Dear colleagues,

While the conclusion of the search for the inaugural Dean of the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is imminent, I am delighted to announce that Professor Bryce Traister has accepted the position of Dean pro tem beginning September 1, 2020, and ending no later than December 31, 2020. Prof. Traister will hold this position in addition to his current role as Dean, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies.

Prof. Bryce Traister studies and teaches courses in early American literature and culture. He holds a BA and PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and taught for 20 years at Western University in London, Ontario, before joining the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies in 2017. He is the author of Female Piety and the Invention of American Puritanism, published by Ohio State University Press, and is the editor of American Literature and the New Puritan Studies, (September 2017). His current work includes a second-edited collection for Cambridge, The Cambridge Companion to Early American Literature.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Prof. Gino DiLabio, the current Dean pro tem of the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences for his leadership and all members of the Irving K. Barber community for their work during this challenging time.

Ananya Mukherjee Reed
Provost and Vice-President Academic
UBC Okanagan

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Dear colleagues,

It is my great pleasure to announce that on July 1, 2020, the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences (IKBSAS) successfully transitioned into two autonomous Faculties:

• The Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
• The Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science

The transition marks a major milestone for both UBC Okanagan and IKBSAS, and is a testament to the sizeable growth that we have experienced since our campus’ inception in 2004.

With this significant change comes an exciting opportunity for innovation and excellence in the sciences, as well as arts and social sciences at UBC Okanagan.

The creation of two new Faculties will not only bolster this campus’ commitment to learning and research. They will also expand upon Dr. Irving K. Barber’s contribution to our community with each new Faculty continuing to bear his name and continuing to subscribe to the original founding principles—to create an outstanding learning environment that prepares students to become better citizens of the world; citizens that foster a civil and sustainable society.

As a result of the attentive work done by our colleagues in IKBSAS, our two new Faculties are well-positioned to take advantage of this unique moment. My sincere thanks to everyone who has worked so diligently to ensure this smooth transition, in particular the students, faculty and staff of IKBSAS whose contributions, enthusiasm and patience are critical to the process.

I also want to acknowledge and recognize Dr. Gino DiLabio as he moves into the role of Dean, pro tem of both new Faculties, for his enduring leadership throughout the transition process.

The two decanal searches for the newly formed Faculties are continuing at this time.

Please join me in wishing our two newest Faculties the utmost success.

Sincerely,

Ananya Mukherjee Reed
Provost and Vice-President Academic
UBC Okanagan

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Participants invited for cognitive-behavioural service addressing healthy body weight

The UBCO Interprofessional Clinic is re-offering a Healthy Weight Specialty Service for interested faculty, staff and students starting in mid-February.

The Healthy Weight Specialty Service includes individual or group assessment and treatment for a number of health and weight-related issues including weight loss, obesity and diabetes, binge-eating and emotional eating disorders, weight gain prevention, nutrition and physical activity changes.

The program will be led by UBC Okanagan’s clinical psychology program — specifically doctoral students under the supervision of the Director of Clinical Training Lesley Lutes — a registered clinical psychologist, as part of the students’ degree program requirements.

An internationally recognized researcher, Lutes specializes in weight management treatment aimed at disease prevention and health promotion. Her research is largely aimed at adults and children in under-served populations, and she has developed an evidence-based small changes treatment program.

The service includes a 12-week weight loss cognitive-behavioural group therapy program co-facilitated by two clinicians. Group sessions will take place Tuesday afternoons from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. or Wednesday evenings from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Participants will also receive an individual health and wellness assessment before and after the program. There is a cost-recovery fee of $120 to participate; this includes treatment materials. Those with extended health care plans may be able to submit the expense for psychological services to their insurance provider. A sliding scale fee structure and/or payment plan is also available.

To find out more or to enrol in the Healthy Weight Specialty Service, contact the Interprofessional Clinic, at 250 807 8241 or ipc.ok@ubc.ca.

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Kevin Hanna, associate professor of geography, has been appointed to the Government of Canada’s Technical Advisory Committee on Science and Knowledge.

Hanna is director of the Centre for Environmental Assessment Research at UBC Okanagan and is an associate member of UBC’s Faculty of Forestry. Among his recent initiatives, in June Hanna and the Centre for Environmental Assessment Research published the 2019 Local Adaptation in Canada Report. That work focused on how municipalities across Canada are adapting to the impacts of climate change.

Hanna will serve as co-chair of the new Technical Advisory Committee, advising the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency on the assessment of a wide range of scientific, environmental, health, social, and economic issues.

