Climate Researcher Database

With over 500 faculty members investigating climate-related topics 
across two UBC campuses, it can be hard to know where to start. 

This page provides a searchable list of UBC faculty members conducting climate and climate-related research across the university. 

The database allows you to filter by campus, faculty or school, and research theme, or you can search by keywords.

If you are you a UBC research associate or faculty member who wish to be added to the tool, or to adjust an existing entry, please complete this Qualtrics survey or email us at climate.collective@ubc.ca.

Would you like to partner with UBC researchers?  You can connect with Innovation + Partnerships for support in Vancouver and the Okanagan.

For support with media enquiries, please reach out to UBC Media Relations in Vancouver or UBC University Relations in Kelowna. 

You can also contact us at climate.collective@ubc.ca 

Name Campus Research Interests Faculty Department, School, Affiliations Research Theme(s)
Christopher Gaston UBC Vancouver Aboriginal/community development; Aboriginal forestry; Communities and livelihoods; Economics; Forest policy; Sustainability; Indigenous capacity building; Indigenous Participatory Cultural Mapping and Dynamic Decision Modelling (MITACS). Faculty of Forestry Department of Wood Science; Diversified Agroecosystem Cluster Business Processes and Corporate Governance, Forestry, Economic Modeling and Data Analysis, Sustainable Materials and Composites, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation
Kaitlyn Gaynor UBC Vancouver Behavioural responses of animals to human presence; Effects of anthropogenic disturbance on predator-prey and other species interactions; Socio-ecological dynamics of conservation and coexistence. Faculty of Science Department of Zoology; Department of Botany; Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability; Biodiversity Research Centre; Interdisciplinary Biodiversity Solutions Collaboratory (IBioS); Gaynor Lab Biodiversity, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Land Use
Camille Georgeson-Usher UBC Vancouver Contemporary art; Indigenous visual culture; Curatorial practices; Museum studies; Feminism and performance; Public art and graffiti. Faculty of Arts Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Urban Planning and Cities
Sarah Gergel UBC Vancouver Mapping and quantifying ecosystem services; Social-ecological landscapes and resilience; Mapping & monitoring with First Nations and LEK. Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences; Landscape Ecology Lab; Biodiversity Research Centre Freshwater Systems, Forestry, Climate Modelling and Data Analysis, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Health and Wellbeing
Susan Gerofsky UBC Vancouver Art education research; Curriculum studies; Environmental Education; Mathematics; Media; Semiotics; Text Studies; Pedagogy; Mathematics and gesture; Embodied learning; Genre theory; Mathematics and the arts; Garden-based learning; Performance theory; Mathematics and language; History of mathematics. Faculty of Education Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy; David Robitaille International STEM Education Network Climate Education and Environmental Literacy, Rural and Northern Communities
Amanda Giang UBC Vancouver Atmospheric pollutants; Climate changes and impacts; Chemical pollutants; Social and cultural factors of environmental protection; Public policies; Air quality; Environmental policy. Faculty of Applied Science, Faculty of Science Department of Mechanical Engineering; Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability; Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC); Climate Change Health Effects, Adaptation, and ResiLience (HEAL); Green Shipping Project Climate Modelling and Data Analysis, Pollution, Policy and Governance, Atmospheric Science, Climate Justice
Cynthia Girling UBC Vancouver Sustainable urban design; The public realm; Tools for urban design; Methods and tools of measured visualizations for public engagement in community planning and design. Faculty of Applied Science School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture; Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions; elementslab Buildings and Sustainable Infrastructure Design, Urban Planning and Cities, Forestry, Policy and Governance, Climate Justice, Clean Energy and Energy Transitions
Anita Girvan UBC Okanagan Cultural studies; Environmental humanities; Political ecology; Environmental justice; Black and Indigenous feminist ecological thought; Critical Canadian studies; Environmental humanities; Stories and cultural productions as sites of contestation and reclamation in addressing pressing socio-ecological matters, like (de)colonization and climate change; Cultural politics of climate change; Metaphors and stories as mediators of larger-than-human relations; Local-global traffics of decolonization. Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies Department of English and Cultural Studies Climate Justice, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation, Carbon Management
