People

Principal Investigator

Kai Chan

I am a professor and Canada Research Chair at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at UBC (I use he/him pronouns). I am an interdisciplinary, problem-oriented sustainability scientist, trained in ecology, policy, and ethics from Princeton and Stanford Universities. My empirical and modeling research straddles the natural and social sciences to query how social-ecological systems can be transformed to be both better and wilder. Key themes include relational values, transformative change, and rewilding—from cities to agriculture to protected areas, and with species present elsewhere or those currently extinct.

Postdoctoral Research Associates

Félix Landry Yuan

The primary motivation for my academic work is the co-dependent preservation of culture and the natural environment. For this I tend to focus on social and ecological dynamics within the context of conservation and sustainability. Currently, my research explores how human relations with the natural environment reflect preferred death care/burial practices, with a specific focus on cultural and migrational patterns.

Graduate Students

Aaron Aguirre

I am interested in understanding how urban and agricultural land-use impacts bat abundance and diversity across Metro Vancouver. I hope my research will be able to inform bat conservation with regards to land development.

Samantha Blackwell

My research aims to utilize community-based science in order to understand nest predation affecting urban birds in Vancouver. Additionally, I aim to explore how participation in such a program influences people’s bird care and associated lawn care behaviours.

Alberto Campos

My research seeks to understand the cascades triggered by defaunation — including species extinctions, local extirpations and severe population depletions — and their ecological consequences, in order to propose management and rewilding practices that could recover environmental services for the benefit of all beings.

Jo Fitzgibbons

My research explores urban rewilding, the multi-level governance of urban greening and habitat restoration efforts, and planning tools to build urban green spaces that meet the needs of both human and ecological communities.

Daniel Forrest

I aim to illustrate some of the complex social-ecological processes that structure urban biodiversity and its benefits to people. In the CHANS Lab, I explore a case study in Vancouver, BC revolving around a two-part hypothesis: the foods that people directly and indirectly provide American crows have inflated their populations, and that those crows go on to undermine bird diversity by eating songbirds’ eggs and young. This includes questions about more proximate causes (“what and where do crows eat?”, “which species are affected by nest predation and to what extent?”) and ultimate causes (“what social and political processes have led to the distribution of accessible food waste?”).

Dana Johnson

I am interested in adopting a relational lens to understand the variety of factors that shape solutions to environmental issues. Because human-environment interactions are at the heart of social-ecological transformations, my research will aim to better understand how people relate to ecosystems and biodiversity, alongside the provision of ecosystem services.

Clare Price

I am interested in acoustic ecology, especially how differently composed soundscapes prompt varying perceptions of nature. My research will characterize soundscapes throughout the Lower Mainland, paying special attention to how audibly biodiverse spaces (mostly using birdsong) influence experience as we move through them, in hopes of advocating for a more audibly diverse and acoustically intact world.

Anna Santo

I am interested in understanding why and how people work together to achieve common objectives related to climate justice and ecosystem rewilding.

Undergraduate Students

Lauren Moody

I am interested in systems thinking for sustainability as well as climate justice advocacy work. My research is focused on analyzing national progress on levers and leverage points for pathways to sustainability and the broader relationships between key elements of transformative change.

Lab Alumni

Rumi Naito, PhD

PhD Thesis, 2023: Messaging for wildlife conservation: leveraging attitudes, intentions, and actions for transformative change.

Rocío López de la Lama, PhD

PhD Thesis, 2023. Messaging for wildlife conservation: leveraging attitudes, intentions, and actions for transformative change.

Claire Armstrong

My background is in marine science and ecology with a conservation focus. I hope to gain a better understanding of the impacts of species introductions on ecosystem function, specifically in the context of rewilding.

Hanaa Punja

My background is in biology with a focus on environmental sustainability. I am interested in exploring how business systems and processes can mitigate environmental impact with an emphasis on a natural sciences approach.

Meg Sheline

I am interested in environmental policy domestically and internationally. My research has focused on the jurisdictional responsibilities of Canadian government and the legislation that concerns contamination mitigation for salmon in urban Vancouver streams.

Brooke Sutherland

I am interested in the material and social dimensions of the transition to a circular economy and how transformative change may be fostered to create a more sustainable, just world.

Daisy Qin Rui Zhao

My general interest is in creating environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable systems. My research is specifically focused on exploring the ecological dimensions of stream and watershed restoration projects aimed at rewilding salmon in British Columbia.

Edward Gregr, PhD & Postdoctoral Research Associate

PhD Thesis, 2016: Sea otters, kelp forests, and ecosystem services: Modelling habitats, uncertainties, and trade-offs.

Andy Stock, Postdoctoral Research Associate

Nicole Jung

Undergraudate researcher, 2020-21. “My research examines Metro Vancouver’s lichens and bryophytes as cryptic, yet city-wide testaments to the presence of urban biodiversity beyond designated greenspaces. I hope to better understand the potential anthropogenic and ecological drivers of epiphyte distributions and diversity on street trees.”

John Driscoll, PhD

PhD thesis, 2020: Nutrient yields from northwest Atlantic fisheries : analysis, indicators, and optimization

Maayan Kreitzman, PhD

PhD thesis, 2020: Perennial agriculture : agronomy and environment in long-lived food systems

Graham McDowell, PhD

PhD thesis, 2020: Adaptation to Glacio-hydrological Change in High Mountains.

