News
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How an award-winning UBC prof gets students excited about science
August 14, 2018
Zoologist and teaching fanatic Angie O’Neill (BSc 01, MSc 05) fell in love with teaching in 2001, as a TA. That passion has earned O’Neill two Faculty of Science Killam Prizes for Excellence in Teaching, and high praise from her students. What makes a good teacher? Giving students a… read more
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Cigarettes account for half of waste recovered on Vancouver and Victoria shorelines
August 2, 2018
Plastic waste—particularly from smoking– still dominates litter collected from B.C. coastlines, a recent study from the University of British Columbia has found. UBC researchers analysed data from 1,226 voluntary cleanups organized by the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup (GCSC), a… read more
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Fishing fleets travelling further to catch fewer fish
August 1, 2018
Industrial fishing fleets have doubled the distance they travel to fishing grounds since 1950 but catch only a third of what they did 65 years ago per kilometre travelled, a new study has found. Researchers from from the Sea Around Us initiative at the University of Western Australia and the… read more
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UBC researcher appointed UN expert on human rights and the environment
August 1, 2018
This August, UBC researcher David Boyd takes on the role of Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment for the UN Human Rights Council. In this Q+A, he discusses priorities for his three-year mandate, and where Canada fits into the international context. How are human rights… read more
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Do bacteria ever go extinct? New research says yes, bigtime
July 30, 2018
Bacteria go extinct at substantial rates, although appear to avoid the mass extinctions that have hit larger forms of life on Earth, according to new research from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Caltech, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The finding contradicts widely held… read more
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Theory of general relativity proven yet again in new research
July 4, 2018
In a novel test of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, an international group of astronomers has demonstrated that the theory holds up, even for a massive three-star system. Einstein’s theory states that all objects fall the same way despite their mass or composition, like a… read more
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Zoology welcomes new head
June 28, 2018
Professor Vanessa Auld begins a five-year term as head of UBC’s Department of Zoology on July 3. Internationally recognized for her research in neuroscience, cell and developmental biology, Auld earned her BSc in Microbiology from UBC and her PhD from the University of Toronto. … read more
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As penguins dive, their location data takes flight
June 27, 2018
Data sent from penguins to space and back to UBC could help researchers determine why the species’ breeding population fluctuates so dramatically. UBC researchers visited the South Atlantic in April to attach small transmitters to the backs of 66 Gentoo penguins from two colonies in the… read more
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UBC researchers create matchmaking service to combat antibiotic resistant infections
June 21, 2018
UBC researchers have matched small proteins, called peptides, with antibiotics so they can work together to combat hard-to-treat infections that don’t respond well to drugs on their own. The study builds on previous research that showed that the peptides are key to making harmful bacteria… read more
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Climate change has fish migrating faster than regulations can keep up
June 14, 2018
The world’s system for allocating fish stocks is being outpaced by the movement of fish species in response to climate change, according to a study undertaken by an international team of marine ecologists, fisheries and social scientists, and lawyers. “Fish fleeing warming waters will… read more