Sarah C. Klain

PhD with Kai Chan & Terre Satterfield, 2016

Assistant Professor, Utah State University

Contact Details

s[dot]klain[at]gmail[dot]com

sarah[dot]klain[at]usu[dot]edu

https://sarahklain.weebly.com/

https://qcnr.usu.edu/directory/klain_sarah

Bio

Klain completed her MSc and PhD at IRES with Kai Chan as her adviser and closely worked with Terre Satterfield.

Klain’s research at IRES on social and cultural dimensions of ecosystem services as well as risk perception and community engagement associated with renewable energy projects was an excellent springboard to build her career based on conservation and climate change mitigation. She’s currently an Assistant Professor in Environment & Society at Utah State University. She and her students are doing research on ecologically regenerative renewable energy and weaving indigenous, local and western scientific knowledge for rewilding.

Last updated January 2022

Sara Elder

PhD with Peter Dauvergne, 2016, Adjunct Professor, UBC IRES, Senior Policy Advisor, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Contact Details

sara[dot]elder[at]ubc[dot]ca

https://www.iisd.org/people/sara-elder https://www.linkedin.com/in/eldersara/ https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=VMK93AEAAAAJ&hl=en

Bio

Sara Elder is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at UBC. She specializes in interdisciplinary research related to the local social and environmental impacts of global supply chain governance, with a focus on agricultural producers and workers in the global South. She currently works as a Senior Policy Advisor with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), leading research and policy initiatives related to the impact of voluntary sustainability standards.

Sara holds a Ph.D. from UBC, where she was recognized for her work bridging private governance and development studies theory with on-the-ground outcomes for smallholder commodity producers. She has 15 years of experience in policy-relevant research and analysis, having managed global research projects, led extensive fieldwork in Rwanda and Nicaragua, and worked with communities in Bolivia, South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania.

She is active in publishing and presenting her scholarly contributions, and is dedicated to mobilizing scientific knowledge in policy, in her current work as well as in her past positions as a Mitacs Canadian Science Policy Fellow with the BC Ministry of Agriculture and as a Technical Officer with the International Labour Organization. She is committed to effective teaching and mentoring, and recently designed a new course at UBC (SCIE 320) in socio-ecological systems research for undergraduate students to gain hands-on experience conducting interdisciplinary research.

Sara can be reached by email at sara[dot]elder[at]ubc[dot]ca

Last updated August 2022

Lisa Westerhoff

PhD w/ John Robinson, 2016, Principal of Policy and Planning, Integral Group

Contact Details

https://www.integralgroup.com/people/lisa-westerhoff/

Bio

Lisa completed a PhD at IRES under John Robinson (now at the University of Toronto), and now applies her expertise in climate change, sustainability, and resilience planning as the lead of the Policy and Planning team at Integral Group. She and her team work on projects ranging from zero-emissions buildings codes and plans to energy and carbon disclosure policies, citywide climate plans, campus and portfolio decarbonization strategies, and risk and resilience assessments. She is the author of several academic publications on strategies for increasing climate change resilience and energy and emissions reductions, and was the winner of the Canada Green Building Council’s Green Building Champion Award in 2019.

Last updated April 2022

June 5, 2017: Adult Learning and Education in a ‘post-truth society’?

Ponderosa Commons Room 2012
6445 University Boulevard
MAP: www.goo.gl/maps/pueMWppkJQp
RSVP: www.edst.educ.ubc.ca/buttedahl
CALENDAR: http://www.calendar.events.ubc.ca:80/s/7Qd

Photo credit: Pietro Zuco from flickr/Creative Commons

November 22 2017– Research Seminar with Dr. Andrea Suárez Serrano, Mesoamerican Center for Sustainable Development in the Tropical Dry Forest, National University of Costa Rica

Please join us on November 22 for a research seminar with Dr. Andrea Suárez Serrano, Research Director of the Mesoamerican Center for Sustainable Development in the Tropical Dry Forest (CEMEDE) at the National University of Costa Rica.

Dr. Suárez Serrano will talk about current research projects developed by CEMEDE and by the Water Resources Center for Central America and the Caribbean (HIDROCEC). After her presentation there will be time for Q&A with the participants.

When: Wednesday, November 22 from 12:30-1:30pm

Where: AERL Room 107/108 (Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory, 2202 Main Mall)

Everyone welcome.