Cameron Bullen, MSc

MSc thesis, 2020: A Marine Megafaunal Extinction and Its Consequences for Kelp Forests of the North Pacific.

Aspen Ono, MSc

MSc thesis, 2020: The Canadian Outdoors from the Perspective of Recent Immigrants in Metro Vancouver: Nature Nurtures Newcomers.

Alejandra Echeverri (PhD)

PhD Thesis, 2019: Losing woodcreepers, iconizing manakins, and despising grackles : understanding human-bird relationships in agro-ecological landscapes

Matthew Mitchell (Postdoctoral Research Associate)

Nathan Bennett (Postdoctoral Research Associate)

Marc Tadaki (PhD)

PhD Thesis, 2018: Filling the void : struggles over implementing freshwater policy in Aotearoa New Zealand

Adrian Semmelink (MSc)

MSc Thesis, 2018: Differences between farmer and government official views of best management practices : cracks or canyons?

Emily Anderson (MSc)

MSc Thesis, 2018: “Market” participation for development and environmental sustainability : Costa Rican dairy markets and payments for ecosystem services

Mollie Chapman (PhD)

PhD Thesis, 2017: Agri-‘culture’ and biodiversity : rethinking payments for ecosystem services in light of relational values

Elizabeth Williams (MSc)

MSc Thesis, 2017: Content and prevalence of environmentalist stereotypes in Canada : a psychological perspective

Daniel Karp (Postdoctoral research associate)

Current position: Assistant Professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at the University of California, Davis.

Paige Olmsted (PhD)

PhD Thesis, 2017: For love or money : harnessing environmental values and financial incentives to promote conservation stewardship

Gerald Singh (MSc, PhD)

Masters Thesis, 2010: Effects of sea otters on nearshore ecosystem functions with implications for ecosystem services

PhD Thesis, 2016: Understanding and assessing cumulative impacts to coastal ecosystem services

Sarah Klain (MSc, PhD)

Masters Thesis, 2010: Navigating marine ecosystem services and values

PhD Thesis, 2016: Wind of change : offshore wind farms, contested values and ecosystem services

Jordan Tam (PhD)

Masters Thesis, 2010: Understanding preferences for climate change adaptation for protected areas : the psychology of individual risk perceptions

PhD Thesis, 2016: Understanding adaptation and social-ecological change in Chilean coastal communities

Ally Thompson (MSc)

Masters Thesis, 2015: Effects of linear barriers on African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) movement in a transfrontier conservation area

Jordan Levine (PhD, 2008 – 2014)

PhD Thesis, 2014: An even less convenient truth: Addressing the challenge of sustainable development through an integration of cognition and culture

Cathryn Clarke Murray (Postdoc 2012 – 2013)

I am a marine ecologist broadly interested in the interaction of human and natural systems. My research follows two major themes: ecosystem-based management and ecology of invasive species. Currently: Senior Aquatic Biologist, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Theraesa Coyle (RA, on and off 2009 – 2013)

I am interested in how uncertainty affects management decision-making and the role that ecosystem-based approaches can play in mitigating the impact of manager’s imperfect knowledge of natural resources.

Rebecca Goldman Martone (Postdoc, 2008 – 2012)

Currently: Marine and Coastal Resources, British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development

Russell Markel (Postdoc, 2010 – 2012)

Currently: Captain and Owner/Operator of OuterShores Expeditions

Megan Mach (PhD, 2007 – 2012)

Currently: Communication and Outreach Postdoctoral Research Fellow at DataONE

PhD Thesis, 2012: Research on marine coastal impacts to promote ecosystem-based management: Nonnative species in northeast Pacific estuaries

Maria Espinosa Romero (MSc, 2008 – 2010)

Espinosa-Romero, M. J., K. M. A. Chan, T. McDaniels and D. M. Dalmer (2011). “Structuring decision-making for ecosystem-based management.” Marine Policy 35(5): 575-583. url

Espinosa-Romero, M. J., E. J. Gregr, C. Walters, V. Christensen and K. M. A. Chan (2011). “Representing mediating effects and species reintroductions in Ecopath with Ecosim.” Ecological Modelling 222(9): 1569-1579. url

Currently: Coordinator of the Midriff Islands Program, Community and Biodiversity (COBI)

Lara Hoshizaki (MSc, 2006 – 2009)

Chan, K. M. A., L. Hoshizaki and B. Klinkenberg (2011) “Ecosystem Services in Conservation Planning: Targeted Benefits or Co-benefits/Costs?” PLoS ONE 6(9): e24378. url

Currently: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larahoshizaki

Veronica Lo (MSc, 2006 – 2009)

Lo, V., C. Levings, K. M. A. Chan (2012). Quantifying potential propagule pressure of aquatic invasive species from the commercial shipping industry in Canada. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 64(2):295-302. url

Currently: Programme Assistant, Biodiversity and Climate Change Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Environment Programme

Penny White (MSc, 2006 – 2009)

Currently: Project leader for the Metlakatla First Nations, consultant and photographer