Derek Gladwin UBC Vancouver Energy transition and literacy; Systems literacy; Complexity education; Eco-literacy; Transdisciplinary education; Social and spatial justice; Arts-based environmental education. Faculty of Education Department of Language and Literacy Education; Systems Being Lab; Master of Education Technology; Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability, Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program; D|N Education Design; Master of Arts in Children’s Literature Program; Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC) Climate Education and Environmental Literacy, Climate Justice, Clean Energy and Energy Transitions, Climate Activism and Social Movements
Eagle Glassheim UBC Vancouver History of east/central Europe; Habsburg central Europe; Modern Germany; Environmental history; Post-war Czechoslovakia; Czechoslovak environmental policy. Faculty of Arts Department of History Mining, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Policy and Governance, Climate Justice
Robert Godin UBC Okanagan Transient absorption spectroscopy/microscopy to determine the charge carrier dynamics of materials for solar energy conversion; Photochemistry and photophysics; Carbon-based photocatalytic materials; Sustainable energy and material production. Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science Department of Chemistry; Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC); Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, And Ecosystems Services (BRAES) Solar Energy, Water Resources and Supply, Clean Energy and Energy Transitions, Hydrogen
Ernest Goh UBC Okanagan Sustainable transportation; Enclosed narrow-track electric vehicles, with focus on: Aerodynamics, ergonomics and practicality for commercialization; Civil Engineering; Mechanical Engineering Faculty of Applied Science School of Engineering (Civil; Mechanical) Transportation, Clean Energy and Energy Transitions, Electricity
Gaston Gordillo UBC Vancouver Terrain, place, territory and materiality; Racialized geographies; Insurrections and revolution; Violence; Ruins and ruination; Agro-ecological and climate activism; Agribusiness, deforestation, infrastructures and soy supply chains in South America; Argentina; Campesinos and Indigenous people of the Gran Chaco. Faculty of Arts Department of Anthropology; Centre for Climate Justice Climate Activism and Social Movements, Climate Justice, Agriculture, Policy and Governance, Indigenous Ways of Knowing
Sean Graham UBC Vancouver Plant biodiversity with a focus on both evolutionary and molecular approaches; Comparative genomics of green & mycoheterotrophic plants; Plant deep phylogeny; Evolutionary biodiversity. Faculty of Science Department of Botany; Biodiversity Research Centre Biodiversity, Terrestrial Ecosystems
Kari Grain UBC Vancouver Experiential learning; Critical pedagogy, Adult education; Anti-racism; Global/local community engagement. Faculty of Education Department of Educational Studies Climate Education and Environmental Literacy, Climate Activism and Social Movements, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change
Sue Grayston UBC Vancouver Microbial diversity and function in soils; Plant-microbe interactions; Rhizodeposition; Climate change and soil C sequestration; Soil microbial community structure and function related to GHG emissions. Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences Carbon Cycle, Forestry, Terrestrial Ecosystems
Sheldon Green UBC Vancouver Industrial fluid mechanics; Liquid friction modifier application to surfaces; Electrospraying onto a moving surface; Paper creping; Paper pressing; Energy recovery ventilators. Faculty of Applied Science Department of Mechanical Engineering; Applied Fluid Mechanics Laboratory; Bioproducts Institute; Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC) Sustainable Materials and Composites, Buildings and Sustainable Infrastructure Design
Jennifer Grenz UBC Vancouver Invasive species management; Ecological restoration; Science communication; Indigenous ecology; Climate change and invasive species. Faculty of Forestry, Faculty of Land and Food Systems Department of Forest Resource Management; Indigenous Ecology Lab; Applied Biology Program; Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC) Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Biodiversity, Forestry, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation, Sovereign or Sustainable Food Systems, Policy and Governance
Lee Groat UBC Vancouver Environmental mineralogy; Acid mine drainage potential; Natural acid rock drainage; Mine wastes and neutralization potential. Faculty of Science Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences Mining, Waste and Waste Management, Bioprocesses and Biotechnology
