Defences held in person have locations listed with the date below. Zoom information for virtual exams is not listed; if you are interested in attending one of these defences, please contact the candidate's department or graduate.doctoral@ubc.ca. Zoom links are available one week prior to the defence.
Monday, 23 June 2025 - 12:30pm - 233, Henry Angus Building, 2053 Main Mall
Siying Wang
Department: Sauder School of Business
Quantitative Evaluations of Urban and Environmental Policies in Spatial Equilibrium
Tuesday, 24 June 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Megan Zeni
Department: Curriculum and Pedagogy
Expanding Understandings of Outdoor Play and Learning in K-8 Elementary Schools
Tuesday, 24 June 2025 - 9:00am - Room 203
Jens Ulrich
Department: Plant Science
Insect Pollinators in Urban Landscapes: Impacts of City Design and Management on Species Abundance and Occurrence
Tuesday, 24 June 2025 - 12:00pm - 288, ICICS, 2366 Main Mall
Zhenchao Ma
Department: Electrical & Computer Engineering
Advances in Image and Video Quality Enhancement
Wednesday, 25 June 2025 - 9:00am - Room 203
Leah Shipton
Department: Political Science
The Politics of Public-Private Partnerships in Global Health Governance: Insights from the COVID-19 Response
Wednesday, 25 June 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Rafael Candido Ribeiro
Department: Forestry
Landscape Genomics of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii): Adaptive Potential for Future Climatic Conditions
Wednesday, 25 June 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Kaili Vesik
Department: Linguistics
Gradual Error-Driven Learning and Typology of Finnic Vowel Interactions
Wednesday, 25 June 2025 - 12:30pm - 3113, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, 950 West 28th Avenue
Li Ying Dai
Department: Experimental Medicine
Defining the Role of Infant Gut Microbiota in Child Health
Thursday, 26 June 2025 - 9:00am - 146, ICICS, 2366 Main Mall
Eric Hedlin
Department: Computer Science
Leveraging Large Diffusion Models
Thursday, 26 June 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Simon Godin
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Decoupled Magnetic Centers in Anion-Substituted Nickel Oxide
Thursday, 26 June 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Karlie Edwards
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Epigenetic Underpinnings of Pediatric Immune System Development
Thursday, 26 June 2025 - 12:30pm - Zoom
Yoonseok Choi
Department: Psychology
Motivation in Context: the Role of Sociocultural Contexts in Shaping Everyday Goal Pursuit Across the Adult Lifespan
Thursday, 26 June 2025 - 12:30pm - 311, Brimacombe Bldg, 2355 East Mall
NATALIA BUSSARD
Department: Educational Studies
The Transformative Power of Plurilingualism: Reshaping Perspectives of Self, Others, and the World
Thursday, 26 June 2025 - 4:00pm - Room 200
Olivia Adamczyk
Department: Chemistry
Vanadium Complexes with Pyridine Derivative Ligands as Catalysts for Deoxygenative Transformations
Friday, 27 June 2025 - 12:30pm - 121, Totem Fields Studios, 2613 West Mall
S M Farhan Samir
Department: Linguistics
Anglocentric Standards in Universal Text and Speech Processing
Monday, 30 June 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Douglas Pimlott
Department: Chemistry
Conversion & Storage of CO2 Using Electrochemical Reactors
Wednesday, 2 July 2025 - 10:00am - 4001, Douglas Kenny Building, 2136 West Mall
Dunigan Folk
Department: Psychology
When, Why and For Whom Do Social Chatbots Provide Feelings of Social Connection?
