UBC’s Earth Sciences Building

Designed to inspire collaboration and creativity across disciplines, the new Earth Sciences Building lies at the heart of the science precinct on UBC’s Vancouver Campus.

The $75 million facility is home to Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Statistics, the Pacific Institute of the Mathematical Sciences, and the dean’s office of the Faculty of Science.

Revitalizing the student experience

The UBC earth science community takes an integrated approach to understanding how humanity impacts our planet – a collective expertise uniquely positioned to advance solutions for complex problems in climate change and environmental degradation. ESB gives UBC students attending earth science classes – as many as 6,500 a year – the expanded space they need to learn and connect with their peers. Updated laboratory facilities – and the collocation of expertise in math and statistics – are enabling researchers to collaborate and investigate the challenges facing our planet in new ways.

Helping BC’s mainstay industries innovate

Vancouver is a world capital for mineral exploration, and UBC-educated geologists are already leaders in the resource community. ESB’s updated teaching facilities will help Canada meet the challenges of a transforming and growing resource sector. Just as importantly, the researchers and students working and learning in the new facility will offer a valuable flow of well-trained talent, new ideas, and fresh professional perspectives to industry.

Putting science on display

Complementing the glass-shrouded Beaty Biodiversity Museum across UBC’s Main Mall, ESB features nine-metre high-head labs penetrating the first story with floor to ceiling windows. Clearly visible from campuses’ Main Mall, the labs will offer students and visitors a unique glimpse into the world-class earth science research conducted at UBC. The exterior walls of the building display massive polished slabs of rock samples, and exterior walls of the lecture theatres incorporate stone into curtain-wall glazing frames.

Made-in-BC sustainability

Constructed to LEED Gold standards, ESB is the largest panelized wood building and the largest application of cross laminated timber in North America. The building uses over 1,300 tons of BC sourced and engineered CLT – each ton of dry wood products sequesters sufficient carbon to keep between 1.8 and 2.0 tons of CO2 from being formed. The wood materials in the ESB will sequester about 2,600 tons of CO2.

Building Occupants

Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
UBC EOAS is the largest and most highly ranked earth sciences department in Canada, recognized internationally for its strong partnerships with industry. The new building provides 250 EOAS researchers with modern facilities that will enable them to investigate some of the most pressing challenges facing our world. From studying our planet’s origins to unearthing current and future environmental trends, EOAS faculty and students are uniquely positioned to advance solutions for mineral exploration, climate change, and environmental degradation.

Department of Statistics
The UBC Department of Statistics houses 17 regular faculty members and 50 graduate students, divided between MSc and PhD programs. The department conducts research across a wide variety of areas, including biostatistics, environmental statistics, Bayesian statistics and robust statistics. The department also offers statistical consulting expertise and research support to on- and off-campus clients via its Statistical Consulting and Research Laboratory.

The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences
The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) was created in 1996 by the community of mathematical scientists in Alberta and BC, and subsequently Washington State and Saskatchewan. PIMS promotes research in and applications of the mathematical sciences to facilitate the training of highly qualified personnel, to enrich public awareness of and education in the mathematical sciences, and to partner with similar organizations in other countries.

ESB Supporters

UBC Science thanks the following government, industry and alumni partners for their generous support of the Earth Sciences Building. Their vision has helped lay a strong foundation for earth sciences education and training in British Columbia, Canada, and the world.

  • Government of British Columbia
  • Ross Beaty
  • Goldcorp Inc.
  • Teck Resources Limited
  • Wheaton Precious Metals
  • Pan American Silver Corp.
  • Lundin Mining Corporation
  • Red Back Mining Inc.
  • Sirocco Mining Inc.
  • NGEx Resources Inc.
  • Lucara Diamond Corp.
  • Northern Peru Copper Corp.
  • Silver Standard Resources Inc.
  • Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.
  • Natural Resources Canada
  • Selwyn Resources Ltd.
  • Nyrstar
  • Lumina Copper Corp.
  • Amir Adnani and Arash Adnani
  • KGHM International Ltd.
  • Imperial Metals Corporation
  • Western Copper and Gold Corporation
  • The McLeod and Seltzer Families
  • Copper Mountain Mining Corporation
  • Kinross Gold Corporation
  • Piteau Associates Engineering Limited
  • Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum
  • Eagle Plains Resources Ltd.
  • John Eckersley