News and Media

People protesting for climate action

New UBC climate course partners with City of Vancouver to find carbon-reduction solutions

New UBC climate course partners with City of Vancouver to find carbon-reduction solutions November 14, 2022 Dr. Tara Ivanochko (Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences), CSFS Associate and the Sustainability Hub’s Academic Director, discussed the courses offered at UBC to study the impact of climate change. In Ivanochko’s lab, students are “coming up with creative […]
students at the farm talking

Apply by Dec. 4 – LFS 496 Career Development Placements

LFS 496 Career Development Placements – applications are now open! November 4, 2022 Gain career skills and a foot in the door in the food system with LFS 496! In this course, students are prepared both professionally and academically for future careers through a mentored learning experience with a real food business or organization. It’s […]
Dry crops

B.C. is in a crazy drought and scientists say climate change is to blame

B.C. is in a crazy drought and scientists say climate change is to blame October 20, 2022 CSFS Associate Dr. Kai Chan (Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability) said hotter, drier summers, drought and fires are consistent with what climate scientists have been saying we should expect. “Food production is suffering, salmon are suffering, there […]
Photo of Tabitha Martens

Land reconciliation is the key to nourishment

Land reconciliation is the key to nourishment October 17, 2022 Dr. Tabitha Robin Martens, researcher and Assistant Professor in Land and Food Systems who teaches at the UBC Farm, explained how food is not just for physical nourishment; it also draws connections to past, present and futures. Read the full article by Kci-Niwesq (page 16).
Pumpkin patch

Some farmers in B.C. able to extend harvesting while others struggle with drought

Some farmers in B.C. able to extend harvesting while others struggle with drought October 17, 2022 Dr. Sean Smukler, Land and Food Systems and new CSFS Director, explained how the drought in B.C. is affecting farmers differently. “The crops that are well established and just need a little bit of water in this late season […]
Sean Smukler at the UBC Farm

Sean Smukler to be new CSFS Director

Announcing our new Director A message from Dean Rickey Yada October, 2022 I am pleased to announce that Sean Smukler will become the new Director of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, effective January 1, 2023. Many of you are familiar with Sean who is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of […]
Raccoon walking through the forest

Watch out for the quiet ones – The smartest raccoons are the most docile

Watch out for the quiet ones – The smartest raccoons are the most docile October 3, 2022 A study investigating animal personalities and how they help critters adapt to human environments has come to a curious conclusion. Dr. Sarah Benson-Amram, Departments of Zoology and Forest and Conservation Sciences, was part of the team that studied raccoons’ […]
Zac Elik, manager of Patagonia's Vancouver store crouching in front of a Patagonia sign

‘It was obviously shocking in the best way possible’: Patagonia pledges profits to the Earth

‘It was obviously shocking in the best way possible’: Patagonia pledges profits to the Earth October 3, 2022 Dr. Kai Chan, CSFS Associate and professor in the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability and the Institute for Oceans and Fisheries, commented on the donation of Patagonia to an environmental non-profit, including similar actions in the company’s history. […]
Jennifer Lipka standing in the fields at UBC Farm with a bug net

The fate of your food rests with Canada’s native bees

The fate of your food rests with Canada’s native bees October 3, 2022 Jennifer Lipka, an MSc student in CSFS Associate Juli Carrillo’s lab and the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, discussed her research into how native bees are impacted by changes in land use, climate change and pollution. Read the full article at the National […]
Truffle cross-section

This farmer-turned-biologist wants to put Quebec’s truffles on the culinary map

This farmer-turned-biologist wants to put Quebec’s truffles on the culinary map October 3, 2022 Shannon Berch, associate member in the Department of Botany, discussed growing truffles at the UBC Farm. Berch leads the Truffle Establishment in British Columbia, a project at the Farm which focuses on farming Mediterranean black winter truffles in a symbiotic relationship […]