Wednesday, 2 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Keling Zheng
Department: Sauder School of Business
Essays in Real Estate Finance
Wednesday, 2 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 203
Mewael Isiet
Department: Mechanical Engineering
Femtosecond Two-Pulse Laser Spall Approach for Metals and Ceramics
Wednesday, 2 July 2025 - 1:00pm - Dorothy Lam Boardroom, BC Cancer Research Institute, 675 West 10th Avenue
Shaocheng WU
Department: Bioinformatics
Single Cell Characterization of Transformed Follicular Lymphoma
Thursday, 3 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 203
Shadab Ahamed
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Deep-Learning-Guided Image Generation, Enhancement and Analysis: With Applications to Nuclear Medicine Imaging
Thursday, 3 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Aida Mesbahi
Department: Dentistry
Theory-Guided Oral Health Promotion Strategies in Children and Adolescents
Thursday, 3 July 2025 - 2:00pm - Zoom
Fangyuan Lisa Chi
Department: Electrical & Computer Engineering
Collaborative Autonomous Driving: From Perception to Decision
Friday, 4 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Emily Mason
Department: Experimental Medicine
Epidemiological and Preclinical Considerations for a Vaccine Against Klebsiella pneumoniae
Friday, 4 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Kiruthika Manivannan
Department: Microbiology and Immunology
Host-Pathogen Interactions: Exploring Bordetella LPS Signaling and a Humanized Mouse Model of Infection
Monday, 7 July 2025 - 9:00am - 506, Frank Forward Building, 6350 Stores Rd
Giovanni Pamparana Manns
Department: Mining Engineering
A Study on Compression Breakage: From Theory to Practice
Monday, 7 July 2025 - 12:00pm - 2264, Diamond Health Care Centre, 2775 Laurel St
Ainiah Rushdiana Raquib
Department: Oncology
Investigating the SS18::SSX Oncoprotein and Establishing its Interactors in Synovial Sarcoma Using Antibody-Based Approaches
Monday, 7 July 2025 - 1:00pm - 146, ICICS, 2366 Main Mall
Wonho Bae
Department: Computer Science
Budget-Robust Active Learning
Tuesday, 8 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 203
Sara Ataii
Department: Civil Engineering
Exploratory Hydromechanical Consequences of Internal Instability in Idealized Gap-Graded Bennett South Moraine Sands
Tuesday, 8 July 2025 - 9:00am - Zoom
Francisco Eslava Saenz
Department: Vancouver School of Economics
Essays on the Economic Development of the Americas
Tuesday, 8 July 2025 - 10:00am - Zoom
Ashley Battaglini
Department: Psychology
Intra- and Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Flexibility
Wednesday, 9 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Forest Kobayashi
Department: Mathematics
Optimal Transport Approximation of Measures via Lower-Dimensional Structures: Principal Manifolds and the Average Distance Problem
Thursday, 10 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Gabriel Currier
Department: Mathematics
Extremal Problems in Combinatorics and Geometry
Thursday, 10 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 203
Alan Knee
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Searches for Novel Gravitational-Wave Sources with Ground and Space-Based Detectors
Thursday, 10 July 2025 - 9:30am - Zoom
Chun-Yin Huang
Department: Electrical & Computer Engineering
Enhancing Privacy and Efficiency in AI Models through Data-Oriented Learning Strategies
Thursday, 10 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Passant Reyad
Department: Civil Engineering
Advancing Intersection Safety with Adaptive Traffic Signal Control in Evolving Connected Autonomous Vehicle Networks
Thursday, 10 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 203
Matthew Shannon
Department: Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Advancing Human Trophoblast Biology: Transcriptomic Insights Into Progenitor Cells, Sex-Related Differences, and Human Trophoblast Organoids
Friday, 11 July 2025 - 9:00am - 318, Hennings Bldg, 6224 Agricultural Rd
Joern Bannies
Department: Chemistry
Electronic Structure Manipulation by Distortions in Square-net Materials
