News

On Sep 22, the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS) held its annual BBQ outside the department buildings. Faculty, staff, graduate students and researchers gathered to reconnect with each other and welcome new people in the department. 

We also recognized our annual department award winners:

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award:

• Daniel Adria
• Edward Mason
• Birgit Rogalla

Undergraduate Instructor of the Year Award:

• Simon Peacock

Excellence in Administration and Technical Services Award:

• Kimberly Tietjen (Graduate Program Coordinator)

Congratulations to our award winners and we wish everyone a wonderful academic year!

Birgit Rogalla (pictured with department head Philippe Tortell)

Simon Peacock

Kimberly Tietjen (Graduate Program Coordinator)

Michael Bostock is a professor of seismology in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia (U.B.C.). He obtained his BSc (Applied Science) and M.Eng. at Queen's University in Kingston, PhD at the Australian National University. Prior to assuming his position at U.B.C., he held a postdoctoral fellowship at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Bostock's current research interests focus on seismicity and structure of the Cascadia subduction zone and associated offshore plate boundaries. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (A.G.U) and was the 2010 A.G.U. Gutenberg lecturer.

On this global day of action, Sustainabiliteens is hosting a march and a block party for #PeopleNotProfit and a Just Transition. The march calls for bold policy action, with a focus on Indigenous sovereignty and a just transition for workers. The following block party will be a communal climate action extravaganza, bringing community members together through discussion circles, tangible actions, free food, and live entertainment. The event will also spotlight transformative organizations, inspiring speakers, and local businesses. This community-based mass mobilization aims to bring people of diverse backgrounds and viewpoints together to learn, connect, share ideas, and take action toward a Just Transition. The objective of creating a more just and sustainable society is one that requires learning and collaboration on a large-scale; the block party format is an attempt to build this community of collaboration and to reinstill hope and joy in the movement, all while pressuring those in power to prioritize climate justice. If you would like to find groups at UBC attending the strike, reach out to @climatejusticeubc on Instagram! 

WHEN: Friday, September 23rd, 2-6pm
WHERE: March begins at Coal Harbour Park and ends at Vancouver Art Gallery, where the block party takes place

EOAS Assistant Professor Shandin Pete will be involved with three upcoming projects funded through UBC's Indigenous Strategic Initiative Fund.

The first project, on which Shandin is the principal applicant, will explore the development of an Indigenous Science Research Seminar/Course Series. The focus of this project is to gain a better understanding for interest in and sustainability of a future course(s) on Indigenous Science Research, ways of knowing and Indigenous philosophies of science in the Faculty of Science at UBC. Shandin and colleagues seek to explore the development of a special topics pilot course in Indigenous Science, which will leverage the science and Indigenous expertise of the applicants. They plan to design the course to capture the diversity of Indigenous thought and perspectives of the Indigenous scholars’ respective Faculties and their own communities research traditions.

Shandin is a co-lead on “Yeendoo Diinehdoo Ji’heezrit Nits’oo Ts’o’ Nan He’aa (After Our Time, How Will the World Be)", a project led by the UBC Climate Emergency team and UBC Sustainability Hub, which will support the coordination and mobilization efforts of the Vuntut Gwitchin Government (VGG) to meet ambitious climate emission targets through expanded research and the practical application of Indigenous knowledge and science to develop climate solutions. In addition, the project will identify and enhance opportunities to support VGG’s nation-building efforts to develop skills and competencies that responds to the communities' climate emergency. The project will also learn with and from Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation (VGFN) about ethical, respectful and reciprocal partnerships that respect and activate multiple ways of knowing and being on the land and support Indigenous-led climate action. Finally, the project will engage students in multi-disciplinary and collaborative research initiatives that are at the intersection of Indigenous rights and climate justice.

