Too Little, Too Much, Just Right: Navigating Information and Research with UBC Library
Location: Beaty Museum Allan Yap Theatre(Basement, 2212 Main Mall). Please check in at front desk on main floor before going downstairs.
No food or drinks allowed in the Theatre.
Time: 12:30pm to 1:20pm
There is no recording for this seminar.
Talk summary:
Join us to learn more about UBC Library services and tips and tricks for finding environmental research and information that will save you time and energy. Bring your questions and find out more about anything from where to find Lego in the Library to how to publish a paper! The session will adapt to the questions and interests of the group but might include an intro to services and resources available at UBC Library and tips for finding the right research
Helen Brown, UBC Librarian, Woodward Science Library
Bio:
Helen is a librarian at the University of British Columbia’s Woodward Science Library, where she works with researchers and learners in environmental and biological sciences, including IRES. Helen’s research interests include climate action in libraries and knowledge synthesis methodologies. She also has a background in archives and rare books, and previously worked as a librarian in health and medicine.
Yoshi has been keen to learn deeply about the connection to his ancestral roots and culture in an old village in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. He has been studying socio-ecological issues that the village is facing due to modernization. He is particularly interested in reawakening the abandoned traditional coppicing and charcoal making process, which was the occupation of his late grandfather and the ancestors before him. He has been chasing the traces in the forest, such as coppiced trees, Japanese red pine snags, and the hand-built kiln. He has also been asking the elders what they remember of his grandfather practicing before the fossil fuel revolution. He believes that coppicing and charcoal making has been the heart of ecosystem maintenance, and reintroducing these practices will contribute to revitalization of the culture and forest of his village and regional ecosystem health that is connected and spread downstream.
His recent month-long visit to Masset, Haida Gwaii inspired him to look into the ancient connection between Japan and northern Haida Gwaii, intended and accidental cultural exchange of the seafarer peoples – expanding his mind from his personal roots to the Pacific Rim cultural connection.
Professional details
Three-Tree Project Society (NPO)
Incorporation Number: S0080525
Business Number: 73155 1354 BC0001
Position: Technical Director
ITA (SkilledTradesBC) Certified Arborist Technician
Yunfei Li is a PhD student at IRES under the supervision of Dr. Simon Donner in the Climate and Coastal Ecosystems Lab. Her research primarily focuses on climate change engagement, aiming to better understand how individuals and communities perceive and react to climate change impacts and exploring the influential drivers. More broadly, she is interested in studying people’s attitudes and behaviors towards environment and sustainability, in order to effectively engage diverse audiences in coping with complex socio-ecological challenges we currently face.
Yunfei is from Beijing China, where she completed her Bachelor degree at Tsinghua University in 2020, majoring in Environmental Engineering. She then received her MSc in Environmental Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Before coming to IRES in 2024, Yunfei worked as a sustainability engineer in Schneider Electric China to drive end-to-end supply chain sustainable transformation with innovative strategies.
Aloysio (Aloy) Campos is a Master’s of Science student in Resources, Environment, and Sustainability at UBC, working on the Accelerating Community Energy Transition (ACET) project. He uses deep learning models to analyze data on the energy transition in Indigenous and remote communities in BC. Previously, Aloy received the International Major Entrance Scholarship to complete his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering at UBC.
Passionate about working in sustainability, he has developed a carbon emissions calculator for UBC in his role as a Climate Planning Coordinator, and has created a climate action toolkit for the Sustainability Hub. Aloy co-designed a PhD program with Professor Naoko Ellis, now his master’s supervisor, to tackle climate change through transdisciplinary collaboration. His experience also includes engineering laboratory equipment for climate technologies research, advising a billion-dollar company on environmental due diligence, and supporting equity-deserving groups in engineering education.
Sam Blackwell is a first year master’s student under the supervision of Dr. Kai Chan, investigating the role of community-based science in monitoring urban bird nest predation in Vancouver, and how participation in such a program may influence an individual’s values and actions in favour of conserving urban biodiversity. Blackwell’s academic interests include ecology, conservation and science communication. Outside of school she enjoys birdwatching, swimming, reading and crafting. Ultimately, she envision’s herself as a passionate advocate for the natural world, dedicated to inspiring others to develop a deep and lasting connection to the land.
Adrian is a Postdoctoral Fellow working with Claire Kremen to explore the synergies and trade-offs between multiple ecosystem functions along multi-scalar habitat complexity gradients in California’s Central Coast strawberry growing region. At IRES, Adrian seeks to cultivate a deeper understanding of the relationships among traditional resource management, biodiversity, and human well-being. Trained as an ecologist and attorney, Adrian aims to apply scientific findings to advance the interests of historically marginalized communities.
In this talk, I first introduce the concept of biopolitics of climate injustice, which refers to how bodies become sites where climate injustice is not only experienced, but unequally distributed – with those already facing multiple forms of marginalization bearing the heaviest burdens. I then explore how these dynamics manifest indoors, particularly in low-income housing where residents are left without adequate protection against climate-induced hazards like heatwaves and wildfires. Drawing on preliminary observations from an interdisciplinary, trans-sectoral study monitoring indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and household energy insecurity through sensors, surveys, and wearable fitness trackers, I investigate how these environmental conditions impact health. This talk aims to reveal the structural forces driving climate vulnerability and advocates for justice-oriented policy solutions that address the interconnected and escalating threats of climate change and housing insecurity.
Dr. Liv Yoon, Assistant Professor, UBC School of Kinesiology
Bio:
Dr. Liv Yoon is Assistant Professor in the School of Kinesiology at UBC. Her research is at the intersection of climate change, social inequities, and health, with a focus on community engagement and participatory methods. Her PhD training in social sciences and socio-cultural kinesiology informs her to think about bodies in sociopolitical contexts, provoking thought about how some bodies are considered more ‘dispensable’, and in turn, rendered more vulnerable to climate-related risks and pollution. Her research considers taking climate change as an opportunity to challenge the status quo and promote structural changes that alleviate social inequities that both led to, and are exacerbated by, the climate crisis.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is essential for evaluating the environmental performance of technologies and policies, but it faces challenges like missing data and inconsistent data matching. Traditional methods, including process simulations and existing machine learning approaches, have limitations in scalability and generalizability. Large language models (LLMs) offer a solution by leveraging their vast, diverse knowledge base for automating life cycle inventory (LCI) data curation and enabling multi-modal analysis. This presentation outlines how LLMs can address these challenges and discusses future research directions to enhance their use in LCI modeling.
Dr. Qingshi Tu, Assistant Professor of Industrial Ecology, UBC Faculty of Forestry
Bio:
Dr. Qingshi Tu is an Assistant Professor of Industrial Ecology at Department of Wood Science at UBC. Dr. Tu has a strong record of life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) research on a variety of topics. Dr. Tu’s research focuses on: 1) creating open-source databases and models for evaluating the environmental, economic and social impacts of emerging technologies, 2) transforming knowledge into user-friendly tools and educational materials, 3) engaging different stakeholders to collaborate on sustainable bioeconomy projects.