Friday, 11 July 2025 - 9:00am - Zoom
Mehmet Saglam
Department: Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education
Investigating Educators' Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, and Agency in Constructing an Intelligence-Friendly Classroom
Friday, 11 July 2025 - 12:00pm - Zoom
Dacotah-Victoria Splichalova
Department: Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Reimagining the Story Beyond H2O: Advancing a Conceptual and Methodological Framework for the Non-Material Dimensions of Water in Yucatan, Mexico
Friday, 11 July 2025 - 12:30pm - 2916, Centre for Advanced Wood Processing, 2424 Main Mall
Amir Kari
Department: Forestry
Seismic Performance of Wood Light-Frame Buildings Incorporating a New Type of Midply Shear Wall System
Monday, 14 July 2025 - 9:30am - Zoom
Aditi Singh
Department: Vancouver School of Economics
The Long Shadow of Development and Political Transformations: Essays on Social Outcomes in India
Monday, 14 July 2025 - 12:00pm - 167, Iona Bldg, 6000 Iona Dr
Jan Ksawery Rosa
Department: Vancouver School of Economics
Essays in Labor Economics and Deep Learning
Monday, 14 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Tuve Mikael Omstedt
Department: Geography
Grounding Money: Capital and Difference in the Federal Reserve System
Tuesday, 15 July 2025 - 9:00am - Zoom
Sepide Sadeghiforoushani
Department: Sauder School of Business
Harnessing Sustainability Mobile Apps for Carbon Reduction: A Multilevel Approach
Tuesday, 15 July 2025 - 9:00am - Zoom
Paula Pinzon Hernandez
Department: Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Bridging the Gap: Closing Knowledge Gaps between Abortion Providers and Decision-Makers in Latin America through Regional Collaboration and Evidence Sharing
Wednesday, 16 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Nadia Paez
Department: Zoology
Phylogenetic Insights into Community Assembly of Tropical Bromeliad Invertebrates
Wednesday, 16 July 2025 - 10:00am - 350, HR MacMillan Building, 2357 Main Mall
Juan Fercovic Lopez
Department: Agricultural Sciences
Three Essays in Environmental Economics and Energy Transition.
Wednesday, 16 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Zoom
Danjie Zou
Department: Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education
Investigating the Impact of Hidden Subpopulations on Individual Test Scores Using IRT-based Methods
Thursday, 17 July 2025 - 9:00am - Zoom
Xiaojun Guan
Department: Vancouver School of Economics
Essays in Macro and Development Economics
Thursday, 17 July 2025 - 12:00pm - Zoom
Hamed Nikookar
Department: Mechanical Engineering
Characterizing the Structure of Post-Flame Agglomerated Soot Using Simulations and Experiments
Thursday, 17 July 2025 - 12:30pm - 240, West Mall Annex (WMAX), 1933 West Mall
Madison Lore
Department: Community and Regional Planning
Surfacing Social Norms in Language with Machine Learning to Better Plan for Sustainable Transitions
Thursday, 17 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Jens Malmquist
Department: Mathematics
Characterizing Near-Bipartiteness, Harnack Inequalities, and Heat Kernel Estimates
Thursday, 17 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 203
Danielle Hanke
Department: Pharmaceutical Sciences
From STAT Proteins to Novel Biological Targets: A Comprehensive Medicinal Chemistry Journey of Chemical Probe Development
Friday, 18 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 203
Calla Raymond
Department: Zoology
Patterns, Pressures, and Processes: Exploring Biodiversity in Eelgrass Meadows and Coral Reefs
Friday, 18 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Juhee Oh
Department: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Linking Nutrient Sensing, Central Carbon Metabolism, and T-Cell Function
Friday, 18 July 2025 - 9:00am - Koerner Conference Room, Brain Research Centre, UBC Hospital, 2211 Wesbrook Mall
Sze Tung Lam
Department: Neuroscience
Clinical and Biological Investigations of Anxiety in Parkinson’s Disease: Insights from Microbiome, Psychometric, and Placebo-controlled Studies
Friday, 18 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Edward Thoeng
