Upcoming Exams

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, 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 - 9:00am - Zoom

Christoph Alexander Schilling
Department: Forestry
Community Energy Independence and Sustainability: an Economic, Environmental and Sociopolitical Perspective on Biomass Energy Generation in Canadian Remote Communities

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 - 9:00am - Room 200

Jacob Hutton
Department: Experimental Medicine
Unlocking the Barrier to Survival in Unwitnessed Sudden Unexpected Death Using Sensor Technologies

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 - 12:00pm - Zoom

Steve Commichau
Department: Central, Eastern and North European Studies
The Monster is the Message: the Ghost as Monster and Medium in Early Modern German Protestant Records

Friday, 18 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200

Edward Thoeng
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Depth-resolved Studies of SRF Materials Using High Parallel-Field beta-NMR Spectrometer

Friday, 18 July 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 203

Zahra Poursorkh
Department: Chemistry
Leveraging Machine Learning and Data Analysis for the Study of Complex Materials with Raman Spectroscopy and Image Analysis: A Bridge between Academia and Industry

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 - 9:00am - 146, ICICS, 2366 Main Mall

Abner Turkieltaub Melo
Department: Computer Science
Hiring Under Uncertainty and Competition: A Work on Various Extensions of the Secretary Problem

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 - 1:00pm - 246, ICICS, 2366 Main Mall

William Mason
Department: Computer Science
Indaleko: The Unified Personal Index

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 - 1:00pm - Room 200

Shovon Biswas
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Zero-Energy Modes in Quantum Field Theories

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 - 10:00am - 4202, Douglas Kenny Building, 2136 West Mall

Dennis Gerlofs
Department: Neuroscience
The Dual Function of Social Gaze

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 - 11:00am - 224, Biodiversity Research Centre, 2212 Main Mall

Dylan Moxley
Department: Botany
Contributing to the Molecular Toolbox for Domesticated Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

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

Friday, 25 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200

Don Shafer
Department: Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice
Sticks and Stones, Roots & Bones; Exploring the Power of Words in a Polarized World

Friday, 25 July 2025 - 9:00am - Zoom

Ellen Boyd
Department: Population and Public Health
More than Just Emerging: Salmonella Dublin in British Columbia Dairy Cattle

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 - 12:30pm - 203, Mathematics Bldg, 1984 Mathematics Rd

Katharine Faulkner
Department: Mathematics
Mathematical Models for a Mechanistic Understanding of Type 2 Diabetes Development

Monday, 28 July 2025 - 1:00pm - Zoom

Yupei Ma
Department: Vancouver School of Economics
Essays in Applied Microeconomics

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

Monday, 28 July 2025 - 1:30pm - Dorothy Lam Boardroom, BC Cancer Research Institute, 675 West 10th Avenue

MONA ORANGI
Department: Oncology
The Role of Innate Lymphoid Cells in Steatohepatitis and Liver Fibrosis

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

Tuesday, 29 July 2025 - 1:00pm - X836, ICICS, 2366 Main Mall

Shih Han Chou
Department: Computer Science
Vision and Language: Representation Learning, Commonsense Reasoning, and Consistency

Tuesday, 29 July 2025 - 4:00pm - 2071, Civil and Mechanical Engineering, 6250 Applied Science Lane

Xinglong Huang
Department: Mechanical Engineering
Development and Applications of Light Field Microscopy Systems for On-Chip 3D Characterization of Dynamic Samples in Microfluidic Platforms

Wednesday, 30 July 2025 - 9:00am - D213, Chemistry Bldg, 2036 Main Mall

Paul Heine
Department: Chemistry
The Atmospheric Fate of Volatile Organic Selenium Measured by Online Proton-Transfer-Reaction Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

Wednesday, 30 July 2025 - 9:00am - Zoom

Shayan Jannati
Department: Mechanical Engineering
Quantitative Analysis of Cell Mechanics with a Focus on Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs)

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 - 12:30pm - 1617, Forest Sciences Centre, 2424 Main Mall

Ramon Melser
Department: Forestry
Enhanced Assessment of Boreal Vegetation Productivity Using Integrated Satellite-Derived Datasets and Analysis Approaches

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

Friday, 1 August 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200

Samantha Myers
Department: Rehabilitation Sciences
Understanding Who Engages and Why it Matters: Predictors and Outcomes of Exercise Adherence in Real-World and Remote Cancer Exercise Programs

Tuesday, 5 August 2025 - 10:00am - Zoom

Kanageswari Singara Veloo
Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Minimal Thermal Treatment of Cellulosic Biomass to Produce Torrefied Pellets

Tuesday, 5 August 2025 - 11:00am - 3200, Biological Sciences Building, 6270 University Blvd

Siobhan Schenk
Department: Botany
The Bacterial Community of Sugar Kelp (Saccharina Latissima) in Cultivation and under Salinity Stress

Tuesday, 5 August 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200

Evan Muise
Department: Forestry
Assessing Forest Ecological Integrity and Protected Area Effectiveness in British Columbia with Satellite Remote Sensing

Tuesday, 5 August 2025 - 4:00pm - Room 203

Zihuan Wang
Department: Electrical & Computer Engineering
Machine Learning Enabled Integrated Sensing and Communication for Next Generation Wireless Networks

Wednesday, 6 August 2025 - 9:00am - Zoom

Brian Watson
Department: Information
Expanding the Margins in the History of Sexuality & Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums & Special Collections (GLAM)

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

Wednesday, 13 August 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200

William Primrose
Department: Chemistry
Development of Glassy Organic Dots for Biological Imaging

Wednesday, 13 August 2025 - 11:00am - Zoom

Mikayla Pachkowski
Department: Psychology
Coping with Suicidal Ideation: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Examination

Monday, 18 August 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200

LEI LI
Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Simulation of Hydrogel Mechanics in Biomicrofluidic Applications

Monday, 18 August 2025 - 9:00am - Zoom

Justin Turner
Department: Rehabilitation Sciences
Garden of Resilience: Individual, Clinician, and Indigenous Community Stories of Disruption and Adaptation during the 21st Century

Wednesday, 20 August 2025 - 3:30pm - Zoom

Maram Sakr
Department: Mechanical Engineering
Democratizing Robot Learning: Teaching by Demonstration with Everyday Users in Mind

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

Friday, 5 September 2025 - 1:00pm - Zoom

Xinyuan Zhang
Department: Sauder School of Business
Learning and Decision-Making in Complex Information Environments