Credit Courses & Directed Studies

UBC Credit Courses

Silviculture students gaining practical experience through spatial analysis at the UBC Farm.

The UBC Farm is a living laboratory in which students from all disciplines engage hands-on in undergraduate and graduate research and learning that deal directly with locally and globally significant issues in food security, sustainable food systems, health promotion, renewable energy, ecology, climate change, and much more.

In 2010 alone, the farm hosted over 2,500 students in academic credit courses and theses from various disciplines. A sampling of these undergraduate courses includes:

These students took part in over 50 credit courses from several of UBC’s Faculties, Schools, and Colleges, including:

• Faculty of Applied Science
• School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
• Faculty of Arts
• School of Community and Regional Planning
• Faculty of Education
• Faculty of Forestry
• College of Health Disciplines
• Faculty of Land and Food Systems
• Faculty of Medicine
• School of Nursing
• Sauder School of Business
• Faculty of Science

Examples of undergraduate course projects with recommendations implemented at the farm include:

LFS student research led to a waste diversion partnership with local food wholesalers and a source of high-nitrogen feedstock for UBC Farm compost.

• Compost Methane Release at UBC Farm (Chemical and Biological Engineering)
• “Meet Your Farmer” initiative to introduce first-year UBC students to sustainable food choices (LFS 450)
• Attracting beneficial insects in UBC Farm hedgerows (APBI 260)
• Sourcing local high-nitrogen compost feedstock to reduce food waste (LFS 350)
• Winter squash nutrient analysis (FNH 425)
• Managing perennial plantings to enhance bird habitat (APBI 468)
• UBC Farm Marketing Plan Proposal (Sauder School of Business)
• Small scale egg washer design/build (MECH 457)

The UBC University Sustainability Initiative (USI) teaching and learning office has created a website that offers a listing of sustainability-focused courses. Please contact us to find out which courses in your discipline provide learning opportunities at the UBC Farm.  In addition, you may:

• Ask your professors whether your course can visit the farm or complete a course assignment at the farm.
• Find a faculty supervisor for a directed study and suggest a project to us (see “Propose a Project” below).

Directed Studies

The opportunity for research at the UBC Farm is limited only by your imagination. We also offer intensive Directed Studies internships in food production and marketing to UBC students wishing to complement their classroom-based learning with real-world experience. Examples of recent Directed Studies undertaken by students include:

• Developing the UBC Farm Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture
• Food waste redirection through Black Soldier Fly culturing
• Integrating beef cattle into the UBC Farm crop rotation through rotational grazing systems
• Establishing the UBC Farm Heritage Orchard
• Optimizing native pollinator and other wildlife habitat through agroecological management practices
• Improving awareness of the UBC Farm through podcasting
• Establishing a hopyard production and marketing plan
• Summer Free School at UBC Farm: Researching, organizing and evaluating a student-driven alternative learning initiative

Propose a Project

The UBC Farm Heritage Orchard, which contains over 70 varieties of apples, is the result of a student directed study.

To propose a course, faculty-led or graduate research project, industry-sponsored or third party project, or an undergraduate directed study at the farm, please see the Submit a Project Proposal page.

Students from all disciplines are welcome to study at the farm. We will work with you to tailor assignments to your interests and needs. Student learning, projects, and recommendations have been integral to building the farm for the last 10 years, and we anticipate continued in-depth student engagement in shaping the farm’s future.