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Deep-Resolved Studies of SRF Materials Using High Parallel-Field beta-NMR Spectrometer
Monday, 21 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Davi Monticelli
Department: Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Cannabis Cultivation and Processing Facilities: Linking Emissions and Air Quality to Inform Regulation
Monday, 21 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Rahmi Ugras
Department: Mechanical Engineering
Optimization of Clamping Conditions in Thin-Walled Part Machining
Monday, 21 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 203
Graham Butler
Department: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies
Proslavery Representations of Enslaved People and Their Management in the Literature of Ancient Greece, Rome, and the 17th-19th-Century Atlantic: a Comparative Perspective
Monday, 21 July 2025 - 1:30pm - Zoom
Erika Balcombe
Department: Anthropology
Making Space: Indigenous Collaborations in the Design Studio, Building Community, and Advancing Reconciliation
Monday, 21 July 2025 - 4:00pm - Room 203
Lucas Polson
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Advancing Quantitative SPECT with Open-Source Image Reconstruction, Uncertainty Estimation, and Image Generation Optimization
Tuesday, 22 July 2025 - 9:00am - Zoom
Liam Wesley Gilson
Department: Forestry
Robust Models for Forest Growth and Yield Predictions under Climate Change
Tuesday, 22 July 2025 - 11:00am - 202, ICICS, 2366 Main Mall
Seyed Ali Tabatabaee
Department: Computer Science
Optimization with Explorable Uncertainty
Tuesday, 22 July 2025 - 12:30pm - 107, Aquatic Ecosystems Research Lab, 2202 Main Mall
Bassam Javed
Department: Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Policy Insights to Scale Up Diffusion of Electric Vehicles: Examples from Canada and China
Tuesday, 22 July 2025 - 1:00pm - Zoom
Teresa Maynes
Department: Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education
Career Development in Recovery from Problematic Substance Use: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Hope-Action Theory Group Program
Tuesday, 22 July 2025 - 1:30pm - 229, Geography Building, 1984 West Mall
Jenna Loesberg
Department: Geography
Effects of Reproductive Trade-offs, Conspecific Density, and Invasive Species on Oak Savanna Wildflower Populations under Climate Change
Tuesday, 22 July 2025 - 4:00pm - Zoom
Saattvic Saattvic
Department: Sauder School of Business
Essays in Antitrust and Education
Wednesday, 23 July 2025 - 9:00am - Zoom
Saiful Alam
Department: Population and Public Health
HPV-Based Cervical Cancer Screening among Women ≥ 50 years
Wednesday, 23 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Adrienne Kinman
Department: Neuroscience
Visualizing and Manipulating Cell-Type-Specific Spatial and Non-Spatial Memory in the Subiculum
Wednesday, 23 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 203
Ryoga Hojo
Department: Chemistry
Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence: From Rational Design to Applications in Photocatalysis
Wednesday, 23 July 2025 - 1:00pm - 223, Geography Building, 1984 West Mall
David Puhl
Department: Geography
Landscape Control on Channel Adjustment in Response to Flooding
Wednesday, 23 July 2025 - 4:00pm - Room 203
Jason Winikoff
Department: Music
The Sounds of Makishi: Luvale Spirit Manifestation, Music, and Timbre in Zambia
Thursday, 24 July 2025 - 10:00am - 5104, Earth Sciences Building, 2207 Main Mall
Catriona Breasley
Department: Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Lithium Aluminosilicate Formation and Textural Origins in Evolved Pegmatites: Insights from the Tanco Pegmatite, Manitoba and Prof Pegmatite, British Columbia
Thursday, 24 July 2025 - 12:00pm - Zoom
Ajibola Fabusuyi
Department: Central, Eastern and North European Studies
Sankofa and Black German Autobiographical Nonfiction and Filmmaking
Thursday, 24 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Kathryn Crowter
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Searching for Millisecond and Slow Pulsars with CHIME
