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)
Allison Macfarlane UBC Vancouver Technical, social, and policy aspects of nuclear energy production and nuclear waste management and disposal; Regulation, nuclear nonproliferation, and energy policy. Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Science School of Public Policy and Global Affairs; Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability; Liu Institute for Global Issues; Future Minerals Initiative Policy and Governance, Clean Energy and Energy Transitions, Waste and Waste Management
Mark MacLachlan UBC Vancouver Developing new organic and inorganic materials with interesting properties that may find applications in electronics, photonics, catalysis, and other applications; Combating environmental problems or improving alternative energy applications, such as solar energy conversion and hydrogen fuel cells. Faculty of Science Department of Chemistry; Nanomat: Create Nanomaterials Science & Technology Program; Maclachlan Group Sustainable Materials and Composites, Solar Energy, Sustainable Materials and Composites
Andrea MacNeill UBC Vancouver Surgical Oncology; Sarcoma and Peritoneal Malignancies; Planetary Healthcare. Specifically, interdisciplinary research collaborations dedicated to creating health systems that promote both human and planetary health. Transformational planetary health strategy for the health authority to mitigate the healthcare climate footprint while creating health and social value. Faculty of Medicine Division of General Surgery; Planetary Healthcare Lab; Medical Director of Planetary Health for Vancouver Coastal Health Health and Wellbeing, Climate Education and Environmental Literacy, Climate Risk Management, Policy and Governance, Waste and Waste Management
John Madden UBC Vancouver New and unusual electronic materials for application in solar cells, energy storage (batteries and supercapacitors), printable electronics and as artificial muscle. Faculty of Applied Science School of Biomedical Engineering; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Molecular Mechatronics Lab; Microsystems and Nanotechnology (MiNa) Group Electricity, Solar Energy, Sustainable Materials and Composites
Ali Madiseh UBC Vancouver Mine-mechanical equipment; Energy systems; Energy efficiency; Renewable energy systems; Energy conservation; Energy storage; Energy decarbonization. Faculty of Applied Science Bradshaw Research Institute for Minerals and Mining; Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering Mining, Oil and Gas, Clean Energy and Energy Transitions, Manufacturing and Heavy Industry, Sustainable Materials and Composites, Waste and Waste Management
Virginie Magnat UBC Okanagan Performance Studies; Cultural Anthropology; Indigenous Ethico-Onto-Epistemologies; Qualitative Research and Arts-Based Inquiry; Performative Power of Vocality; Grotowski Theatre Legacy; Decolonization and Indigenous Research Methodologies; Eco-Cultural Practices for Collective Healing; Language Revitalization and Cultural Resurgence; Body-Voice Integration; Experimental Theatre and Intercultural Performance; Community Engaged Research; Communities and Indigenous Knowledge. Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies Department of English and Cultural Studies; Department of Languages and World Literatures Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation, Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Climate Activism and Social Movements, Health and Wellbeing
Maria T. (Maite) Maldonado UBC Vancouver The role of trace metal availability in controlling the ecology and evolution of marine phytoplankton and bacteria; Role of the biota in controlling biogeochemical cycles of trace elements in the ocean; Trace elements regulation of harmful algal blooms; 'Biological carbon pump'; Regulation of the global carbon cycle. Faculty of Science Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences; Microplastic Cluster Oceans and Coastal Systems, Carbon Cycle, Biodiversity, Alpine, Arctic and Antarctic
Kirby Manià UBC Vancouver Urban ecology; Postcolonial ecocriticism; Literary studies; Post-apartheid/post-transitional South African literature(s); Environmental justice; Crime writing; Writing pedagogy; Urban studies; Postapartheid studies; Gold-rush imaginaries; Writing studies. Faculty of Arts School of Journalism, Writing, and Media Climate Justice, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Climate Activism and Social Movements, Urban Planning and Cities
Shawn Mansfield UBC Vancouver Tree biotechnology; Trees and the environment; Remediation of anthropogenic contaminants: Phosphorous, salt, heavy metals. Faculty of Forestry Department of Wood Science; Department of Botany; Biodiversity Research Centre; Tree Molecular Biology Research Lab; Bioproducts Institute Bioprocesses and Biotechnology, Pollution, Forestry, Climate Modelling and Data Analysis, Terrestrial Ecosystems