Shandin and colleagues have also proposed to co-host UBC’s Inaugural First Salmon Ceremony in full and equal partnership with the Nations whose territories comprise what is now known as Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, as well as neighboring Tribes. This ceremony will create a remarkable on-campus opportunity for inter-cultural learning, for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples to come together in celebration, and Indigenous Peoples to revitalize this cultural tradition. The resurgence of these ceremonies is central to the revitalization of Indigenous food and cultural systems and healing for Indigenous Peoples. In the Pacific Northwest, salmon are central to Indigenous lives, well-being, and knowledges. Since time immemorial, Indigenous Peoples from California to Kamchatka have acknowledged the annual return of salmon through ceremony to practice gratitude for the gift of salmon. This ceremony is a vital act of witnessing and intergenerational knowledge transfer where salmon are honoured through story, song, and prayer, and the first salmon caught is prepared, divided, and shared with those in attendance. Following this feast, bones and remains are gathered, placed on cedar boughs, and returned to the sea to nourish the waters and give thanks. This ceremony has been violently interrupted through colonization, thus altering the sacred balance between people and waters, but Indigenous Peoples across the Pacific Rim are putting it ‘violently’ back in place (the latter violence refers to the great strength and sound with which these practices are returning and made visible).

Learn more about Shandin's work: https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/people/shandinpete
Listen to his podcast Tribal Research Specialist
Read his most recent publication: Tribal Perspectives on Preventing the Introduction of Zebra Mussels into Flathead Lake

Welcome to UBC EOAS!

Over the past week we have welcomed around 45 new graduate students to our department, bringing our total grad cohort to a massive 178 students! (84 Canadian and 94 International).

On our Graduate Student Orientation Day last Wednesday, current graduate students and faculty members had the chance to meet and chat to the new students at a lunch in the atrium (shown).

We are looking forward to getting to know you all better, and excited to have you as the newest members of our Department!

Talk Matters: Investigating the Nature of Non-Content Classroom Language - Instructor Talk - that May Mediate Student Inclusion, Engagement, and Learning

When: Tuesday, September 27, 12:30pm–2:00pm

Where: Online via Zoom (Please pre-register here: https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Ypdu-ppz4uGdwuTPEDIWuSwklc_YSnj2CP)

Abstract: Through the language they use, instructors create classroom environments that have the potential to impact learning by affecting student motivation, resistance, belonging, and self-efficacy. However, despite the critical importance of instructor language to the student experience, little research has investigated what instructors are saying in undergraduate classrooms. We systematically investigated instructor language that was not directly related to content and defined this as Instructor Talk. We identified five robust categories of Instructor Talk that can characterize ~90% of non-content language found in over 60 courses: 1) Building Instructor/Student Relationships, 2) Establishing Classroom Culture, 3) Explaining Pedagogical Choices, 4) Sharing Personal Experience, and 5) Unmasking Science. The remaining ~10% of instances of Instructor Talk in these settings were categorized as negatively phrased or potentially discouraging in nature. Attention to Instructor Talk in undergraduate classrooms may be key for instructors to create inclusive learning environments and promote student learning.

About the Presenter: Dr. Kimberly Tanner is a rotating Program Officer in the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) at the National Science Foundation, on leave from her position as a tenured Professor of Biology at San Francisco State University. Her laboratory – SEPAL: the Science Education Partnership and Assessment Laboratory – investigates what is challenging to learn in biology, how biologists choose to teach, and how to make equity, diversity, and inclusion central in science education efforts. As a Science Faculty with an Education Specialty (SFES), she is engaged in discipline-based education research, directs multiple K-16+ biology education reform efforts, and is deeply engaged in faculty professional development. She is a founding editorial board member and current Co-Editor-in-Chief of the leading journal in her field, CBE–Life Sciences Education (LSE). Trained as a neurobiologist with postdoctoral studies in science education, Dr. Tanner is a proud first-generation college-going student, accustomed to she/her pronouns, and proud mom of a jazz/rock drummer and an aspiring robotics engineer, both produced in partnership with her college sweetheart and biochemistry lab partner.

Note: We will also be hosting two 1-hour small group discussions with Kimberly Tanner that morning. If you are interested in attending one of these small group discussions, you can indicate this in the pre-registration and we will follow up with you.

For more details, please visit the Speaker Series: Teaching & Learning in Science through the lens of Indigeneity, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion