Global effort to end plastic pollution
Dr. Kai Chan
April 26, 2024
CSFS Associate Dr. Kai Chan, professor in the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, discussed the global effort to end plastic pollution.
Introduced bumble bee dominates Lower Mainland pollinator surveys
Introduced bumble bee dominates Lower Mainland pollinator surveys
Dr. Risa Sargent
April 24, 2024
CSFS Associate Risa Sargent, who heads the Plant Pollinator and Global Change lab in LFS, and master’s student Sarah Knoerr are featured in a UBC News story to discuss raising concerns about the number of common eastern bumble bees—an introduced species—being found in the wild and in research surveys of pollinators in the Lower Mainland.
“Non-native bees swarm Lower Mainland, UBC survey” CBC News
“Non-native bumblebees threaten B.C. wildlife: UBC biologists” City News Vancouver
Wild pollinators could help feed 30 million Canadians, study finds
Wild pollinators could help feed 30 million Canadians, study finds
April 3, 2024
CSFS Associate Matthew Mitchell sheds light on the link between diminishing numbers of wild pollinators and reduced farm productivity in a recent study published in Environmental Research Letters. In his Q&A, he delves into the research findings and proposes ways the public can contribute to protecting wild bees.
“Wild pollinators could help feed 30 million Canadians, study finds” Vancouver Is Awesome
“Declining wild pollinators threaten Canadian agriculture, researcher warns” New Food magazine
“Q&A: Where the wild bees are—and aren’t—impacts food supply” Phys.org
Introduced bumble bee dominates Lower Mainland pollinator surveys
Introduced bumble bee dominates Lower Mainland pollinator surveys
Image of bumble pee on a flower
April 19th, 2024
Risa Sargent, who heads the Plant Pollinator and Global Change lab in LFS, and master’s student Sarah Knoerr are featured in a UBC News story to discuss raising concerns about the number of common eastern bumble bees—an introduced species—being found in the wild and in research surveys of pollinators in the Lower Mainland.
T”he more bees you have with overlapping floral resource use, the higher the chance for competition. We’re worried that the growing numbers of Bombus impatiens could reduce the population persistence and health of our native bees,” said Sargent.
Read the full article at UBC News
An Indigenous ecologist on why we need to stop and listen to save the planet
An Indigenous ecologist on why we need to stop and listen to save the planet
Image of Jennifer Grenz in a field plot on a farm
April 19th, 2024
Forestry professor Dr. Jennifer Grenz discussed her new book Medicine Wheel forthe Planet: A journey toward personal and ecological healing, and how joining Western science and an Indigenous worldview makes for better science.
Indigenous ecologist Jennifer Grenz has spent decades working to protect ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest through restoration and invasive species management. But recently, frustrated by the limitations of her work, she set out on a mission to incorporate more of her Indigenous worldview into her traditional Western science work.
Read the full article at CBC News
Reshaping agriculture: How to fight climate change with farming
Reshaping agriculture: How to fight climate change with farming
Aerial photo of someone farming
March 8th, 2024
The future of farming is about more than just producing food—agriculture can help combat climate change. But we need to transform the way we think about farming. When we consider farmers as stewards of the land, modern agricultural practices can help us build more resilient local food systems.
Dr. Sean Smukler, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, explains how we need to support farmers so they can become more resilient to changing weather patterns and other effects of climate change. Researchers are developing and testing strategies to help farmers adapt their practices so they can better nurture local ecosystems.
Watch the full video on YouTube
In Canada, the Forest Gardens of the Indigenous Kitselas Emerge From Oblivion
In Canada, the Forest Gardens of the Indigenous Kitselas Emerge From Oblivion
Floor monolith from the peripheral forest shown by Desi Bolton, indigenous to the Kitselas people © Jean-Thomas Cornélis
January 16th, 2024
Jean-Thomas Cornélis talks about his research with Jennifer Grenz, Chelsey Armstrong (SFU), and Kitselas, Sts’ailes and Hanamuwx Indigenous partners. Their research combines archeology and pedology, documenting Indigenous forest-garden agricultural methods. Cornélis works hand-in-hand with the indigenous Kitselas to document the forest-garden agricultural method used by their ancestors.
“These people were therefore not only hunter-gatherers, but also already farmers in the forests,” explains Professor Cornélis. Documenting the forest-garden method, and thereby proving the multi-millennial use – which is moreover innovative, intensive and multifunctional – of this piece of territory could constitute an important element in the fight led by the Kitselas people to recover the land of their ancestors.
Read the full article at DailyScience
Ontario woman files proposed class-action lawsuit over salmonella-tainted cantaloupes
Ontario woman files proposed class-action lawsuit over salmonella-tainted cantaloupes
Image of cantaloupe. Credits: Globe and Mail
January 3rd, 2024
An Ontario woman who became ill after eating cantaloupe is the lead plaintiff in a second proposed class-action lawsuit filed over cantaloupe-linked salmonella infections across the country.
Cantaloupe is grown in bushes and is particularly vulnerable to salmonella carried by wild animals, such as reptiles whose feces can contaminate the soil. “A major feature of salmonella compared to many other food-borne pathogens that make people sick is that it can be carried by a very wide variety of hosts,” associate professor of food safety engineering at UBC said, comparing it to E. coli, which is mainly carried by cattle.
Seven people in Canada have died from cantaloupe-linked salmonella and there have been 164 laboratory-confirmed cases in eight provinces, 111 of them in Quebec, the Public Health Agency of Canada said in its latest update last month.
Read the full article at Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, City News, Times Colonist, Tri City News, North Shore News, New Westminster Record, The Hamilton Spectator, Info News Ca, and Vancouver is Awesome
Climate Resilient Farming: Bok Choy and Rice
Food at the Tipping Point: Ways Forward from a Food System in Crisis
Climate Resilient Farming: Bok Choy and Rice
The Food at the Tipping Point: Ways Forward from a Food System in Crisis series is brought to you by the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (CSFS), the BC Food Web, the Faculty of Land and Food Systems (LFS), and the Royal Bank of Canada. This 10-part speaker series addresses the urgent need for widespread, dramatic change and provides us inspiration and real solutions.
