How a Garbage-Bin War Schools Humans and Birds
By juliana cao on September 21, 2022
How a Garbage-Bin War Schools Humans and Birds
Sulfur-crested cockatoos enjoying a feast in Sydney, Australia (Ken Griffiths/Alamy)
September 21, 2022
Sulfur-crested cockatoos are trash-can bandits in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Humans use tools to protect their bins, and the birds then go the extra mile to break in.
The human-bird innovation arms race is “a really exciting idea,” says Dr. Sarah Benson-Amram, Departments of Forest and Conservation Sciences and Zoology. “It’s really wonderful to see data showing that likely this is what’s happening.”
Dr. Benson-Amram leads the Urban Raccoon Project at the UBC Farm.
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By juliana cao on September 16, 2022
Food Insecurity Affects Nearly 1 in 6 Canadian Households
September 16, 2022
“We know that food insecurity takes a major toll on people’s physical and mental well-being and adds significant costs to our healthcare system,” says Dr. Jennifer Black, CSFS Associate and Associate Professor of Food, Nutrition, and Health.
In her recent research, Dr. Black found that Canadians who had concerns about not being able to meet their food needs during the pandemic were also more likely to report serious mental health challenges.
Read the full article at Medscape.
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By juliana cao on September 8, 2022
B.C. researchers tout promising progress on oral insulin tablets
UBC researcher Yigong Guo holds an oral insulin tablet that is currently being tested (UBC/Karen Lee)
September 8, 2022
Researchers led by CSFS Associate Dr. Anubhav Pratap-Singh have developed oral insulin tablets as a replacement for daily insulin injections.
“These exciting results show that we are on the right track in developing an insulin formulation that will no longer need to be injected before every meal, improving the quality of life, as well as mental health, of more than nine million Type 1 diabetics around the world,” Pratap-Singh comments.
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By juliana cao on September 1, 2022
Lawns gone wild: How being lawnmower lazy boosts biodiversity
September 1, 2022
“We need to think more about resource use and the stuff we put on the ground, and think more about biodiversity. We’ve lost many, many of our pollinators because of that obsession with the bowling green type lawn.”
Forestry professor and CSFS Associate Dr. Terry Sunderland gave comments on the benefits of mowing the lawn less frequently.
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By juliana cao on September 1, 2022
Artificial intelligence could make our food safer — but at what cost?
Potato Chip Production (MediaProduction/E+/Getty Images)
September 1, 2022
A study led by Land and Food Systems Dean and professor, Dr. Rickey Yada, looked into how artificial intelligence can help make our food supply safer.
Through various tools such as image analysis and product scanning, AI’s data-driven approach can help food producers identify problems before they enter the consumption stage, the study states.
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By juliana cao on August 18, 2022
How raccoons became the ultimate urban survivors
UBC Urban Raccoon Project (Hannah Griebling)
August 18, 2022
Researcher Dr. Sarah Benson-Amram, Department of Forest and Conservation Science/Zoology, Faculty of Forestry and Science, discussed her research that looks into the intelligence of raccoons.
Benson-Amram leads the UBC Urban Raccoon Project, a CSFS project that uses wildlife cameras to estimate abundance and monitor the behaviour and activity of raccoons at the UBC Farm.
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By juliana cao on July 13, 2022
Power of Two: Matthew Vasilev and Katie Selbee of Twin Island Cider
Matthew Vasilev and Katie Selbee (Twin Island Cider)
July 14, 2022
“We met at UBC Farm over eight years ago – I was completing a Sustainable Farming Practicum there and Matthew was a new farm volunteer.”
Katie Selbee, a UBC Farm Practicum grad, and Matthew Vasilev, a former volunteer at the Farm, run Twin Island Cider together on Pender Island, where they make low-intervention apple and perry (pear) cider fermented using native yeasts.
Read more about how they balance cider making, orchard tending, and business running at Scout Magazine.
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By juliana cao on July 6, 2022
Hound found: on the hunt for truffles in British Columbia
Truffle Dog Team: John Kelly with Macchi
July 6, 2022
Dr. Shannon Berch, adjunct professor with the Faculty of Land and Food Systems and an associate member in Botany at the University of British Columbia, comments on the science of truffle cultivation. Berch leads the Truffle Establishment in British Columbia, a project at the UBC Farm which focuses on farming Mediterranean black winter truffles in a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with English oak trees.
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By juliana cao on June 28, 2022
Food programs should be part of school
June 29, 2022
“Children have the right to adequate, nourishing food. Yet, one in six B.C. families worries about or lacks enough money for food.”
Dr. Jennifer Black (Faculty of Land and Food Systems), an associate here at the CSFS, co-wrote about why B.C.’s next budget should support universal school food programs.
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By juliana cao on June 28, 2022
Get ready for the surprise inside this burger
June 28, 2022
UBC residence chef Johnny Bridge combines the UBC Farm’s beets with Canadian beef for a fun and surprising experience. “Canadian beef is among the world’s best,” Bridge says. “Mix that with the UBC Farm, and it’s a chef’s dream. I wanted to highlight them both and create a flavour and visual treat.”
Find the full story at the Toronto Star.
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