UBC experts on UN climate summit and related topics
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: w.cheung@oceans.ubc.ca
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: anjali.desai@ubc.ca
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: muhammadhuzaifa975@gmail.com
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: videsh.kapoor@gmail.com
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: dua.naqvi@ubc.ca
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: mina.nepali@ubc.ca
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: abulbasharrahman@gmail.com
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: tindall@mail.ubc.ca
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: r.yada@ubc.ca
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
- Energy, industry, and just transition
- Health
- Nature, land use, oceans
- Policy and economy
Education, culture, and youth
Dr. Greg Garrard (he/him)
Professor, UBCO Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
Tel: 250-863-2822
Email: greg.garrard@ubc.ca
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: fmelchio@mail.ubc.ca
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: daniel.steel@ubc.ca
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: jiayingz@psych.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English, Mandarin
- Climate action, behaviour change, psychology
Energy, industry, and just transition
Max Cohen
PhD student, Department of Geography
Email: max.cohen.ubc@gmail.com
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: johan.foster@ubc.ca
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: michael.brauer@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English
- Climate change and health
- Climate change and air pollution
Dr. Emily Brigham
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Email: emily.brigham@ubc.ca
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: christopher.carlsten@ubc.ca
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: raluca.radu@alumni.ubc.ca
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: michael.schwandt@vch.ca
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: j.alava@oceans.ubc.ca
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: peter.arcese@ubc.ca
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: karen.hodges@ubc.ca
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: kayla.king@ubc.ca
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: kmarshall@zoology.ubc.ca
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: isla.myers-smith@ubc.ca
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: john.richardson@ubc.ca
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: r.sumaila@oceans.ubc.ca
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: ahmad@allard.ubc.ca
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: werner.antweiler@ubc.ca
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: simon.donner@ubc.ca
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: marcus@math.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English
Temitope Onifade (he/him)
PhD candidate, Peter A. Allard School of Law
Email: temitope@onifade.org
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:
- Your local sea snail might not make it in warmer oceans – but oysters will
- UN climate conference should not be ‘business as usual’, say climate experts
- The bigger you are, the better you fare when climate change causes cyclones
- Future leaders are learning how to tackle climate change in math class this year
- Local adaptation may protect songbirds against climate change
- Low-income countries could lose 30% of nutrients like protein and omega-3 from seafood due to climate change
