Interdisciplinary Biodiversity Solutions

IBioS: A new interdisciplinary cluster at UBC to develop and promote solutions to the biodiversity crisis through scholarship and action.

Biodiversity loss is occurring at unprecedented rates—with common species currently declining and 25% of species threatened with extinction. We depend on biodiversity for many basic needs; however, the importance of biodiversity to human health and well-being rarely drives decision-making. IBioS builds on the university’s position as a global leader in ecological and environmental research.

Launched in Fall 2020, the initiative is designed to broaden collaborative opportunities across and beyond UBC for globally important, policy-relevant biodiversity and conservation research and partnerships. Spearheaded by UBC Science—in collaboration with UBC Arts, Land and Food Systems, Forestry and the Sauder School of Business—IBioS offers a unique opportunity for scientists with a wide variety of backgrounds, including biodiversity, business, conservation science, ecology, economics, environmental science, evolutionary biology, environmental social science, and environmental policy, to collaborate across disciplines to solve problems.

UBC is currently seeking five exceptional individuals dedicated to solutions-oriented research on the pressing problem of biodiversity loss, its economic and social impacts, and connections to sustainability and adaptive capacity for humanity.

Research vision

IBioS aims to:

Protect and restore the adaptive capacity of biodiversity and its connection to ecosystem functioning and human well-being.
Engage a diverse range of communities and institutions in socially just and effective biodiversity conservation.
Explore biodiversity’s connections to sustainable land and ocean management.
Develop and support the implementation of equitable and effective policies, business models and governance systems to improve restoration and conservation of biodiversity.

Biodiversity and socio-ecological research at UBC

UBC consistently ranks as Canada’s top, and one of the world’s best, institutions in ecological and environmental research. The University’s Biodiversity Research Centre comprises more than 60 renowned scientists working to understand the complexities of biological diversity, evolution, plant and animal physiology, and conservation. The Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability hosts a globally recognized, problem-focused graduate program in interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability research. UBC is also home to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, with a large research collection and an award-winning education and outreach program.

More about biodiversity research at UBC
More about UBC's Beaty Biodiversity Museum More about interdisciplinary socio-ecological research at UBC

IBioS Researchers

Members include scholars in ecology, evolutionary biology, conservation, public policy, environmental social sciences, food systems, fisheries, economics and business. They include U.S. National Academy of Science members, MacArthur Fellows, Royal Society of Canada Fellows, Canada Research Chairs, Steacie Fellows, Volvo Environmental Prize Laureates, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment.

Name	Unit
Sally Aitken	Forestry + Biodiversity Research Centre
Leticia Aviles	Zoology + Biodiversity Research Centre
David Boyd	Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability + School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Cole Burton	Forestry + Biodiversity Research Centre
Kai Chan	Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability + Biodiversity Research Centre
Mary O’Connor	Zoology + Biodiversity Research Centre
Quentin Cronk	Botany + Beaty Biodiversity Museum + Biodiversity Research Centre
Jonathan Davies	Botany + Forestry + Biodiversity Research Centre
Sumeet Gulati	Land and Food Systems + Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Shannon Hagerman	Forestry
David Hardisty	Sauder Business
Claire Kremen	Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability + Zoology + Biodiversity Research Centre + IBioS Team Lead
Tara Martin	Forestry
Frederik Noack	Land and Food Systems
Sally Otto	Zoology + Biodiversity Research Centre
Matt Pennell	Zoology + Biodiversity Research Centre
Loren Rieseberg	Botany + Biodiversity Research Centre
Terre Satterfield	Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Jeffrey Sayer	Forestry + Biodiversity Research Centre
Naomi Schwartz	Geography + Biodiversity Research Centre
Diane Srivastava	Zoology + Biodiversity Research Centre
Rashid Sumaila	Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries + School of Public Policy and Global Affairs + Biodiversity Research Centre
Michelle Tseng	Botany + Zoology + Biodiversity Research Centre
Hannah Wittman	Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability + Land and Food Systems + Biodiversity Research Centre

Committed to excellence, collaboration and inclusion

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit or Indigenous person.

Learn more

UBC Vancouver is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people. The land it is situated on has always been a place of learning for the Musqueam, who for millennia have passed on their culture, history, and traditions from one generation to the next on this site.