Matias Margulis UBC Vancouver Global governance of food security; Food insecurity; Renewed centrality of food security in global governance and policy, especially in the context of agricultural trade liberalization, large-scale land acquisitions (A.K.A. “land grabs”), international human rights agreements and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Land and Food Systems Food and Resource Economics Program; Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability; School of Public Policy and Global Affairs International Negotiations and Treaties, Policy and Governance, Climate Justice, Poverty, Sovereign or Sustainable Food Systems
Katie Marshall UBC Vancouver How abiotic stress filters through physiology to shape species abundance and distribution; How impact of frequency of stress (rather than the duration or intensity of stress) is a superior predictor of both survival and reproductive success. Faculty of Science Department of Zoology; Biodiversity Research Centre; Marshall Lab Biodiversity, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Oceans and Coastal Systems
Peter Marshall UBC Vancouver Quantifying and forecasting stand and forest dynamics, particularly with respect to uneven-aged and/or mixed species (complex) stands; Biometrics; Forest measurements; Modelling; Sampling design; Stand dynamics. Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest Resource Management; Forest Measurements and Biometrics Forestry, Climate Education and Environmental Literacy, Terrestrial Ecosystems
Tabitha Robin Martens UBC Vancouver My research explores the processes and practices of Indigenous food systems, particularly factors that affect Indigenous peoples’ food sovereignty. Current research includes how Indigenous knowledges can be used as food literacy; the reclamation of Indigenous seed knowledges; practices of love and care for the land; and Indigenous land-based education and wellness. Faculty of Land and Food Systems Applied Biology Program Sovereign or Sustainable Food Systems, Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation, Climate Justice, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change
José Martí UBC Vancouver Computer modelling of response to disasters; Infrastructures Interdependencies Simulation (I2Sim) project; Electric power; Energy systems. Faculty of Applied Science Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Power Group; Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC) Electricity
Kathy Martin UBC Vancouver Conservation of birds in high elevation habitats; Nest webs – cavity nesting bird community dynamics in natural and managed forests in relation to forest cutting regimes and natural disturbance events. Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences; Biodiversity Research Centre; Centre for Alpine Studies Alpine, Arctic and Antarctic, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Biodiversity, Forestry
Tara Martin UBC Vancouver Biodiversity; Climate change; Climate models; Conservation; Ecological monitoring; Ecology; Land-use change; Landscape ecology; Landscape planning; Modelling. Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences; Interdisciplinary Biodiversity Solutions Collaboratory (IBioS); Martin Conservation Decisions Lab Biodiversity, Freshwater Systems, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation, Oceans and Coastal Systems, Forestry
Patrick Martone UBC Vancouver Biology and biodiversity of seaweeds; Plant cell walls; Tissue development; Ecophysiology; Ecology and community structure; Intertidal zones; Coralline algal evolution, phylogenetics, and taxonomy; Algal physiology and climate change. Department of Botany; Martone Lab; Biodiversity Research Centre Oceans and Coastal Systems, Biodiversity
Renisa Mawani UBC Vancouver Law and society; Historical methods; Social and cultural theory; Sociology of knowledge and culture; Political philosophies of law and justice; Histories of colonial dispossession; Indigenous peoples and restrictions imposed on marginalized groups; Colonial legal processes; State racisms produced through land, law, and labor. Faculty of Arts Department of Sociology Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change
Ulrich Mayer UBC Vancouver Geochemical evolution of low-temperature groundwater systems with a focus on groundwater contamination and remediation; Groundwater contamination problems and remediation solutions. Faculty of Science Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences; Energy and Environment Research Initiative; Carbon Mineralization Lab Freshwater Systems, Pollution, Mining
Murdoch McAllister UBC Vancouver Statistical methods for fisheries risk assessment; Estimations; Decision analysis and management strategy evaluation. Faculty of Science Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Fisheries, Oceans and Coastal Systems, Climate Modelling and Data Analysis, Policy and Governance, Climate Risk Management
