New Adjunct Professor- Babak Pourbohloul!

We’re happy to announce that Babak Pourbohloul has become an Adjunct Professor at IRES!

Bio

Babak Pourbohloul is trained as a theoretical physicist (PhD in complex systems and chaos theory) and has been a faculty member at the University of British Columbia since 2004. He was the founding Director of the Division of Mathematical Modeling at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (2001 – 2016) and the founding Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Complexity Science for Health Systems (2013 – 2017). He has been the Lead Investigator of several international mathematical modeling projects in the development and application of novel quantitative methods in public- and global health systems policy design.

With more than 18 years of experience working in both academic and policymaking environments, Babak leads consulting projects for several national and international authorities and enterprises. He aims to develop and employ methods of complex systems analysis, through multidisciplinary collaborations, to optimize policy design to achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2030), at the local, national and international levels. His main areas of interest include public- and global health policy design, econophysics and systemic risk analysis, complex networks analysis and nonlinear dynamics

Lisa Powell (IRES Postdoctoral Fellow) – “Farm to school in British Columbia: mobilizing food literacy for food sovereignty” article published

Lisa Powell, an IRES Postdoctoral Fellow has released another article, “Farm to school in British Columbia: mobilizing food literacy for food sovereignty.”

You can find the article here:

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10460-017-9815-7

Photo Credit: Darren Birgenheler from flickr/ Creative Commons

New Graham McDowell (PhD student) and Michele Koppes (IRES Faculty Associate) Publication

Graham McDowell and Michele Koppes have a recent publication.

To read it click here.

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For McDowell’s bio: https://ires.ubc.ca/person/graham-mcdowell-2/

For Koppes’ bio: https://ires.ubc.ca/person/michele-koppes/

Photo Credit: Graham Mcdowell from http://grahammcdowellresearch.com/visual/

RES PhD Candidate Lucy Rodina lead author of a new published article!

Lucy Rodina (RES PhD Candidate) along with co-author Leila Harris (IRES Faculty) have recently published a new article.

Click link below to view article:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343517301884

Lucy Rodina: https://ires.ubc.ca/person/lucy-rodina/

Lelia Harris: https://ires.ubc.ca/person/leila-harris/

IRES alumnus Megan Peloso and IRES faculty Leila Harris have a new published article out now!

Congratulations to IRES alumnus Megan Peloso and IRES faculty Leila Harris for their recently published article! The article is now available on Taylor & Francis Online.

Click the link below to view article:
Pathways for Participatory Water Governance in Ashaiman, Ghana: Learning from Institutional Bricolage and Hydrosocial Perspectives

Abstract

Coupling a hydrosocial perspective with institutional bricolage, this research considers possibilities for participatory water governance in Ashaiman, a peri-urban settlement of Accra, Ghana. We explore three questions: (1) How do people in Ashaiman evoke ideas or experiences of water in general and water governance in particular? (2) What possibilities currently exist for engaging the community in key water-related decisions? (3) What possibilities exist for enhanced participatory water governance in this context, including potential for and interest in new institutions and engagement processes? Results of qualitative interviews and semistructured observation suggest that a siloed, water-centric approach inadequately captures everyday realities of water as hydrosocial and of existing institutions in Ashaiman. In contrast to “modern water,” we propose that water issues may be more meaningfully addressed as bundled with social welfare. Potential implications and alternative ways of understanding socio-institutional arrangements for participatory water governance are explored.

Photo Credit: Stuart Allen from flickr/ Creative Commons

RES PhD Student Graham McDowell received the IDRC Doctoral Research Award- Congratulations!

The IRES department is happy to announce that PhD student Graham McDowell received the IDRC Doctoral Research Award!

BIO: https://ires.ubc.ca/person/graham-mcdowell-2/

Photo Credit: Graham McDowell

Happy Holidays from IRES!

The IRES Staff and Faculty would like to wish you all happy holidays and a well deserved break!

The IRES Administrative Office is open until December 21, 2017.

We are closed December 22, 2017 to January 1, 2018 and will re-open January 2, 2018.