Click for poster for Seminar: Andrea Suarez

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Dr. Andrea Suárez Serrano, Professor and Research Director

Water Resources Center for Central America and the Caribbean (HIDROCEC)

Mesoamerican Center for Sustainable Development in the Tropical Dry Forest (CEMEDE), National University of Costa Rica

PhD, Applied Ecology, University of Barcelona, Spain [2012]

BSc, National University, Costa Rica [2003]

Professional experience

Researcher, Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries, Spain [2009 – 2010]

Research Assistant/Lecturer, Instituto Regional de Estudio en Sustancias Tóxicas, Costa Rica [2001 – 2006]

Bio

Dr. Suárez Serrano has extensive research experience in aquatic ecology, ecotoxicology, and water management. Currently, she is the Director of CEMEDE that oversees the water program HIDROCEC. She has developed and coordinated the Hydrological Engineering program at HIDROCEC, where she has also taught courses on socioenvironmental sustainability and natural resources, freshwater ecosystems, and culture and sustainability. She has helped organize several international meetings and conferences in Costa Rica on water treatment and water governance, as well as leading capacity-building workshops.

Photo Credit: Digitearte from flickr/ Creative Commons

November 17 2017 IOF Seminar: Trends and future priorities for market-based marine conservation initiatives

Trends and future priorities for market-based marine conservation initiatives

Dr. Dalal Al-Abdulrazzak

Ocean Wise Seafood Specialist

Honorary Research Associate, IOF

Friday, November 17, 2017

11:00 am

AERL Theatre (120)

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the sustainable seafood movement. A number of NGOs, businesses, and producers have put considerable effort into educating consumers and influencing seafood sustainability throughout the supply chain. This talk with summarize some of the global trends and future priorities of market-based marine conservation initiatives with a particular focus on Ocean Wise in Canada. I will discuss the market forces that help drive change on the water as well as the limitations such as the ability to influence fisheries sustainability in developing countries.

Dr. Dalal Al-Abdulrazzak is the Seafood Specialist with the Ocean Wise Seafood Programme where she is responsible for setting the scientific direction behind seafood recommendations. She also works closely with seafood suppliers and distributors to advise them on sustainable sourcing, fishing, and aquaculture practices. She was formerly an Ocean Policy Analyst at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of British Columbia’s Fisheries Centre, where she also did her PhD. She is particularly interested in issues related to overfishing, applied use of historical baselines, and the global impact of ghost fishing.

November 17, 2017: 3E+ Evaluation of REDD+: Findings from a pan-tropical sample of pilots

November 8 2017

3E+ Evaluation of REDD+: Findings from a pan-tropical sample of pilots

Abstract: REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) is expected to play an important role in climate change mitigation. It is also expected to generate co-benefits that help meet the sustainable development goals. This presents design challenges for REDD+, and hundreds of pilot projects have been launched to demonstrate and test alternatives. The Global Comparative Study on REDD+ demonstrates the potential impacts of REDD+, and offers methodological lessons for operationalizing performance-based payments and social safeguards.

Bio: Erin Sills is a professor of forest economics and coordinator of international programs in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University, and a research associate of Center for International Forestry Research, Environment for Development, and Amazon Institute of People and the Environment.

Location: Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP) 2916

Date: Nov. 17, 2017

Time: Noon

Lunch will be provided for the first 40 attendees.

Poster of Forestry Seminar click here

Photo Credit: Rudolf Vicket from flickr/ Creative Commons

November 10, 2017: IOF Seminar – The Oceans Enabling Sustainable Development, and Development Enabling Sustainable Oceans: Research to Support Global Goals

November 11 2017

The Oceans Enabling Sustainable Development, and Development Enabling Sustainable Oceans: Research to Support Global Goals

Dr. Gerald Singh

Nippon Foundation Senior Nereus Fellow

Friday, November 10, 2017

11:00 am

AERL Theatre (120)

In 2015, 194 countries adopted the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – 17 aspirational goals with 169 targets promoting global efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, promote education and reduce inequalities, grow economies and protect and restore natural systems (among others). There is a specific goal set for the global oceans named SDG 14: Life Below Water. Over forty-five countries have expressed support for a recent proposal from the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission to call 2021-2030 the International Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The establishment and buy-in of these goals presents an unprecedented opportunity for both positive research programs to study social-ecological systems (e.g. can the goals all be achieved together, and if so under what conditions?) and normative research to establish policy trajectories to actually achieve the SDGs (e.g. what targets should be prioritized to make progress across most goals possible?). However, there is a risk that researchers use the SDGs simply as a vehicle to validate and valorize ideas already held and research already underway regardless of the existence of SDGs.

