Kai Chan named to RSC's College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists

Kai Chan named to RSC’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists

Dr. Kai Ming Adam Chan

Dr. Kai Ming Adam Chan

Dr. Kai Ming Adam Chan, Professor in UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability has been named a member of The College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Those named to the College represent the emerging generation of scholarly, scientific and artistic leadership in Canada.

Dr. Chan is a leader in the field of ecosystem services, having contributed to core methodologies and insights linking human and natural systems. His interdisciplinary scholarship bridges ecology, evolutionary biology, ethics and ecological economics. He is also a public scholar engaged in improving decision-making on complex environmental issues.

Founded in 2014, the Royal Society of Canada’s College is a handpicked selection of top mid-career scholars and artists in Canada. College Members have already received recognition in their fields for excellence and serve as ambassadors of their fields. The College has gender parity and linguistic and cultural diversity. Researchers in the humanities, scientists, artists and social scientists of the College strive to overcome disciplinary and academic boundaries in the common pursuit of knowledge. The College seeks to participate in our society at various levels, through engagement with government, through our communities and through our schools from K-12 and beyond.

“The College is a unique institution that is able to respond to the challenges of today through broad creativity and innovation, cutting cuts across the traditional divisions of sciences, social sciences, arts and the humanities as well as across the diverse linguistic and cultural map of Canadian institutions of higher learning and beyond. The incoming cohort reflects this vision of engaged knowledge for the social good,” said College President Cynthia Milton.

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Welcome to Marie Auger-Méthé

The Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries is very pleased to welcome Dr. Marie Auger-Méthé, who is joining us an Assistant Professor, with a cross-appointment in UBC’s Department of Statistics. She will also hold a Canada Research Chair, Tier II in Statistical Ecology.

Dr. Auger-Méthé’s work is interdisciplinary in nature, combining ecology, marine sciences, and statistics. Her recent focus has been on developing and applying statistical models to understand the movement and space use of marine and polar species, with a particular focus on polar bears. In addition, Marie is interested in the conservation and management of marine and polar ecosystems.

She brings with her two graduate students; MSc Zoology candidate Sarah Dier-McComb, whose research focuses on using movement data to identify the conservation value to Gentoo penguins of marine areas around the Falklands and PhD Zoology candidate Ron Togunov whose research focus is on investigating the effects of anthropogenic changes on the spatial distribution of Arctic marine mammals.

Dr. Auger-Méthé was most recently a NSERC Postdoctoral fellow at Dalhousie University. She received her PhD in Ecology at the University of Alberta, and a BSc (Hons) in Marine Biology and a MSc in Biology at Dalhousie University.

Welcome Marie!

 

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Warmer waters from climate change will leave fish shrinking, gasping for air

Fish are expected to shrink in size by 20 to 30 per cent if ocean temperatures continue to climb due to climate change.

A new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia updates previous estimates published in 2013 and provides a deeper explanation of why fish are expected to decline in size.

“Fish, as cold-blooded animals, cannot regulate their own body temperatures. When their waters get warmer, their metabolism accelerates and they need more oxygen to sustain their body functions,” said William Cheung, co-author of the study, associate professor at the Institute for the Ocean and Fisheries and director of science for the Nippon Foundation–UBC Nereus Program. “There is a point where the gills cannot supply enough oxygen for a larger body, so the fish just stops growing larger.”

Daniel Pauly, the study’s lead author and principal investigator of the Sea Around Us at the Institute for the Ocean and Fisheries, explains that as fish grow into adulthood their demand for oxygen increases because their body mass becomes larger. However, the surface area of the gills — where oxygen is obtained — does not grow at the same pace as the rest of the body. He calls this set of principles that explains why fish are expected to shrink “gill-oxygen limitation theory.”

For example, as a fish like cod increases its weight by 100 per cent, its gills only grow by 80 per cent or less. When understood in the context of climate change, this biological rule reinforces the prediction that fish will shrink and will be even smaller than thought in previous studies.

Warmer waters increase fish’s need for oxygen but climate change will result in less oxygen in the oceans. This means that gills have less oxygen to supply to a body that already grows faster than them. The researchers say this forces fish to stop growing at a smaller size to be able to fulfill their needs with the little oxygen available for them.

Some species may be more affected by this combination of factors. Tuna, which are fast moving and require more energy and oxygen, may shrink even more when temperatures increase. Overall, smaller fish will impact fisheries production as well as the interaction between organisms in ocean ecosystems.

Pauly and Cheung’s study “Sound physiological knowledge and principles in modeling shrinking fishes under climate change” is published in Global Change Biology.

 

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Killam Faculty Research Prizes (UBC)

Awarded annually to full-time faculty members in recognition of outstanding research and scholarly contributions. Up to ten prizes in the amount of $5,000 each will be awarded to full-time faculty members. All fields of research are included.

Eligibility

  • Nominees must have held appointment at UBC for at least 36 months (3 years) as of the closing date for nominations.
  • The UBC Killam Research Prize may be held only while the recipient is a full-time member of faculty.
  • A Prize is tenable during a period of study leave; for other types of leave, it is deferred until the recipient returns to the University.
  • A faculty member is eligible for only one Killam Research Prize in their lifetime.
  • Those in receipt of a Charles McDowell Award for Research Excellence (UBC’s ultimate award for young scientists and engineers) will NOT be considered.

Package requirements:

  • Nomination form, including 50 word citation;
  • Acknowledgement from the Dean;
  • Nomination letter (2 pages max) signed by two (2) nominators. Should set the subject matter and contribution to the research and illustrate impact on the field;
  • UBC CV;
  • Three signed external letters of support. Referees should be external to UBC and internationally recognized in their field (i.e. outside of UBC and preferably one from outside of Canada). At least two of which are from “arms length” and may not include thesis or dissertation supervisor(s), anyone the candidate has supervised, or anyone with the candidate has collaborated (as coauthor or co-investigator) within the past 24 months.