Sumeet Gulati The economics of urban transportation; Effectiveness of carbon taxes; Effectiveness of environmental policy; Economics of human wildlife conflict; Political economy of environmental and trade policy; International trade and its effect on the environment. Faculty of Land and Food Systems Food and Resource Economics Program; Wildlife and Conservation Economics Laboratory; Interdisciplinary Biodiversity Solutions Collaboratory (IBioS)
Penny Gurstein UBC Vancouver Socio-cultural aspects of community planning with particular emphasis on those who are the most marginalized in planning processes; Developing strategies and interventions that encourage diversity, equity and urban sustainability in the planning and design of communities; Affordable homeownership and rental housing. Faculty of Applied Science School of Community and Regional Planning; Balanced Supply of Housing Research Cluster Housing, Urban Planning and Cities, Climate Justice, Policy and Governance, Buildings and Sustainable Infrastructure Design, Poverty
Robert Guy UBC Vancouver Climate change; Ecology; Forest biology; Genomics; Ecophysiology and stress physiology of trees and other plants; Use of stable isotopes in plant physiology and ecology; Phenotypic plasticity and resource allocation; Photosynthesis; Respiration (particularly alternative path respiration); Water relations; Phenology; Forest regeneration and stock quality. Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences Forestry, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Biodiversity
Előd Gyenge UBC Vancouver Alternative energy sources (fuel cells, batteries, supercapacitors); Pollution control of gaseous (e.g. CO2, NOx) and liquid effluents and environmentally more sustainable chemical process development (e.g. the electrosynthesis alternative to conventional thermochemical processes). Faculty of Applied Science Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC) Electricity, Clean Energy and Energy Transitions
Shannon Hagerman UBC Vancouver Environmental values; Politics of knowledge; Social-ecological systems; Human-dimensions of conservation; Environmental decision-making and policy; Climate change adaptation. Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest Resource Management; Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability; The CoAdapTree Project; Social-Ecological Systems Research Group Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Policy and Governance, Environmental Psychology, Forestry
Kate Hale UBC Vancouver Snowpack; Climate; Ecohydrology; Water availability in alpine and Arctic watersheds; Community engagement; Cold region hydrology. Faculty of Arts Department of Geography Freshwater Systems, Alpine, Arctic and Antarctic, Water Resources and Supply, Climate Risk Management
Steven Hallam UBC Vancouver Microbial ecology; Synthetic biology and bioinformatics with specific emphasis on the creation of functional screens and computational tools that reveal hidden metabolic powers of uncultivated microbial communities. Faculty of Science Department of Microbiology and Immunology; Bioproducts Institute; Bradshaw Research Institute for Minerals and Mining; Hallam Lab; Life Sciences Institute; Microplastic Cluster; Future Packaging Research Cluster Bioprocesses and Biotechnology, Oceans and Coastal Systems
Richard Hamelin UBC Vancouver Forest pathology; Using genetic and genomic approaches to better understand forest disease epidemics; Biology and genomics of tree rust diseases. Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences; The Hamelin Lab; The CoAdapTree Project Forestry, Biodiversity, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Natural Hazards and Disaster Response
Cara Haney UBC Vancouver Biochemistry; Biotechnology; Bioinformatics; Biological imaging; Genomics; Immunology; Systems biology; Evolution; Infectious disease; Microbiome; Agriculture; Microbial pathogenesis; Plant biology; Food security. Faculty of Science Department of Microbiology and Immunology; The Haney Lab (Plant Microbiome Lab); Biodiversity Research Centre; Life Sciences Institute; Diversified Agroecosystem Cluster Biodiversity, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Health and Wellbeing
Kevin Hanna UBC Okanagan Environmental impact assessment; Natural resources management; Energy systems and resources; Canadian west, north and Arctic. Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences; UBC Centre for Environmental Assessment Research Natural Resource Management, Mining, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation, Policy and Governance, Forestry
David Hardisty UBC Vancouver Consumer behaviour; Sustainability; Energy efficiency; Judgement and decisions about the future; Product attribute framing . Sauder School of Business Marketing and Behavioural Science Division; Interdisciplinary Biodiversity Solutions Collaboratory (IBioS); Decision Insights for Business & Society (DIBS) Environmental Psychology, Economic Modeling and Data Analysis