To find out more about the Technical Advisory Committee members, visit: https://www.canada.ca/en/environmental-assessment-agency/advisory/advisory-groups/technical-advisory-committee-science-knowledge/tacsk-membership.html

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Weather balloon will carry cloud chamber to 120,000 feet

A group of UBC Okanagan students have won the opportunity to launch a science experiment into the stratosphere with help from the Canadian Space Agency.

Shortly after beginning their studies at UBCO last year, the students formed a team — the Atmospheric Cloud Chamber of the Okanagan — and over the winter competed against other university teams in the Canadian Stratospheric Balloon Experiment Design Challenge.

“We are working on a cosmic ray detection system where we hope to detect different cosmic particles across the lower atmosphere,” says team manager Leonardo Caffarello.

It’s one of two experiments selected to fly onboard a high-altitude research balloon launched by the Canadian Space Agency between August 21 and 31 in Timmins, Ontario. The balloon will rise to about 120,000 feet and be airborne for at least 10 hours.

Carried skyward by the balloon, a vapour-filled enclosure or cloud chamber will detect subatomic particles called pions and muons, formed when cosmic rays collide with atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere. As they pass through the chamber the decaying particles will leave visible trails and at regular intervals, a camera will take pictures of what’s happening.

Analyzing the images using intelligent software — machine-learning algorithms — to identify the kind of particle that made each trail, the students will gain a better understanding of particle behaviour at various altitudes.

It may be a new way to examine how climate change is affecting the planet.

“With these results, we will be able to estimate at what height pions are created and whether the height at which they decay has changed due to pollution,” he explains. “The particles we are detecting have a direct relationship with the atmospheric environment we identify them at. This is why we are so interested in identifying the different particles as we go high up in the stratosphere.”

During the experiment, the students will monitor the exact altitude when pions decay into muons. Detecting decay at a different altitude than previously observed may indicate a significant change in the atmospheric environment.

“If we are able to correlate our data to climate change information we could hopefully use it as another way to measure climate change,” says Caffarello.

“The students’ passion for aerospace science and technology is truly incredible,” says Engineering Prof. Jonathan Holzman, the team’s faculty supervisor. “They approached me in the fall with an idea for detecting particle decay and were looking for help to realize this idea. I was more than happy to help. I watched them assemble their design, through many trials and tribulations, and we are waiting to see it take flight later this summer. That is very exciting.”

An international team

Caffarello says the experiment is the result of a chance meeting of like-minded students at UBCO’s student orientation program Jumpstart.

“We were all part of UBCO’s aero club and we realized we were all passionate about space,” he says. “When I learned about this competition and I started studying the specific techniques needed, I realized we needed people with very different skill sets so we could all complement each other’s work.”

Caffarello, from Brazil, is going into his third year of physics, while Javier Perez Tobia, from Spain, is entering his second year of math. Mexico’s Hector Carrillo Estrada is a second-year computer science student, Giulia Rossi, from Italy, is a third-year mechanical engineering student, and Philip Noah Eibl, from Austria, is going into his third year of a combined degree of computer and data science.

“While we do have specific, scientific goals,” says Caffarello, “one of our biggest goals is to learn something new and have fun while we’re doing it.”

The student team has received a grant from the UBC Tuum Est Student Initiative Fund and is currently raising funds to meet additional expenses for the trip to Ontario. Information about the project can be found on the Atmospheric Cloud Chamber of the Okanagan team website at: ac2oubco.wixsite.com/ac2o

About UBC’s Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world.

To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca.

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UBC professor explains how temperature, fuel and climate change contribute to wildfire risk

Summer is upon us in the Okanagan Valley, and unlike summers in recent past, the majority of the Okanagan’s fire danger rating is sitting at low to moderate.

But, with long-range weather forecasts predicting little precipitation and a rise in temperatures, we asked UBC’s David Scott his opinion on the fire risk in our area.

Scott is an associate professor in earth, environmental and geographic sciences at UBC Okanagan and a Forest Renewal British Columbia Research Chair in Watershed Management.

The Okanagan is one of the most wildfire-prone areas in all of Canada – why is this the case?

Simply put, the Okanagan is a semi-desert area in a rain shadow. Because of this lack of precipitation, we are vulnerable to fire because we are dry, and also because we have built up fuel loads by decades of fire suppression.

What factors are local experts looking at when examining this year’s wildfire risk?