Our first IRES Seminar Series in Term 2 will be on January 4, 2018 with Jocelyn Stacey, Assistant Professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia. Click here for more information.

See you in the new year!

IRES faculty Leila Harris, RMES alumnus Danika Kleiber and RES PhD candidate Lucy Rodina have a new publication out!

Congratulations, we’re delighted to let you know that IRES faculty Leila Harris, RMES alumnus Danika Kleiber and RES PhD Candidate Lucy Rodina’s final published article (the Version of Record) is now on Taylor & Francis Online.

Abstract:

We analyze the relationship between perceptions of domestic water access, and quality, in relation community engagement. While others have suggested linkages between material conditions of water access and engagement (e.g., that poor water access might spur engagement), to date there have been no studies those test these relationships using statistical methods. Based on a quantitative analysis of survey data from underserved sites in Accra, Ghana, and Cape Town, South Africa, our results show that water access and quality are both predictive of community engagement. The analysis also makes a strong case that there are different dimensions when considering the material conditions of water—in this case, water access and quality each condition engagement in opposite directions. Furthermore, consistent with other studies, our study also shows different demographics (notably gender) mediate these relationships in important ways.

You can read the whole article here:

Water Materialities and Citizen Engagement: Testing the Implications of Water Access and Quality for Community Engagement in Ghana and South Africa

Leila’s Bio: https://ires.ubc.ca/person/leila-harris/

Lucy’s Bio: https://ires.ubc.ca/person/lucy-rodina/

IRES Adjunct Professor Colin Levings’ book makes it to Kamchatka

October 30 2017

IRES Adjunct Professor Colin Levings’ book made it to Kamchatka!

This press release is in Russian and English. Click link below to view:

http://www.kamniro.ru/presscenter/news/ekologiya_lososevyh_v_estuariyah_vsego_mira

Colin’s bio: https://ires.ubc.ca/person/colin-levings/

Nathan Bennett, IRES Postdoctoral Fellow, “Committing to socially responsible seafood” article published

Science Magazine PDF file.

Supplementary materials for Committing to socially responsible seafood pdf click here

Kittinger JN, Teh L, Allison E, Bennett NJ, Crowder LC, Finkbeiner EM, Hicks C, Scarton CG, Nakamura K, Ota Y, Young J, Alifano A, Apel A, Arbib A, Bishop L, Boyle M, Cisneros-Montemayor AM, Hunter P, Le Cornu E, Levine M, Jones RS, Koehn JZ, Marschke M, Mason JG, Micheli F, McClenachan M, Opal C, Peacey J, Peckham SH, Schemmel E, Solis-Rivera V, Swartz W, Wilhelm A (2017). Committing to socially responsible seafood. Science, 356 (6341), 912-913.

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Summary: Seafood is the world’s most internationally traded food commodity. Approximately three out of every seven people globally rely on seafood as a primary source of animal protein (1). Revelations about slavery and labor rights abuses in fisheries have sparked outrage and shifted the conversation (2, 3), placing social issues at the forefront of a sector that has spent decades working to improve environmental sustainability. In response, businesses are seeking to reduce unethical practices and reputational risks in their supply chains. Governments are formulating policy responses, and nonprofit and philanthropic organizations are deploying resources and expertise to address critical social issues. Yet the scientific community has not kept pace with concerns for social issues in the sector. As the United Nations Ocean Conference convenes in New York (5 to 9 June), we propose a framework for social responsibility and identify key steps the scientific community must take to inform policy and practice for this global challenge.

Link to article: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6341/912.full

Press Release from Conservation International – A sea change for seafood: http://stories.conservation.org/a-sea-change-for-seafood – Scroll to bottom for additional stories

Press Release from University of Washington – Scientists launch global agenda to curb social and human rights abuses in the seafood sector: http://www.washington.edu/news/2017/06/01/scientists-launch-global-agenda-to-curb-social-and-human-rights-abuses-in-the-seafood-sector/

And on Eureka Alert: https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-06/uow-slg060217.php

Photo Credit: Lain from flickr/ Creative Commons