Christopher Harley UBC Vancouver Community ecology; Climate change; Plant and animal distributions; Biotic forces such as temperature and ocean acidification; Biological relationships such as predation, competition, and facilitation; Coastal marine ecology and structure. Faculty of Forestry Department of Zoology; Biodiversity Research Centre; Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Biodiversity, Oceans and Coastal Systems
Leila Harris UBC Vancouver Drinking water; Fresh water; Water; Resources management; Development policies; International development; Social and cultural factors of environmental protection; Social contract and social justice; Water politics; Water governance; Environmental justice; Gender and social difference; Equity and social justice; Participatory resource management; Turkey and Middle East, Africa , Ghana, South Africa. Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Science Department of Geography; Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability; Environmental & Development: Gender, Equity, and Sustainability (EDGES) Research Collaborative; Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice Policy and Governance, Water Resources and Supply, Poverty, Climate Justice, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation
Sara Harris UBC Vancouver Science education; Climate science education; Oceans; Geoscience education; Environmental science. Faculty of Science Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences; Cool Tools Warm World Research Cluster Climate Education and Environmental Literacy, Environmental Psychology
Kathryn Harrison UBC Vancouver Environmental politics; Environmental policy; Climate change; Global warming; Climate change policy; Energy policy; Federalism; Comparative public policy. Faculty of Arts Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability; Department of Political Science; Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC); Green Shipping Project International Negotiations and Treaties, Policy and Governance, Natural Resource Management, Oil and Gas
Miranda Hart UBC Okanagan Microbial ecology of soil microbes; Role and the applications of microbes in sustainable agriculture, viticulture, and ecological restoration. Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science Department of Biology; Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, And Ecosystems Services (BRAES) Agriculture, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Biodiversity, Sovereign or Sustainable Food Systems
Marwan Hassan UBC Vancouver Geomorphology; Hydrology; Landscape evolution; Stream ecology; Urban hydrology; Desert floods; Water quality; Water resources. Faculty of Arts Department of Geography; Future Waters Group Freshwater Systems, Water Resources and Supply
Cristoph Hauert UBC Vancouver Evolution of cooperation; Evolutionary dynamics; Structured populations; Social networks; Game theory; Adaptive dynamics. Faculty of Science Department of Mathematics; Department of Zoology Environmental Psychology
Lindsey Heagy UBC Vancouver Mineral exploration; Carbon sequestration; Geophysics; Groundwater and environmental studies; Geophysical inversions. Faculty of Science Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences; Future Minerals Initiative Freshwater Systems, Mining, Carbon Management, Water Resources and Supply, Oceans and Coastal Systems
Tracey Heatherington UBC Vancouver Sociocultural anthropology; Globalization; Development and political ecology; Social justice; Critical study of biodiversity conservation at a broader scale, in relation to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture; Seed banking and seed saving; Agricultural science; Technology and institutions in international efforts to adapt to climate change. Faculty of Arts Department of Anthropology Climate Justice, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Sovereign or Sustainable Food Systems
Nancy Heckman UBC Vancouver Environmental and spatial statistics; Forest products stochastic modeling; Functional data analysis; Applications in evolutionary biology; Analysis of animal movement; Nonparametric regression; Shapes of regression functions. Faculty of Science Department of Statistics Forestry, Climate Modelling and Data Analysis
Sarah Henderson UBC Vancouver Air pollution from all provincially relevant sources (wildfire smoke, residential woodsmoke, industry, road dust, shipping, and vehicles); Extreme weather events; Radon gas; Food safety; Water quality; Exposures managed by the Drug and Poison Information Centre (DPIC). Faculty of Medicine School of Population and Public Health; Future Waters Group; Social Exposome Cluster Health and Wellbeing, Pollution, Weather and Climate Extremes, Water Resources and Supply, Buildings and Sustainable Infrastructure Design, Climate Modelling and Data Analysis
Greg Henry UBC Vancouver Climate change's effect on Arctic tundra ecosystems; Helping Arctic communities to understand and interpret observations of environmental change; Plant growth; Phenology and reproduction; Biodiversity responses; Biotic interactions; Evolutionary and migration potential of plant species; Carbon and nutrient fluxes; Effects of permafrost disturbance. Faculty of Arts Department of Geography; Biodiversity Research Centre Alpine, Arctic and Antarctic, Biodiversity, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation, Carbon Cycle
