UBC botanist receives West Coast teaching award
May 12, 2026
Dr. Bridgette Clarkston, associate professor of teaching with UBC Botany, has been awarded one of this year's BCTLC West Coast Teaching Excellence Awards.
The award—from the British Columbia Teaching and Learning Council—recognizes Dr. Clarkston’s commitment to enhanced student engagement and learning, her reflective and evidence-based teaching practice, and her ongoing dedication to teaching improvement.
"I'm humbled to be considered for this award and to be recognized for this work that brings me so much joy,” said Dr. Clarkston. “I am privileged to learn alongside students, colleagues and collaborators who are incredibly enthusiastic and engaged.”
Dr. Clarkston’s work exemplifies how UBC faculty and students partner with communities on intergenerational experiential learning projects that advance interest and literacy in science. Her teaching is evidence-based and guided by a deep commitment to inclusion and equity in learning and by the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan.
With a particular focus on biodiversity, Dr. Clarkston has led and contributed to a range of innovative initiatives. She co-created the Haida Gwaii Field School in partnership with the Saahlinda Naay Savings Things House (Haida Gwaii Museum) at Kay Llnagaay and the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.
She engages students as co-creators in the design and development of educational resources and courses, including a third-year course on Natural History Collections and Biodiversity Science that aims to braid together Indigenous ways of knowing and Western science.
She also co-created Seaweed School, a community-led seaweed inquiry project with the Hornby Island Natural History Museum and Hornby Island Community School. This project centres around the community-driven question of “How can we care for our seaweeds in this time of ecological instability and climate change.”
Seaweed School, now in its second year, has included numerous public outreach events, the establishment of a monthly citizen science seaweed monitoring initiative, and has brought together UBC undergraduate students, Beaty Biodiversity Museum staff, and community partners, including Hornby Island elementary students, teachers, and volunteers. In addition, she is currently co-leading a major effort to renew the UBC’s first-year biology program.
Dr. Clarkston is a highly cited scholar in post-secondary science education and has been recognized by students with the 2025 Alma Mater Society Open Educational Resources Champion Award and the 2026 Alma Mater Society Universal Design for Learning Champion Award, and by colleagues with the 2023 UBC Killam Teaching Prize.
The West Coast Teaching Excellence Awards were established by the British Columbia Teaching and Learning Council, a community of public post-secondary leaders committed to enhancing high-quality teaching and learning cultures in British Columbia and Yukon.