Carol McAusland UBC Vancouver Interactions between globalization and public good provision; Impacts of trade liberalization on environmental politics; Potential use of trade policy to stem damages from exotic species introductions and biological invasions; Environmental impacts of international trade; Implications of skilled labor migration for the global provision of public goods. Faculty of Land and Food Systems Food and Resource Economics Program Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Policy and Governance, International Negotiations and Treaties, Transportation, Carbon Management, Climate Finance and Investment
Kathryn McConnell UBC Vancouver Relationship between the environment and migration; Changes to housing and infrastructure as a result of and in response to climate-related hazards; Politics of building and development under climate change; Wildfires and rural communities; Social dynamics of climate change. Faculty of Arts Department of Sociology; Disaster Resilience Research Network Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change
Tim McDaniels UBC Vancouver Climate change adaptation in linked human/ ecological systems; Building regional resilience in infrastructure systems; Citizen involvement in complex policy decisions. Faculty of Applied Science School of Community and Regional Planning; Climate and Energy Decision Making Center; Disaster Resilience Network Natural Hazards and Disaster Response, Buildings and Sustainable Infrastructure Design, Climate Risk Management, Health and Wellbeing, Policy and Governance
Fiona McDonald UBC Okanagan Visual anthropology; Anthropology of art; Sensory ethnography; Material culture; Curatorial studies; Museum studies; Textiles; Oral history; Contemporary Indigenous art; Informal science learning and the environment; Anthropocene; Water rights; Open access and digital publishing; North America & Aotearoa New Zealand. Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Department of Community, Culture and Global Studies Climate Justice, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation, Indigenous Ways of Knowing
Shirley McDonald UBC Okanagan Canadian literature; Colonial history; Prairie settler narratives; Racial stereotypes and postcolonial studies; Embodied and phenomenological approaches to life writing; Composition theory and practice; Scholarship on teaching and learning. Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies Department of English and Cultural Studies Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Climate Education and Environmental Literacy, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation
Margaret McGregor UBC Vancouver Planetary health and environmental justice; Health impacts of unconventional oil and gas development (fracking); Toxicological exposures from hydraulic fracturing; Environmental inequity analysis; Long-term care facility quality and outcomes; Nursing home ownership models and care delivery; Staffing standards in elder care facilities; COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes; Health services privatization; Community geriatrics and frail elderly populations; Home-based primary care services; Emergency department utilization patterns; Advance care planning; Hospital utilization by socioeconomic status; Health services and policy research Faculty of Medicine Department of Family Practice; Centre for Clinical Epidemiology; Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute; UBC Centre for Health Services Policy Research Health and Wellbeing, Oil and Gas, Climate Justice, Policy and Governance, Pollution
Melissa McHale UBC Vancouver Sustainable urbanization processes; Resilient social-ecological systems; Urban ecology; Urban forestry; Green infrastructure. Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest Resource Management; Urban Forests Research Hub; Climate Change Health Effects, Adaptation, and ResiLience (HEAL) Forestry, Urban Planning and Cities, Rural and Northern Communities, Natural Resource Management
Ian McKendry UBC Vancouver Air pollution; Climatology; Meteorological phenomena that develop in regions of complex, urbanized terrain and the effect on the transport and dispersion of air pollution. Faculty of Arts Department of Geography Pollution, Wildfires and Forest Fires, Urban Planning and Cities, Atmospheric Science
Siobhán McPhee UBC Vancouver Economic geography; Labor geography; Newly emerging global cities; Migrant labour; Location-aware technologies; Augmented reality; Alternative methods of knowledge mobilization; Internationalized pedagogy. Faculty of Arts Department of Geography Climate Education and Environmental Literacy, Urban Planning and Cities