More information

Deadline: Usually mid-November

Past IOF winners

Dr. Rashid Sumaila (2016)
Dr. Simon Donner (2013)
Dr. Curtis Suttle (2012)

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Charles A. McDowell Award (UBC)

Presented to an outstanding young faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in pure or applied scientific research.

Recipient MUST:

  • currently be in receipt of research grant from NSERC,
  • have spent five years on staff at UBC, and
  • be nominated in a year not more than 12 greater than the year they received their PhD degree.

Package requirements:

  • Nomination form with 50 word citation and signature of Dean/Associate Dean
  • Letter of nomination (two pages maximum), signed by two (2) nominators. The letter must illustrate how the candidate has had an impact in his or her field
  • Current UBC CV with all publications listed,
  • Three (3) signed letters of support from referees external to UBC, and internationally recognized in their field. Referees must be at arm’s length and may not include thesis or dissertation supervisor(s), anyone the candidate has supervised, or anyone with the candidate has collaborated (as co-author or co-investigator)
    within the past 24 months.

Deadline: Usually mid-November

More information

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Jacob Biely Faculty Research Prize (UBC)

Awarded annually to an active faculty researcher for a distinguished record of published research.

Package requirements:

  • Nomination form with signature of Dean/Associate Dean
  • Letter of nomination (two pages maximum), signed by two (2) nominators. The letter must illustrate how the candidate has had an impact in his or her field,
  • Current UBC CV with all publications listed,
  • Three (3) signed letters of support from referees external to UBC, and internationally recognized in their field. Referees must be at arm’s length and may not include thesis or dissertation supervisor(s), anyone the candidate has supervised, or anyone with the candidate has collaborated (as co-author or co-investigator) within the past 24 months.

Deadline: Usually mid-November

More information

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President’s Award for Public Education through Media (UBC)

Presented to an outstanding faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding service to the University and the community by sharing research expertise via the news media. Recognizes contributions such as print, broadcast and online media interviews and expert commentary.

Package requirements:

  • Application form (online)
  • 50-word citation
  • Joint letter of nomination, explaining how nominee “actively and creatively shared research expertise through the media.” Letter must have two nominators (current faculty member, student or staff); may have multiple signatures;
  • Official, formal UBC CV
  • Summary of media published or broadcasted
  • A maximum of three appropriate print, broadcast, or online news media examples (maximum of three individual examples)

Note: letters of recommendation will not be accepted.

Deadline: Usually mid-November

More information

Past IOF winners

Dr. Rashid Sumaila (2018)
Dr. Simon Donner (2013)

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Climate change jaw dropper: Great white shark could one day prowl B.C. waters

Credit: Bernard Dupont/Flickr

If ocean temperatures continue to climb, you’re going to need a bigger boat.

Great white sharks could one day be swimming in British Columbia waters, according to William Cheung, associate professor at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at UBC who studies the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems.

William Cheung

William Cheung

To mark Discovery Channel’s hugely popular “Shark Week,” which kicked off Sunday, Cheung explains how warmer seas could bring new sharks never before seen in B.C. waters. 

Is it possible we might one day see great white sharks in our local waters? Or are they already here?

With oceans warming, we do expect to see more tropical sharks in temperate waters. Based on my team’s computer simulation modelling, we found that climate change will cause an expansion of the range of great white shark to northern temperature areas, including the offshore waters of the northeast Pacific, which includes B.C.

If you look at the coast of California, it is expected that the types of species we see there could be in B.C. waters if we maintain at the status quo and do not mitigate carbon emissions. Species in California include the oceanic whitetip shark, and the great white shark. In the Atlantic, we would expect to see great whites along the coast of Newfoundland. Currently, they have been recorded, but sightings are rare.

What’s a realistic timeline for their arrival?

Such an expansion in range will be seen more and more frequently in the coming few decades. Ocean temperature in the Pacific fluctuates, with some years warmer than others. During the warmer years, sightings of warm-water sharks, like great whites, increase. As the oceans warm, we expect to see sightings of these sharks more and more often.

What shark species are found in B.C. waters already?

Fourteen shark species are listed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in B.C. waters, with the six most common species being salmon shark, blue shark, Pacific sleeper shark, brown cat shark, spiny dogfish and tope (soupfin) shark.

What species are we at most risk of losing due to rising ocean temperatures?

The numbers of many shark species are going to shrink in the available habitat for them, particularly the tropical sharks. Eventually, tropical waters will simply be too hot for the sharks to live in.

 

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Killam Faculty Research Fellowships (UBC)

Assisting promising faculty members who wish to devote full time to research and study in their field during a recognized study leave. Based on special distinction of intellect with due regard for sound character and personal qualities.

Maximum award is $15,000 for a twelve-month period

Package requirements:

  • Application form (online)
  • 50 word citation
  • Two (2) page research plan
  • Official UBC CV
  • Host institution letter (if applicable to this application)
  • Three (3) signed letters of support
    • The letters of support are critical to the selection process and should focus on the applicant’s research. They must be from individuals who are objectively able to assess the work to be carried out. Given that applicants represent varied disciplines each of which may have different expectations about kinds and quantities of scholarly output, it would aid the selection process should the letters of support place the applicant’s record in the context of their field.
    • At least two of the letters must be from individuals from outside UBC and the referees should all be at arm’s length — this may not include your thesis or dissertation supervisor(s), anyone you have supervised, or anyone with whom you have collaborated (as coauthor or co-investigator) within the past 24 months.
    • Letters in excess of three will not be considered.

Deadline: Usually mid-November

More information

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Steller sea lion research front and centre at the Vancouver Aquarium

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