CHANS Lab Mission and Research Overview:

CHANS Lab Mission and Research Overview:

Our mission is to conduct cutting-edge analysis and modelling of social-ecological systems, for both fundamental insight and application to real-world practice and transformation–to enable the just treatment of current and future people and the natural world. Our work in the natural sciences focuses on including humans and evolution in ecological research, including modeling and diverse empirical analysis. Our work in the social sciences explores the just treatment of current and future generations, developing novel approaches to management and governance, and informing the relevance of our natural science work. Our lab is addressing the above mission through a diverse set of integrative and overlapping research foci:

Transformation (interdisciplinary social research examining what motivates and empowers individuals to act in ways that change social norms and systems toward sustainability and equity)
Environmental Values (social research to understand and leverage values, especially those pertaining to all manner of relationships among people and nature, i.e., relational values)
Rewilding People and Nature (social-ecological research to understand the effects of restoring top predators, ecosystem engineers, ecological interactions, and whole functioning systems in ways that reconnect people with nature and support ecosystem functions and benefits)
Social-Ecological Systems (characterization and modeling of dynamics, vulnerability and adaptive capacity)

Co-creating a Mutualistic City: A Collaborative Public Scholars Initiative Zine!

Zine cover (above) and entire zine designed and illustrated by Alana McPhearson All living beings have the same basic needs: a safe home or refuge, food to eat, water to drink, and air to breathe. Yet, dense cities like Vancouver have so far prioritized things like transportation and business over a healthy environment; predictability and […]

Kai appointed Commissioning Editor at People and Nature

After serving six years as a Founding Lead Editor, Kai is now Commissioning Editor at the British Ecological Society journal, People and Nature. In this role, Kai is commissioning three new kinds of articles. Check out this blog post to suggest someone or a topic, or to see if one of your ideas might fit.

Samantha Blackwell awarded a NSERC scholarship and wins President’s Medal

Incoming CHANS Lab Master’s student, Sam Blackwell, received the NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship for her proposed research on citizen science for understanding nest predation in urban birds. Sam was the President’s Medallist at the University of Windsor, an honour given to the student with the most outstanding combination of extracurricular involvement and academic achievement.

Jo Fitzgibbons and co. find Vancouver neighborhoods most in need of restorative nature least likely to have it; coverage by CBC and more

CHANS Lab PhD candidate, Jo Fitzgibbons, and team found that the most socially vulnerable areas of Vancouver are least likely to have access to restorative nature. Jo joined Dr. Tahia Devisscher, Taelynn Lam, Ingrid Jarvis, Derek Li, and Dr. Matt Mitchell in an article out in Ambio to propose a new “local restorative nature” index, […]

Rumi Naito defends her PhD

Congratulations to Rumi for an excellent PhD defence! “Messaging for wildlife conservation: leveraging attitudes, intentions, and actions for transformative change” With co-supervisor Jiaying Zhao, Rumi’s supervisory committee included Robin Naidoo, Jeff Sayer, and Intu Boedhihartono. Her external examiner was Kathryn Williams of the University of Melbourne, and her UBC examiners were Dave Hardisty and Daniel Weary. Bravo, Rumi!

Towards a Relational Theory of Value

Guidance for Prospective Students: Pitching YOUR Uncharted Territory

CHANS Lab researchers depict how machine learning can suffer data leakage

Kai’s TEDx talk is online

CHANS Lab is launching CoSphere