Parisa Mehrkhodavandi UBC Vancouver The power of catalysis to address environmental challenges; “Green” polymers that are either derived from biorenewable sources and/or are biodegradable in composts, in the oceans, or in the human body; Synthesis and characterization of new families of bio-based / biodegradable / green polymers. Faculty of Science Department of Chemistry; Mehrkhodavandi Research Group Sustainable Materials and Composites, Pollution, Waste and Waste Management
Mike Meitner UBC Vancouver Environmental psychology; Scenic beauty and aesthetics of the natural world; Environmental visualization and geographic information systems; Sustainability planning. Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest Resource Management; Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability Environmental Psychology, Climate Education and Environmental Literacy, Forestry, Urban Planning and Cities, Climate Justice, Natural Resource Management
Charles Menzies UBC Vancouver Fisheries crises; Traditional ecological knowledge; Local ecological knowledge; Social inequality; Neoliberalism; Tsimshian; Ethnoecology; First Nations land claims; Natural resource management; Fish; Political economy. Faculty of Arts Department of Anthropology; Ethnographic Film Unit Natural Resource Management, Fisheries, Policy and Governance, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation, Livelihoods and Traditional Economies
Walter Mérida UBC Vancouver Sustainable energy systems; Transportation; Hydrogen; Fuel cells; Policies, technologies and partnerships that enable an equitable society and a low-carbon economy. Faculty of Applied Science Department of Mechanical Engineering; Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC); Transportation Futures Research Network; Merida Labs Clean Energy and Energy Transitions, Transportation, Hydrogen, Carbon Management, Electricity
AnnaLisa Meyboom UBC Vancouver Impact of advanced computing on the language of wood design; Design of future infrastructures and their critical and catalytic relationships to public space; Transportation infrastructure and public space. Faculty of Applied Science School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture; Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC) Buildings and Sustainable Infrastructure Design, Transportation, Urban Planning and Cities, Clean Energy and Energy Transitions
Carl Michal UBC Vancouver Solid-state NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; White matter brain tissue; Transport and diffusion in polymers, gels, and electrolytes. Faculty of Science Department of Physics and Astronomy; Department of Chemistry; Bioproducts Institute Bioprocesses and Biotechnology, Sustainable Materials and Composites
Sean Michaletz UBC Vancouver Links between environmental variation to plant physiology; Monitoring of climate, ecophysiology, and vegetation dynamics; Ecophysiology; Ecosystem ecology; Climate change; Macroecology; Geophysics; Scaling; Fire. Faculty of Science Department of Botany; Physiological Ecology Lab; Biodiversity Research Centre Biodiversity, Forestry, Alpine, Arctic and Antarctic, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Climate Modelling and Data Analysis, Carbon Cycle
Karin Mickelson UBC Vancouver Environmental law; International environmental law; International human rights; Impact of developing countries on the evolution of international environmental law; International law of North-South relations; Third World approaches to international law. Peter A. Allard School of Law Allard School of Law History Project; Centre for Law and the Environment International Negotiations and Treaties, Environmental Law, Climate Justice, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change
Petra Mikulan UBC Vancouver Climate injustice; Critical time studies; Anthropocene; Geotrauma; Energy humanities; Environmental humanities; Cultural curriculum studies; Black and Indigenous feminist studies; Race/ethnicity; Social and cultural foundations of education; Research methodologies; Sustainability. Faculty of Education Department of Educational Studies; Centre for Climate Justice Policy and Governance, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation, Environmental Law, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Climate Education and Environmental Literacy, Climate Justice
Sanja Miskovic UBC Vancouver Optimization and control of mineral processing units and circuits for increased plant availability, increased productivity and reduction of water and energy consumption; Addressing the world's needs through the development of innovative solutions, new technologies and processing pathways that will enable efficient and environmentally sound concentration, extraction, and refinement of minerals, metals, fuels and waste. Faculty of Applied Science Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering Mining