Wildfire risk comes from a combination of weather and fuel factors – so that’s what we’re focussing on right now. In our province, fuels are abundant in most areas, so the risk is driven by weather throughout the fire season – particularly temperature, as that drives evaporation, and rainfall.

We’ve had active fire seasons in the Okanagan the past few years, but when we look back to the disastrous fire season in 2003, that was, at the time, both the hottest and driest season on record at almost every southern interior weather station. Hot summers dry out fuels, which increases our wildfire risk. Which means that fires start more easily and are more likely to spread.

Has climate change altered the Okanagan’s forest fire season?

We know that the climate of Canada is warming. The federal government recently released Canada’s Changing Climate Report – where data analysis showed that human influence has caused Canada’s climate to warm, and it will warm further in the future. It also showed that warming and future warming in Canada is on average about double the magnitude of global warming.

So, what that means for us is that summer starts earlier, summer is longer and there’s more opportunity to dry out the environment, so the fire danger is going to be greater overall. That’s not to say we won’t have cooler or damp summers in between – climate is always variable – but for the big picture and the long-term situation, we’re going to be dealing with greater fire danger and nastier wildfire seasons.

In your opinion, what will the 2019 wildfire season look like in the Okanagan?

It’s really difficult to predict what the season will look like because it all depends on the weather. We’ve had a fair bit of rain in the past couple of weeks, so that’s positive because it’s moistening our fuels.

But that can and likely will change very quickly – just looking at forecasts for next week we can see that temperatures are rising – but the thing about long-range forecasts is, the further out we’re projecting, the weaker our predictions become. So we’re really waiting to see what mother nature will do.

What efforts have been undertaken by the province to mitigate wildfire risks this season?

The province has recently put money into an organization called the Forest Enhancement Society of BC. The society has multiple purposes, but one of those is to prevent and mitigate the impact of wildfires. Through this organization, communities are getting encouragement and assistance to manage their wildfire risk in the so-called urban-wildland interface, largely through the reduction in fuel loads.

What can the public do to improve their preparedness for this year’s wildfire season?

Two words: Fire Smart. It is is a program that’s full of straightforward and practical advice for homeowners on how to clean up their properties in preparation of wildfire season. I’ve heard firefighters say, “if you own the fuel, you own the fire,” and that’s them voicing their frustration for people who make choices without considering where they live. People need to take responsibility for their land and manage their fire risk. Think about what you’re planting right up against your home – junipers and cedars are like wicks. Think about where and how you stack your firewood. The public shouldn’t feel like they’re helpless – there’s a lot they can do to help themselves.

About UBC’s Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world.

To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca.

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I am pleased to announce that Professors Lael Parrott and John Klironomos will be joining the executive team as associate deans of the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences.

Lael Parrott has been named associate dean, strategic personnel planning and development, and John Klironomos has been named associate dean, research, graduate and postdoctoral studies

We will benefit from their breadth of experience and knowledge during this time of transition for the School.

Lael Parrott is a professor in sustainability, cross-appointed to the departments of biology and earth, environmental and geographic sciences. She leads an internationally recognized research program in managing contemporary regional landscapes and ecosystems as complex human-environment systems.

Dr. Parrott has directed the Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, and Ecosystem Services (BRAES) since 2013, has published more than 90 peer-reviewed publications and has an extensive record of graduate training.

John Klironomos is an ecologist in the department of biology. His research is focused on understanding the causes and consequences of plant and fungal diversity in terrestrial ecosystems. He has been awarded over $25 million in research grants, has trained over 60 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and has published 165 peer-reviewed papers, including 10 in Nature and Science.

Dr. Klironomos’ research has earned him a large number of awards and recognitions, including an NSERC Steacie Fellowship and a Canada Research Chair in Soil Biodiversity. He was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Klironomos also served as associate dean, research for the Barber School from 2013 to 2015, and has been a member of the Board of Governors since 2017.

Please join me in welcoming Lael and John to the Barber School executive.

I would also like to thank Dr. Mike Evans and Dr. Sylvie Desjardins for their dedication and contributions to the School during their terms as associate deans.

Gino DiLabio
Dean Pro Tem, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences

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New research highlights state of local adaptation planning in Canada

Extreme forest fires, urban flooding and severe storms make frequent headlines across Canada as these events become more prominent and destructive.

Estimated to cost Canadian communities $5 billion a year by 2020, the price-tag of responding to climate change impacts could grow to $43 billion a year by 2050, and new research suggests the response requires involvement from all levels of government, industry and the public.

