from the SSHRC lexicon is “research-creation,” where research happens alongside creative production, such as videography and photography. Both can be useful in community-engaged research: 1) As a research tool (to answer research questions); 2) as a partnership-building tool (to support research partners); and 3) as a knowledge mobilization tool (to share research results). Drawing on my work, I will give some examples of each and discuss opportunities and challenges to making community-engaged research (and research in general) more visual.

Evan Bowness

IRES PhD Program

Bio:

Evan is a PhD candidate at IRES, UBC Public Scholar and visual sociologist working with Hannah Wittman. His dissertation project titled ‘Food Sovereignty and the City: A Visual Agroecology of Urban Agrarianism in Canada and Brazil’ takes an urban political ecology approach and uses visual methods to advance our understanding of the urbanization of the food sovereignty movement. Evan is also an amateur photographer and videographer and he teaches at the University of Manitoba’s Department of Sociology.

Applying the transtheoretical model of change to cooking energy transition: Findings and implications

About 2.9 billion people rely on solid fuels (e.g. firewood and coal) in polluting primitive cookstoves with significant societal, environmental and health burden. Cooking energy transition is considered as a technology switch from solid fuels to clean cooking fuels like electricity and gas. However, it involves a host of individual behavior changes in the process of embracing new technology. We apply the transtheoretical model of change to LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) use in rural India for mapping the transition process and its underlying behavioral drivers.

In line with theory, we find that the cooking energy transition can be viewed as a five-stage process, wherein people in different stages have significantly different perceptions of the advantages, disadvantages, and self-confidence related to regular use of LPG. Further, perceived disadvantages emerge as more influential during the transition compared to household wealth, highlighting the need for post-adoption behavior change strategies.

Abhishek Kar

‘

Post-Doctoral Researcher, Columbia University

Bio:

Abhishek Kar recently completed Ph.D. in Resources, Environment and Sustainability from UBC. His post-doctoral research at the School of Public Health at Columbia University focuses on the drivers and impacts of cooking fuel choices in Ghana. Over the last twelve years, his multi-disciplinary research experience spans aerosols, human behavior, and policy analysis related to cooking energy transition in specific and energy access in general. Abhishek has co-authored fourteen peer-reviewed articles; his work was featured on the cover of Nature Energy- September 2019 issue. His research on India’s Ujjwala LPG program has been prominently covered by journalists and widely shared on social media, including by the Prime Minister of India.

October 3, 2019: IRES Faculty Seminar with Claudia Ituarte-Lima

IRES Seminar Series

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

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

*********************************************************************************

*** VIEW SEMINAR RECORDING (Audio begins at 5:11min)***

Human rights law: at the core or periphery of sustainability transformations?

Abstract:

Debates on transformations for safeguarding nature and its vital contributions to human existence and a good quality of life have intensified with the 2019 Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) global assessment and the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) negotiations on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework to be adopted in 2020. However, the concept of transformations for sustainability remains relatively vague and abstract. In this presentation, I will argue that weaving together human rights and environmental law provides an untapped potential for operationalising these transformations but only if human rights principles are re-interpreted to match systemic social-ecological challenges such as climate change and the mass extinction of species. The presentation draws on collaborative research with examples spanning from community environmental defenders for example in Mexico and Kenya, regional frameworks such as the European Timber Regulation to international science-policy fora.

 

Claudia Ituarte

Research Associate, IRES

Bio:

Dr. Claudia Ituarte-Lima is research associate at IRES at UBC. She is also a researcher on international law at Stockholm Resilience Centre and affiliated senior researcher at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights. For more than 15 years, she has specialized in the human rights, biodiversity and climate law nexus both in theory and practice. Her focus is on law and policy for sustainability and social justice and the transformation of international law into new governance forms at national and community levels. Her methodology ranges from extensive fieldwork especially in Africa and Latin America, to studies examining the interactions of international regimes .Claudia provides expert advise to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Environment.

Website: https://ires.ubc.ca/person/claudia-ituarte-lima/