News
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Five UBC Science students receive Canada’s largest STEM scholarship
September 2, 2020
First-year UBC Science students Susan Chung, Aidan Eglin, Rita Jin, Romina Mahinpei and Niki McIntosh have been named 2020 Schulich Leader Scholars. They were among 1,400 nominees across Canada competing for 100 of the $80,000 scholarships. “Schulich Leader Scholarships are the premiere… read more
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UBC researchers help detect the most massive black hole collision ever observed
September 2, 2020
An international team of researchers, including scientists with the University of British Columbia’s gravitational wave astrophysics group, has detected a signal from what may be the most massive black hole merger yet observed. The discovery, outlined in papers published today in Physical… read more
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Fisheye lens: How fish keep their eyes sharp
August 25, 2020
Scientists have identified a mechanism in the eyes of fish that boosts the retina's oxygen supply more than 10-fold and enhances the fish’s ability to process visual input. The mechanism—a gas gland within the eye—may have contributed to the extraordinary adaptive radiation of… read more
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Deglaciation will cause water shortages for Alberta’s Bighorn Dam and other sites
August 6, 2020
Alberta’s largest water reservoir, the Bighorn Dam, is among four locations in the province most at risk of summer water shortages due to future glacier loss, according to new research from the University of British Columbia. In a study outlined in Nature Climate Change, researchers… read more
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Early Mars was covered in ice sheets, not flowing rivers
August 3, 2020
A large number of the valley networks scarring Mars’s surface were carved by water melting beneath glacial ice, not by free-flowing rivers as previously thought, according to new UBC research published today in Nature Geoscience. The findings effectively throw cold water on the dominant … read more
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Astronomers pinpoint the best place on Earth for a telescope: High on a frigid Antarctic plateau
July 29, 2020
Dome A, the highest ice dome on the Antarctic Plateau, could offer the clearest view on Earth of the stars at night, according to new research by an international team from China, Australia and the University of British Columbia (UBC). The challenge? The location is one of the coldest and most… read more
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Lead from Notre Dame Cathedral fire detected in Parisian honey
July 29, 2020
Elevated levels of lead have been found in samples of honey from hives downwind of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire, collected three months after the April 2019 blaze. In research outlined in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, scientists from UBC’s Pacific Centre for Isotopic and… read more
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COVID-19 pandemic causes ‘quiet period’ for seismic noise
July 23, 2020
Seismometers are used to detect vibrations travelling through the ground after an earthquake, but they also pick up the background “buzz” of human activity at the surface. According to new research published today in Science, lockdown measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 led to a… read more
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Teaching chemistry in an online world
July 22, 2020
Associate Professor of Teaching Jay Wickenden (PhD '14) has taught chemistry for over 10 years at UBC. With lab classes interrupted by COVID-19, he explains how he handled the switch to online classes and offers tips for teachers and students engaged in distance learning. What were some of the… read more
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Researchers call for support for BIPOC in ecology and evolutionary biology
July 20, 2020
Recently, a group of researchers from five different institutions collaborated on a commentary piece in Nature Ecology & Evolution, outlining strategies and support for Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) in ecology and evolutionary biology. In this Q&A, we speak with… read more