In this talk, Dr. Singh will outline initial studies undertaken by the Nereus Program to relate ocean sustainability positively and negatively to the SDGs, and plans for future research on oceans and SDGs, partnering with national governments, intergovernmental organizations, and international NGOs. Making progress towards the SDGs will depend in part on relevant research highlighting important ways to promote them while also avoiding mistakes and avoidable tradeoffs in policy.

Gerald Singh is a Senior Research Fellow with the Nereus Program at the University of British Columbia. He leads the research at Nereus on oceans and sustainable development. His background is on coastal and marine resource management for ecosystem services, cumulative impacts assessment, and marine community ecology.

Photo Credit: Alf Atendorf from flickr/ Creative Commons

November 9 2017: Policy @ UBC with Professor Maria Holuszko: Urban Mining Engineering to Facilitate a Zero Waste Scenario

November 3 2017

Join us for a Policy@UBC presentation with Professor Maria Holuszko on urban mining and e-waste management and recycling. We will also discuss how to build collaborations with social scientists to address the policy perspective, governance, incentive structures of this important sustainability issue.

Urban Mining Engineering to Facilitate a Zero Waste Scenario

Thursday, November 9th
12:30 PM – 1:50 PM
Caseroom – Liu Institute For Global Issues

No RSVP required.
Light refreshments provided.

Welcome by Nadja Kunz, Assistant Professor at the Liu Institute for Global Issues and Norman B Keevil Mining Engineering

Speakers:

Maria Holuszko, Assistant Professor, Norman. B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, UBC
UBC Mining Engineering students

Photo Credit: Ken Lun from flickr Creative Commons

November 15, 2017: Green College Seminar
Hope in the Anthropocene Series
Speaker: Jeannette Armstrong

Click for PDF poster.

Re-Indigenizing the Planet in the Anthropocene.

Jeanette Armstrong

Location: Coach House, UBC Green College (6201 Cecil Green Park Road)
Date and Time: Wednesday, November 15, 5 pm

Abstract:

Much of my life’s work focuses on resistance to hopelessness as a way to find ways to provide hopeful agency to Indigenous Peoples’ efforts to continue to care for and to defend their homelands. I have found that many others are seekers of a way to be the change that is required to heal society and the planet. The fundamental task before all of us is to mobilize a shift in the social paradigm toward ecological sustainability. Resituating the concept of “sustainability” toward a focus on the creation of “communities of hope” is necessary. Finding collaborative ways to create viable local community mechanisms provides a way that assists in changing the relationship of people to their environment. Such change means actualizing in communities the concept of “we are people of this place.” Triggering a foundation for an ecologically sound shift takes place if there are consciously focused ways to “re-Indigenize” places that need its inhabitants to do things differently together. The human desire to be a “part of” community, when combined with immediate benefits to people with strategic long-term outcomes, may be a solution. People nourished by “place” embeds long-term sustainability as a part of their lives. They celebrate its value and the need to maintain it, because it is essential. Transformation of values toward place happens when new ways that meet life needs also brings fulfillment emotionally and spiritually. Hope and solutions are possible through supporting and empowering new relationships to place by finding ways to actualize “communities of change” through works that are beneficial in concrete and visible ways, for people and the environment.

Photo credit: Laura Sawchuk

Bio:

Jeannette Armstrong is Syilx Okanagan, a fluent speaker and teacher of the Nsyilxcn Okanagan language and a traditional knowledge keeper of the Okanagan Nation. She is a founder of En’owkin, the Okanagan Nsyilxcn language and knowledge institution of higher learning of the Syilx Okanagan Nation. She currently is Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Okanagan Philosophy at UBC Okanagan. She has a Ph.D. in Environmental Ethics and Syilx Indigenous Literatures. She is the recipient of the EcoTrust Buffett Award for Indigenous Leadership and in 2016 the BC George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award. She is an author whose published works include poetry, prose and children’s literary titles and academic writing on a wide variety of Indigenous issues. She currently serves on Canada’s Traditional Knowledge Subcommittee of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.

Jeannette will also be speaking on Thursday, November 16th in the IRES Seminar Series. Click here for more details.

Hope in the Anthropocene is co-sponsored by the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) at UBC.