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.
Thursday, 12 June 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Cole Lord-May
Department: Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Turbulent Heat Fluxes and Katabatic Flow at Glacier Surfaces: Insights from Measurements and Modeling
Friday, 13 June 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Benjamin Yeremy
Department: Chemistry
Chemically Genetics-Guided Discovery and Modification of Anti-mitotic and Anti-inflammatory Bioactive Natural Products
Friday, 13 June 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 203
Wajiha Mehdi
Department: Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice
Violent Geographies and Muslim Women's Citizenship Struggles in India
Monday, 16 June 2025 - 9:00am - 2264, Diamond Health Care Centre, 2775 Laurel St
Almira Zhantuyakova
Department: Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Tumor Immune Microenvironment and STING Signaling in Low-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer: Implications for Oncolytic Virus Therapy
Monday, 16 June 2025 - 9:30am - Zoom
Yasmin Koop-Monteiro
Department: Sociology
Earthling Ties and Moral Cries: Theorizing Recruitment into Animal Rights Activism
Monday, 16 June 2025 - 12:30pm - 1209, Neville Scarfe Building, 2125 Main Mall
Cristina Soto Quintero
Department: Curriculum and Pedagogy
Pablo Superstar: Public Pedagogies and Generation Z's Cultural Memory of Escobar and Narco-Trafficking
Tuesday, 17 June 2025 - 9:00am - Room 200
Jiangze Han
Department: Sauder School of Business
Probabilistic Design in the Operation of Service Systems
Tuesday, 17 June 2025 - 12:30pm - Room 200
Max Norton
Department: Vancouver School of Economics
Essays in Public Finance and the Economics of Multi-Level Governance
Tuesday, 17 June 2025 - 2:00pm - 203, Mathematics Bldg, 1984 Mathematics Rd
Kenneth Moore
Department: Mathematics
Topics in Discrete and Convex Geometry
Wednesday, 18 June 2025 - 2:00pm - F414, BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre, 4500 Oak Street
Sarah Bowers
Department: Microbiology and Immunology
Adenosine Deaminase 2 (ADA2) in Immune Cell Development and Activation
Thursday, 19 June 2025 - 10:00am - Room 203
Mukul Rai Choudhuri
Department: Mathematics
Stick Kakeya Sets in Four Dimensions
Thursday, 19 June 2025 - 4:00pm - Room 200
Ravindra Mutukutti-Arachchige
Department: Electrical & Computer Engineering
Development of the EMT-H Water Hydraulics Model for Mechanical Power Control of Governors in Hydro-Electric Plants
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 - 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
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
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 - 288, Brimacombe Bldg, 2355 East Mall
Joern Bannies
Department: Chemistry
Electronic Structure Manipulation by Distortions in Square-net Materials
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 - 12:30pm - 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
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
Friday, 18 July 2025 - 9:00am - Room 203
Calla Raymond
Department: Zoology
Patterns, Pressures, and Processes: Exploring Biodiversity in Eelgrass Meadows and Coral Reefs
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
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 - 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
Wednesday, 30 July 2025 - 10:00am - Zoom
Eva Crowson
Department: Educational Studies
The British Empire's Ruins in Higher Education
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 - 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
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