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  • CHANS Lab is launching CoSphere

    Following North America's Overshoot Day (Mar 13), CHANS Lab will be launching CoSphere with partners including David Suzuki Foundation, Plastic Oceans, Raincoast Conservation, and CPAWS. Join and share our community for transformative change towards a sustainable and just future!

  • Kai is appointed as a Canada Research Chair

    Our PI Kai Chan is now a Tier 1 CRC in Re-Wilding and Social-Ecological Transformation. UBC announcement

  • Kai coauthors UN report “Making Peace with Nature”

    Kai joined Ivar Baste and Sir Bob Watson and other Section Leads to coauthor the UNEP report "Making Peace with Nature". This new 2021 report synthesizes major assessments from IPCC, IPBES, the Global Environmental Outlook and more to provide a blueprint for meeting the planet's linked environmental challenges.

  • Re-orienting towards sustainability, post-COVID (Kai’s story in The Conversation)

    With the IPBES Global Assessment, the world was poised to tackle the ecological and climate crises. We have already lost our way. NOW is the time to re-orient. Let's use #Covid_19 recovery funding for CHANGE, not to lock-in to old ways. Kai's story in The Conversation

  • Kai launches new blog series on interdisciplinary research design for sustainability

    It's called "How to Write a Winning Proposal—in 10 Hard Steps". The first post is "Understand How Others Go about Research. Step 0: Let Experts Reveal Their Messy Realities". It's based on RES 602 and 15 years mentoring grad students.

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:

  • Ecosystem Services (mechanistic analysis, mapping and socio-cultural value elicitation)
  • Cumulative Effects (risk assessment, policy, modeling)
  • Social-Ecological Systems (characterization and modeling of dynamics, vulnerability and adaptive capacity)
  • Science Engagement (motivations, barriers, measurement)
  • Integrative Sustainability (impact mitigation, from ecosystems to producers and consumers)
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Alberto Campos coauthors new IUCN manual on privately protected areas

Alberto Campos coauthors new practical guidelines for people managing privately protected areas that were recently released by the IUCN NL Land Acquisition Fund and American Bird Conservancy.

Lea Anderson wins a SSHRC CGS-M

Lea Anderson just got awarded a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarship for her Master’s. Bravo!

Lea and Lauren’s essay published in the National Observer

Lea Anderson (1st year MA, RES) and Lauren Moody (3rd year BSc) argued for system change and a path to achieve it.

CoSphere news in Vancouver Sun

Vancouver Sun covered the CoSphere launch in this article.

Kai’s Overshoot Day essay published in The Globe and Mail

By March 13, Americans and Canadians have used up our share of the planet’s resources for the year. In this essay, Kai explains how our response should differ from the usual “3 things to do for the planet”. The pre-edited version on CoSphere’s site.

System change Q&A for Overshoot Day

Following Canada’s Overshoot Day (Mar 13), we’re launching CoSphere. Here’s UBC’s Q&A, explaining why we need a different approach to combat the climate and ecological crises.

Lauren Moody wins a Wesbrook Scholarship and the Sherwood Lett Memorial Scholarship

These are among UBC’s top honours for undergraduate students. Lauren has been working with CHANS Lab and CoSphere since May 2021. Congratulations to Lauren!

CHANS Lab is launching CoSphere

Following North America’s Overshoot Day (Mar 13), CHANS Lab will be launching CoSphere with partners including David Suzuki Foundation, Plastic Oceans, Raincoast Conservation, and CPAWS. Join and share our community for transformative change towards a sustainable and just future!

Ubyssey covers Harold Eyster’s dual accomplishment

Finishing a deeply interdisciplinary PhD wasn’t enough: when Harold defended, he also finished running every single km of Vancouver’s streets. See the Ubyssey article and Harold’s blog on CHANS Lab Views.

Alberto & Kai publish an op-ed on rewilding in The Province

Rewilding can restore ecosystems and biodiversity in B.C.
Opinion: Today, scientists are studying mass extinctions, and wondering if bringing back some of these and other animals could help alleviate our planet’s current climate and extinction crises, including here in B.C.

More news...
  • Fish et al., People and nature: The emerging signature of a relational journal

    Fish, R., K.M.A. Chan, C. Maller, R.S. Hails, E. Aimé and K.J. Gaston (2022). "People and nature: The emerging signature of a relational journal." People and Nature 4(3): 592-595. Doi: 10.1002/pan3.10339


  • Lliso et al, Nature’s disvalues

    Lliso, B., D. Lenzi, B. Muraca, K.M.A. Chan and U. Pascual (2022). "Nature’s disvalues: what are they and why do they matter?" Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 56: 101173. Doi: 10.1016/j.cosust.2022.101173 (Free access: https://t.co/pZdmXKpYnK)


  • Naito et al., An integrative framework for transformative social change

    Naito, R., J. Zhao and K.M.A. Chan (2022). "An integrative framework for transformative social change: a case in global wildlife trade." Sustainability Science. Doi: 10.1007/s11625-021-01081-z


  • Eyster et al., Motivating conservation using genetic uniqueness and relational values

    Eyster, H.N., P. Olmsted, R. Naidoo and K.M.A. Chan (2022). "Motivating conservation even for widespread species using genetic uniqueness and relational values." Biological Conservation 266: 109438. Doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109438


  • Kreitzman et al., Woody perennial polycultures in the U.S. Midwest

    Kreitzman, M., H. Eyster, M. Mitchell, A. Czajewska, K. Keeley, S. Smukler, N. Sullivan, A. Verster and K.M.A. Chan (2022). "Woody perennial polycultures in the U.S. Midwest enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functions." Ecosphere 13(1): e03890. 10.1002/ecs2.3890


  • Kreitzman et al., Woody perennial polyculture farmers

    Kreitzman, M., M. Chapman, K.O. Keeley and K.M.A. Chan "Local knowledge and relational values of Midwestern woody perennial polyculture farmers can inform tree-crop policies." People and Nature n/a(n/a). Doi: 10.1002/pan3.10275


  • Bullen et al., Ghost of a giant

    Bullen, C.D., A.A. Campos, E.J. Gregr, I. McKechnie and K.M.A. Chan "The ghost of a giant – Six hypotheses for how an extinct megaherbivore structured kelp forests across the North Pacific Rim." Global Ecology and Biogeography n/a(n/a). Doi: 10.1111/geb.13370


  • McDowell et al, Lived experiences of ‘peak water’

    McDowell, G., M. Koppes, L. Harris, K.M.A. Chan, M.F. Price, D.G. Lama and G. Jiménez (2021). "Lived experiences of ‘peak water’ in the high mountains of Nepal and Peru." Climate and Development: 1-14. Doi: 10.1080/17565529.2021.1913085


More publications...
We envision a world where consideration of social and ecological risks and consequences is fundamental to decision-making.

Our mission is to provide rigorous cutting-edge applied and insight-driven research that informs real-world decision making, to enable the just treatment of current and future people and the natural world.
Chan's Lab
Aquatic Ecosystem Research Laboratories
4th Floor, 2202 Main Mall,
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z5, Canada
CHANS Lab
Vancouver Campus
Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory (AERL)
2202 Main Mall
Vancouver, British Columbia Canada V6T 1Z4
Email kaichan@ires.ubc.ca
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