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UBC experts on UN climate summit and related topics
Media Advisories
UBC delegates and other scholars are available to comment on COP28 – the two-week global climate summit that began Thursday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates – and other climate-related topics.
COP28 delegation
Dr. William Cheung
Professor and Director, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English, Cantonese
Warming seas, effects of extreme heat on marine life
Impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems and dependent human communities
Climate solutions for the ocean and fisheries
Biodiversity
Co-author of
IPCC Climate Change 2023 synthesis report
Anjali Desai
Master’s student, Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English, Hindi
Role of higher learning institutions in promoting sustainability and achieving climate goals
Muhammad Huzaifa
Master’s student, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English, Urdu
Raising awareness and community engagement around climate change
Youth engagement and empowerment in leading the energy transition
- Greenhouse gas detection, emissions control, and accounting via the GHG protocol (industrial decarbonization roadmapping)
*Limited availability Dec. 5 – 13
Dr. Videsh Kapoor
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Practice
Tel: 778-999-3755
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Impacts of climate change on health
*Limited availability Dec. 5 – 13
Dua Naqvi
Undergraduate student, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Decarbonization, emissions and air pollution, energy transition, carbon capture technologies, electrification of transportation, sustainability in engineering
*Unavailable Dec. 8 – 9
Mina Nepali
Undergraduate student, International Relations
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English, Japanese
Youth empowerment, youth involvement in the United Nations and policy-making processes, opportunities for youth involvement in climate action, peace and Justice
*Limited availability Dec. 5 – 9
Abul Bashar Rahman (he/him)
Undergraduate student, Vancouver School of Economics
Tel: 778-838-9609
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English, Bangla
Lived and learned experiences as a first-generation Bangladeshi (one of the world’s regions most affected by climate change)
Climate change in Global South, impact investments, globalization and climate refugee crisis, climate finance, loss and damage, policymaking
*Limited availability Dec. 5 – 13
Dr. David Tindall
Professor, Department of Sociology
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
- Social aspects of the environment and climate change, public opinion on the environment and climate change, protest over environmental and climate change issues, environmental and climate justice
Dr. Rickey Yada (he/him)
Dean and Professor, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
Tel: 604-992-6178
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Food processing and agricultural innovation, resilience and food security in the face of emerging challenges (including climate change, supply chain issues and geopolitical issues)
*Available on Dec. 7-10, 12
Experts on climate change topics
Education, culture, and youth
Dr. Greg Garrard (he/him)
Professor, UBCO Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
Tel: 250-863-2822
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Environmental literature
Culture and climate change (including skepticism)
Political polarization
Fabiola Melchior (she/her)
Master’s student, UBCO Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English, German
Youth-led climate justice and climate action
Youth participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, including the Children and Youth Constituency (YOUNGO), the 18th UN Climate Conference of Youth (COY18), and COP28
Dr. Daniel Steel (he/him)
Associate Professor, School of Population and Public Health
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
- Ethics of climate change
- Op-ed: Effective climate action requires us to abandon viewing our efforts as a ‘sacrifice’
Dr. Jiaying Zhao (she/her)
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English, Mandarin
Climate action, behaviour change, psychology
Energy, industry, and just transition
Max Cohen
PhD student, Department of Geography
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
- Just transition, wind energy, fossil fuels, fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, public ownership
Dr. Johan Foster
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Industrial Research Chair in Advanced Bioproducts
Tel: 604-817-8882
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Renewable and biodegradable plastics, plastics, fate of plastics
Carbon-neutral and carbon-negative materials
Health
Dr. Michael Brauer
Professor, School of Population and Public Health
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Climate change and health
Climate change and air pollution
Dr. Emily Brigham
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
- Health impacts of climate change, lung health, asthma and COPD, pollutant exposures from wildfires, co-exposure with heat
Dr. Christopher Carlsten
Physician; Professor and Head of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Medicine
Tel: 604-839-1561
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Adverse health effects related to heat, smoke, ozone and allergens
How heat, smoke, ozone and allergens are climate-change related
Raluca Radu, MSN, RN
Lecturer, School of Nursing
Tel: 604-761-7474
Email: [email protected]
Language(s): English, Romanian
Health impacts of climate change, climate change education, climate change and the social determinants of health
- Toolkit to help tackle climate anxiety
- Contributor to the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change 2023
*Please contact after 11 a.m. PST
Dr. Michael Schwandt (he/him)
Clinical Associate Professor, School of Population and Public Health
Tel: 604-875-4375
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Public health and health equity impacts of climate change
Climate-resilient health systems
Nature, land use, oceans
Dr. Juan José Alava
Research Associate, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and Principal Investigator, Ocean Pollution Research Unit
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English, Spanish
- Microplastic and plastic marine pollution, ocean pollution, pollutants in the marine food web
- Impact of climate change/ocean warming on marine species
Dr. Peter Arcese
Professor, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences
Tel: 778-350-9295 (please text before calling)
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Carbon credits, ecosystem services and conservation
Pace of adaptation in organisms to climate change
Dr. Karen Hodges (she/her)
Professor, UBCO Department of Biology
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Biodiversity conservation, forestry, wildfires, endangered species, climate change, species distributions
Dr. Kayla King (she/her)
Professor, Departments of Zoology, and Microbiology and Immunology
Canada Excellence Research Chair in Evolutionary Dynamics of Host-Pathogen Interactions
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Wildlife infection and conservation, environment, biodiversity, climate change, evolution, host-pathogen/parasite interactions, zoonoses
Dr. Katie Marshall (she/her)
Associate Professor, Department of Zoology
Tel: 604-781-8778
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Winter biology, thermal biology, invertebrates (insects, intertidal species), forest insect pests
Dr. Isla Myers-Smith (she/her)
Professor, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences
Canada Excellence Research Chair in Global Change Ecology of Northern Ecosystems
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Climate change in the Arctic
How global change alters tundra plants and ecosystem processes
Dr. John Richardson
Professor, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Freshwater biology, endangered species, forest management, water conservation, wildlife ecology, particularly of smaller species
Effects of droughts on natural ecosystems
Effects of flooding and water supplies on streams and lakes, water quality and debris torrents
*Unavailable Dec. 4 – 8
Dr. U. Rashid Sumaila (he/him)
University Killam Professor, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, and School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Tel: 604-351-7406
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English, Hausa, Norwegian
Blue economy, sustainable and just ocean systems, fisheries economics, marine biodiversity, ocean conservation, biological diversity
Experience as a previous COP delegate
Policy and economy
Dr. Hassan Ahmad
Assistant Professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law
Tel: 604-822-3925
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Climate change litigation, corporate climate impacts
Canada’s obligations under Paris Agreement
*Unavailable Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and on Dec. 11
Dr. Werner Antweiler
Associate Professor, Sauder School of Business
Tel: 604-822-8484
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Carbon pricing, climate change economics and policy
Renewable energy, electricity systems and markets
Electrification of mobility including EV adoption and EV charging infrastructure
Dr. Simon Donner
Professor, Department of Geography, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, and Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Climate change science, climate change policy including targets, Canadian policy, international negotiations, finance and adaptation, loss and damage
Dr. Brian Marcus
Professor, Department of Mathematics
Tel: 604-328-1471
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English
Temitope Onifade (he/him)
PhD candidate, Peter A. Allard School of Law
Email: [email protected]
Interview language(s): English, Yoruba, English-based pidgin
Climate policy and justice under the Paris Agreement, Canada’s climate governance framework
Experience as a previous COP delegate
Climate news tips and story ideas
Updated weekly until Dec. 12:
