Four UBC Science researchers elected to Royal Society of Canada

UBC researchers exploring forest genomics, fish conservation, ocean particle fluxes and software development where elected to the Royal Society of Canada today.

They join 30 other UBC Science researchers recognize by the RSC since 2000. The fellowships are the highest academic accolade in the sciences, humanities and arts bestowed in this country. The 2015 UBC Science fellows and citations are:

Joerg Bohlmann – Department of Botany

Joerg Bohlmann is a world leader in the fields of plant and forestry genomics and in plant natural products biology. He is distinguished for his research on the genomics of defense and resistance mechanisms of conifers against insect pests and insect-associated fungal pathogens, as well as on plant terpenoid biochemistry. New systems for high value bioproducts, as well as groundbreaking approaches for conifer improvement, are emerging from this work.

Anthony Peter Farrell – Department of Zoology

Anthony Peter Farrell is internationally recognized for his research into the properties of fish hearts, why their cardiorespiratory systems collapse at high temperature and how some hearts continue to function without oxygen. His work has been applied in fish conservation. He has received awards from the British Isles Fisheries Society, the American Fisheries Society and the Canadian Society of Zoology, and an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Gothenburg.

Roger François – Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences

Roger François’s pioneering research on particle and sediment fluxes in the ocean using stable and radioactive nuclides has provided fresh insights into algal production and nutrient recycling as well as the rates of the ocean’s overturning circulation in the past, opening new windows on the evolution of Earth’s global carbon system.

Gail Murphy – Department of Computer Science

Gail Murphy, a researcher in software engineering, has advanced understanding of how software is developed in practice and has developed creative approaches for improving how software developers work. Her work on recommendation systems for software engineering has had significant impact both in research and in practice.

UBC researchers Joshua Mostow (Asian Studies), Pitman Potter (Law) and Robert Brunham (Medicine) were also elected to the Society. This year's fellows will be inducted to the academies of the RSC during a ceremony this November at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, BC.