Over the past year, researchers from the University of British Columbia and the University of Waterloo worked with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to conduct a survey studying municipal adaptation planning across Canada. Building on results from a similar survey in 2012, the research team found that over the past 10 years, above-average rain and snowfall and more severe storms are the most frequent weather events experienced by local governments.

“Canada’s economic well-being depends on adapting vital infrastructure to this new reality,” says Kevin Hanna, director of the Centre for Environmental Assessment Research, in the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences at UBC’s Okanagan campus, and one of the project’s leaders.

“These effects are driving important planning discussions and decisions about how to adapt to a changing climate,” Hanna says. “More than half of local governments surveyed have initiated formal adaptation planning discussions in their community within the last four years.”

“Canada’s municipalities influence half of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Critical physical and natural infrastructure is especially susceptible to changes in the climate,” says Mark Seasons, professor with the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo. “All levels of government, industry and the public must work together to reduce emissions and respond to climate impacts.”

The 2018 Climate Change Adaptation Survey of Canadian Municipalities ran from January to April 2018, and was open to all local governments in Canada. Other key findings from the survey include:

• Municipal engineering and public works, planning and traditional departments such as emergency management and public safety play an increasingly important role in adaptation planning.
• Results show that adaptation planning is more often undertaken on an as-needed basis, such as for infrastructure projects or risk assessments, than as part of a broader plan or strategy.
• Very few local governments have one or more full-time staff dedicated to adaptation planning or related initiatives.
• Local governments are increasingly using climate change and other data to make adaptation-related decisions.
• The Federation of Canadian Municipalities, provincial and territorial governments, and the federal government are seen as the main sources for municipal adaptation planning and implementation funding, and for information and training resources that support adaptation.

“Responding to these changes will be expensive across the country,” says Seasons. “The economic benefits of taking action now, rather than later—or at all—are becoming clearer every day.”

The survey indicates that local governments see the connections between adaptation planning and emergency management and disaster response, however, they struggle to take action because of a lack of human and financial resources.

“The shortage of dedicated human resources for adaptation planning is not a new issue and may, in large part, explain the degree to which planning takes place within local governments,” says Troy McMillan, research associate with the Centre for Environmental Assessment Research at UBC Okanagan.

“Further study is needed to examine how formal planning processes are conducted or approached at the local level and how expertise across disciplines is considered. Sustainability, urban resilience and disaster risk reduction, in particular, are complementary lenses that should be examined more fully,” adds McMillan. “The report will help inform other projects studying local adaptation planning in Canada, and play a significant role in identifying areas for future capacity-building work and knowledge sharing.”

The full 2019 Local Adaptation in Canada Report is available online: ok-cear.sites.olt.ubc.ca/report-publications

About UBC’s Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world.

To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca.

About the research

The 2018 Climate Change Adaptation Survey of Canadian Municipalities was conducted by researchers at the Centre for Environmental Assessment Research at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus, and the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, working in collaboration with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM).

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Do you love to sing? Do you want to polish your voice and share it with others?

The Minds and Music Concert Series and the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies are collaborating to create a University Chorus.

University Chorus will be directed by Frances Chiasson, it will rehearse at noon on Tuesdays starting January 8, 2019, in the Creative and Critical Studies building (room CCS 144) and is open to all students, faculty and staff.

No auditions are required and all voice types are welcome. Just bring your voice and your enthusiasm for making music.

To find out more, contact Manuela Ungureanu, Minds and Music program coordinator and associate professor of philosophy, at manuela.ungureanu@ubc.ca or 250 807 9375, or Frances Chiasson at fchiasson@choral-music.com or 250 869 6817.

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The UBC Okanagan Psychology Clinic is offering a new service that’s available for all faculty and staff.

The service is a low-barrier outpatient treatment service for individuals seeking help to reduce the harm associated with their use of alcohol or other substances.

It is supervised by Barber School Psychology Prof. Zach Walsh and features individualized intervention using empirically-supported approaches including Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and Motivational Interviewing (MI) to help clients attain their substance use goals.

Treatment is provided by doctoral clinical psychology students and fees for services are on a sliding scale based on income and range from $10 to $80 per hour.

Anyone interested in using this service can send a referral to the UBC Okanagan Psychology Clinic via phone, fax, or email.

Telephone: 250 807 8241 (press 1 for reception)
Fax: 250 807 9675
Email: ipc.ok@ubc.ca

Voicemail is available after hours. Please note, the clinic is not able to offer crisis or emergency services.

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