UBC experts are available to comment on the 15th United Nations biodiversity conference, Conference of the Parties (COP15) which will take place Dec. 7-19 in Montreal.
COP15 is the biggest biodiversity conference in a decade and will focus on protecting nature and halting biodiversity loss around the world.
COP15 delegates
Dr. David R. Boyd
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Environment
Associate Professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law,
Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
and School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Tel: 250-629-9984
Email: david.r.boyd@ires.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English
- Climate, biodiversity, pollution (including plastic)
- Human rights and environment, environmental justice
Dr. Jessica Dempsey
Associate Professor, Department of Geography
Tel: 778-987-6480
Email: jessica.dempsey@geog.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English
- Financial resources, market mechanisms, history of the Convention on Biological Diversity negotiations, Canadian biodiversity policy, biodiversity reparations
- Debt as a driver of biodiversity loss
Audrey Irvine-Broque
Graduate student, Department of Geography
Tel: 510-907-0956
Email: airvinebroque@gmail.com
Interview language(s): English
- Resource mobilization, historical responsibility for ecosystem loss
- Sovereign debt and austerity as impediments to biodiversity action/funding in the global South
- Nature-based solutions and carbon offsets/markets
- GBF target 15, on the impact of businesses on biodiversity
Dr. James Langston
Lecturer, Faculty of Forestry
Coordinator, Master of International Forestry Program
Email: james.langston@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English
- Leading a group of 11 Master of International Forestry students attending COP15
Dr. Juliet Lu
Assistant Professor, Department of Forest Resources Management
and School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Tel: 236-996-5808
Email: juliet.lu@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English
- China’s global environmental leadership and role in this COP15
* Unavailable on Dec. 7 afternoon and on Dec. 8 and 15
Other experts
Lea Anderson (she/her)
Master’s student, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Email: leamand@student.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English
- Youth empowerment and the role of youth movements in international negotiations
- Connections between human wellbeing, the climate-and-ecological crisis, and action for environmental justice
- Wrote op-ed discussing COP15 impact on Canadians
Dr. Peter Arcese (he/him)
Tel: 778-350-9295 (text or email first)
Email: peter.arcese@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English, basic Swahili
- Conservation planning, global trade/markets, private investment in conservation, synergistic outcomes of conservation, human well-being and economy
- Evolutionary genomics/genetics and the pace of adaptation in response to rapid environmental change
- Prioritization of multiple species and goals in landscape level conservation regionally and globally
Dr. Cole Burton (he/him)
Associate Professor, Department of Forest Resources Management
Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Terrestrial Mammal Conservation
Tel: 778-676-4428
Email: cole.burton@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English
- Protected areas and wildlife conservation; human-wildlife conflict
* Limited availability from Dec. 12 afternoon through Dec. 14
Dr. Kai Chan (he/him)
Professor, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
and Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Canada Research Chair, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Email: kaichan@ires.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English
- Biodiversity-related governance
Dr. John S. Richardson
Professor, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences
Tel: 604-822-6586
Email: john.richardson@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English
- Water-associated (freshwater and forest) biodiversity
- Serves on Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada’s species specialist committees on arthropods and freshwater fishes
Jacqueline L. Sunderland-Groves
Research Scientist, Department of Forest Resources Management
Email: jacqui.sunderland-groves@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English