Matthew Mitchell UBC Vancouver Managing human-dominated landscapes, including agricultural and urban landscapes; Understanding how the arrangement of different land uses and habitats across these areas affects ecosystem services and biodiversity; How to effectively quantify both the supply of ecosystem services and their demand by people; Identifying key management actions that can lead to win-win situations for multiple ecosystem services and biodiversity. Faculty of Land and Food Systems, Faculty of Science Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability; Department of Forest Resource Management; Diversified Agroecosystem Cluster Agriculture, Forestry, Biodiversity, Urban Planning and Cities, Terrestrial Ecosystems
Bill (William) Mohn UBC Vancouver Pollutant biodegradation; Pollutant bioremediation; Biological treatment of forest industry effluents and wastes; Environmental biotechnology; Forest soil microbial ecology. Faculty of Science Department of Microbiology and Immunology; Bioproducts Institute; Biodiversity Research Centre; Mohn Lab; Life Sciences Institute Health and Wellbeing, Bioprocesses and Biotechnology
Madjid Mohseni UBC Vancouver Water treatment; Ultraviolet (UV), ozone, and advanced oxidation technologies; Environmental pollution control; Bioenergy from waste; Environmental bioprocesses; Biofiltration; Biological wastewater treatment; Advanced oxidation. Faculty of Applied Science Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Pulp and Paper Centre; Sustainable Water Innovation and Research Laboratory; Bioproducts Institute; Research-Based Theatre Collaborative; Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC) Pollution, Water Resources and Supply, Waste and Waste Management, Buildings and Sustainable Infrastructure Design
Bernard Momer UBC Okanagan Urban cultural geography; Urban planning; Sustainability of cities; Morphogenesis; Geography of wine; Role of local culture in urban planning and sustainability in mid-size cities; Changing landscapes of wine-producing regions in Canada. Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Department of Community, Culture and Global Studies Urban Planning and Cities, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Climate Education and Environmental Literacy, Agriculture
David Montwé UBC Vancouver Increasing forest resilience to climatic extremes using silvicultural interventions; Growth and yield; Tree-ring science and climate change adaptation; Evaluating silvicultural treatments on timber quality and value; Reducing impacts from forest disturbance agents under climate change. Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest Resource Management Forestry, Alpine, Arctic and Antarctic, Weather and Climate Extremes
Alex Moore UBC Vancouver Applied community and ecosystem ecology research; Impact of predator-prey interactions on the health and functioning of coastal wetland ecosystems; Role of cultural values and knowledge in ecosystem restoration conservation. Faculty of Forestry Department of Botany; Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences; Interdisciplinary Biodiversity Solutions Collaboratory (IBioS); Moore Inclusive Conservation Lab; Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability Oceans and Coastal Systems, Livelihoods and Traditional Economies, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Biodiversity, Natural Resource Management
Dan Moore UBC Vancouver Influence of climate variability and change, in conjunction with forest and glacier dynamics, on hydrological processes and the patterns of streamflow and water quality; Environmental monitoring; Management and policy. Faculty of Arts Department of Geography Water Resources and Supply, Alpine, Arctic and Antarctic, Forestry, Policy and Governance, Freshwater Systems
Ben Mortenson UBC Vancouver Acute and residential care; Aging and assistive technology; Social participation; Caregiving and outcome measurement; Individuals with spinal cord injury and residents in long-term care. Faculty of Medicine Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy; Centre for Aging SMART Health and Wellbeing
Laura Moss UBC Vancouver Contemporary literatures of Canada and South Africa; Canadian environmental art, literature, and creative activism; Postcolonial theory. Faculty of Arts Department of English Language & Literatures Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Climate Activism and Social Movements
Shaylih Muehlmann UBC Vancouver Environmental politics; Indigeneity; Human rights; Linguistic anthropology; Drug trafficking; Water scarcity; Anthropology of the awkward; US-Mexico borderlands; Mexico. Faculty of Arts Department of Anthropology; Language Sciences Policy and Governance, Social Dimensions of Climate and Systems Change, Climate Justice
Gordon Munro UBC Vancouver Economics and management of world fishery resources; Environmental economics; Sustainable fisheries; Fishery subsidies. Faculty of Arts Vancouver School of Economics Oceans and Coastal Systems, Fisheries, Economic Modeling and Data Analysis

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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