Klaske van Heusden UBC Okanagan Data-driven and learning control; System identification; Optimizing energy use of buildings; Emerging applications in agriculture and health care. Faculty of Applied Science School of Engineering (Mechanical); Materials & Manufacturing Research Institute Agriculture, Buildings and Sustainable Infrastructure Design, Clean Energy and Energy Transitions
Kasun Hewage UBC Okanagan Lifecycle assessment of construction products and processes; Waste management in construction; Energy based sustainability analysis in infrastructure projects; Construction productivity and safety; Human factors and information technology in construction; Construction process optimization. Faculty of Applied Science School of Engineering (Civil); UBC Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC); Life Cycle Management Laboratory; Battery Innovation Research Excellence Cluster Waste and Waste Management, Buildings and Sustainable Infrastructure Design, Clean Energy and Energy Transitions, Policy and Governance
Nina Hewitt UBC Vancouver Biogeography; Vegetation dynamics with a focus on the impacts of human activities, particularly ecosystem fragmentation, altered disturbance regimes, biological invasions and climate change, and the solutions to manage these impacts; Plant populations in forest ecosystems of eastern North America, and in alpine and subalpine systems of the Karakoram Himalaya and BC Coast Mountains. Faculty of Arts Department of Geography; Biogeography Teaching and Research Lab Biodiversity, Alpine, Arctic and Antarctic, Land Use, Climate Education and Environmental Literacy, Terrestrial Ecosystems
Andrea Hilland UBC Vancouver Intersections of Indigenous laws, Aboriginal rights, and environmental regulation to challenge discriminatory theories of colonial supremacy and Indigenous inferiority that are perpetuated through the contemporary colonial legal system; Supporting the resurgence of Indigenous laws; Demonstrating the potential of Indigenous laws to enhance Canada's multi-juridical legal system. Peter A. Allard School of Law Centre for Law and the Environment; Centre for Feminist Legal Studies; Indigenous Legal Studies Environmental Law, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation, Indigenous Ways of Knowing
Scott Hinch UBC Vancouver Salmon migration behavioural physiology and ecology; Land-use effects on fish ecology and habitat; Adult salmon migration survival, behaviour, energetics, physiology, habitat use, environmental cues, effects of fisheries and capture-release, passage in regulated rivers, disease and pathogens. Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences; Pacific Salmon Ecology and Conservation Laboratory; Strait of Georgia Data Centre; UBC Animal Research Freshwater Systems, Fisheries, Forestry, Land Use, Natural Resource Management
George Hoberg UBC Vancouver Forest policy; Energy policy; Environmental policy; Trade and environment; Softwood lumber; Olympics; Aboriginal issues (land rights), Forestry policy. Faculty of Arts Department of Political Science; School of Public Policy and Global Affairs; Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC); Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability Policy and Governance, Clean Energy and Energy Transitions, Forestry, Pollution, Climate Activism and Social Movements
Karen Hodges UBC Okanagan Ecology; Conservation biology; Effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on behaviour and population dynamics; Predator-prey dynamics; Extinction risks; Species-at-risk legislation; Wildfires and wildlife; Biosolids and wildlife. Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science Department of Biology; Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, And Ecosystems Services (BRAES); Biodiversity Research Centre Biodiversity, Wildfires and Forest Fires, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Land Use, Policy and Governance, Waste and Waste Management
Maria Holuszko UBC Vancouver Recovery of metals from industrial and municipal waste streams; Urban mining; Biomass waste from forestry and tailings from coal mining to produce new bio-renewable fuel for the power industry. Faculty of Applied Science Future Minerals Initiative; Bradshaw Research Institute for Minerals and Mining; Urban Mining Innovation Center; Microplastic Cluster; Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering

First Nations land acknowledegement

We acknowledge that UBC’s campuses are situated within the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh, and in the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples.

Climate Solutions Research Collective

UBC receives support for managing its research enterprise from the federal Research Support Fund.

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