Thursday, 24 July 2025 - 2:00pm - Koerner Conference Room, Brain Research Centre, UBC Hospital, 2211 Wesbrook Mall
Graeme Betts
Department: Neuroscience
Central Cholinergic System and Muscarinic Subtype M4: Probabilistic Decision-Making Deficits by Inherent Impulsivity
Thursday, 24 July 2025 - 4:30pm - 773, Robert H.N. Ho Building, 2635 Laurel St
Luke MacLean
Department: Biomedical Engineering
The Design and Validation of Ultrasound-Augmented Self-Localizing Tools for Dynamic and Adjustable Registration and Navigation in Spinal Surgery
Monday, 28 July 2025 - 10:30am - 969, Henry Angus Building, 2053 Main Mall
Dongliang Lu
Department: Sauder School of Business
Essays in Corporate Governance and Financial Institutions
Monday, 28 July 2025 - 12:30pm - D317, Chemistry Bldg, 2036 Main Mall
Qingyuan Bian
Department: Chemistry
Engineering Protein-Based Functional Materials
Monday, 28 July 2025 - 1:30pm - 1330, Life Sciences Institute, 2350 Health Sciences Mall
John Kim
Department: Cell & Developmental Biology
Consequences and Repair of Mitochondrial Protein Import Defects in Mammals
Tuesday, 29 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 203
Baohui Jia
Department: Civil Engineering
Membrane Ageing in Drinking Water Treatment: Assessing the Impact of Natural Organic Matter Foulants and Hypochlorite Interactions
Tuesday, 29 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Xia Sun
Department: Forestry
Synthesis and Applications of Dialcohol Nanocellulose
Tuesday, 29 July 2025 - 1:00pm - Zoom
Kate Wahl
Department: Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Advancing Knowledge Translation in the Context of Abortion Policy and Practice in Canada
Wednesday, 30 July 2025 - 10:00am - Zoom
Eva Crowson
Department: Educational Studies
The British Empire's Ruins in Higher Education
Wednesday, 30 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 203
Robert Shilton
Department: Civil Engineering
Sprayable Geopolymer for Underground Wastewater Infrastructure
Wednesday, 30 July 2025 - 1:00pm - 2101, Douglas T. Kenny Building, 2136 West Mall
Matthew Billet
Department: Psychology
Antecedents and Outcomes of Spiritual Connections to Nature
Wednesday, 30 July 2025 - 3:00pm - 3113, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, 950 West 28th Avenue
Junran Yan
Department: Cell & Developmental Biology
Eukaryotic Elongation Factor 2 EFK-1/eEF2K Promotes Starvation Resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans
Thursday, 31 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Ka-Ming Tong
Department: Chemistry
Photophysics of Rhenium(I) and Platinum (II) Complexes with Sulfur-Bridged of Flexible Lewis Pair Ligands
Thursday, 31 July 2025 - 12:30pm - 1312, Life Sciences Institute, 2350 Health Sciences Mall
Kevin Jeffers
Department: Medical Genetics
Characterization of the Yeast VPS13 VAB Domain in Regard to its Regulation of PxP Adaptor Recruitment and VPS13 Function
Thursday, 31 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Natalie Westwood
Department: Zoology
Exploring the Intricacies of Systems: From Treeholes to Teaching
Thursday, 31 July 2025 - 1:00pm - E404, Shaughnessy Bldg, BC Women's Hospital, 4500 Oak st
Yasser Sabr
Department: Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Severe Maternal Morbidity and Maternal Mortality Associated with Pre-existing Medical Conditions in Pregnancy
Thursday, 31 July 2025 - 3:00pm - Zoom
Daniel Jaramillo Calderon
Department: Vancouver School of Economics
Essays on the Economics of Crime and Conflict
Thursday, 7 August 2025 - 1:00pm - 12th Floor Seminar Room, BC Cancer Research Centre, 675 W 10th Ave
Faeze Keshavarz Rahaghi
Department: Bioinformatics
Application of Machine Learning and Language Models in Health and Biological Sciences
Thursday, 21 August 2025 - 2:00pm - 240, West Mall Annex (WMAX), 1933 West Mall
Keisha Maloney
Department: Community and Regional Planning
Rehearsals for Transformation: Learning the Craft of Planning
Monday, 25 August 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Jennifer Nagtegaal
Department: French, Hispanic and Italian Studies
Expanded Comics: Multimediality, Performance, and Extra Multimodality under Post-Postmodernism