Pandemic lockdowns couldn’t stop two UBC zoologists from tracking how climate influences evolution By Katie Marshall and Emily Black Imagine a jungle. It’s probably a lush forest, filled with different bird songs and the hum of thousands of different kinds of insects. Now imagine a tundra: barren, windswept terrain with…

Across UBC Science, students and instructors are collaborating to navigate a range of issues related to inclusivity, equity and access By Sarah Chen There are at least two things a student hopes to find when they walk into a first-year class — the course is relevant, and the class offers…

UBC chemists are re-envisioning existing techniques and technology to make drug checking and entering treatment quicker and easier By Chris Balma Since the province declared the toxic drug epidemic a public health emergency in 2016, more than 21,000 people have lost their lives to overdoses across B.C. …

UBC computer scientists and BC Cancer Registry experts are using the grandaddy of ChatGPT to crunch a backlog of lab reports By Geoff Gilliard UBC computer scientist Dr. Raymond Ng left biology behind when he graduated from high school — so the first time he was asked to review a…

Our understanding of the troposphere is as thin as the oxygen at that altitude. UBC’s Dr. Rachel White has recommendations to improve climate modelling. By Geoff Gilliard Days after the summer solstice in 2021 an unprecedented heatwave settled over British Columbia. When it lifted a week later, 175 wildfires raged…

After carp die-offs in Vancouver’s Lost Lagoon, UBC Science students are testing the human-made lake’s murky waters By Geoff Gilliard Lost Lagoon is a watery jewel gracing Vancouver’s Stanley Park. It’s one of the main attractions that draw over eight million visitors each year to the forested half of the…

Penguin guano from the Galápagos is helping UBC researchers track microplastic pollution from around the globe — By Geoff Gilliard In 1835, Charles Darwin visited the Galápagos Islands as part of the round the world voyage that spawned his seminal On the Origin of Species. The book made the islands famous for their unique species and biological diversity, which arose as creatures arrived and then evolved in…

Two UBC researchers are exploring the problem of dwindling salmon runs from opposite ends of the knowledge continuum—cutting edge genomics, and empirical evidence gathered over millennia by the Indigenous Peoples of the coast. — By Geoff Gilliard At least 7,000 years ago, the First Nations of the densely populated North Pacific coast had already grown prosperous from the ocean’s bounty, particularly near salmon fisheries. The salmon runs were surging in 1791 when Chief Kayapulano welcomed to his territory Spanish Captain José Narváez, the first…

University of British Columbia researchers have developed a process that could make blood types obsolete. — By Geoff Gilliard Dr. Stephen Withers has learned a lot about the economics of blood over the past few years. Blood donations dried up during the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2022, Canadian Blood Services reported that the nation’s blood supply was critically low. Shortages also struck the U.S., Australia, much…