
Cassi Sauer
Master of Science in Human Nutrition (MSc)
Assessing the adherence and acceptability to iron and folic acid versus multiple micronutrient supplements during pregnancy: a cluster-randomized non-inferiority trial in Cambodia
Our researchers are studying everything from climate change and storm water management to the relationship between food, nutrition, diet and health. The research discoveries being made here have the potential to reach across borders for world-wide applications.
We are also sharing what we’ve learned with the next generation of scientists - our students. They come to us with a strong sense of global responsibility, passionate about creating positive and lasting change on issues of importance. We believe that by providing them with the opportunity to learn outside the traditional classroom - taking part in a community-based experiential learning project or studying overseas - we can enhance their education and help them develop to their full potential.
The Faculty of Land and Food Systems offers unique hands-on learning sites for graduate students, in addition to traditional labs where food science, food processing, and nutrition and health research take place.
UBC Farm is 24-hectare site on UBC Vancouver campus, which is a living laboratory that contains agricultural, forest, and transitional landscape areas for interdisciplinary field research. The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (CSFS) located at UBC Farm is a unique research centre that aims to understand and fundamentally transform local and global food systems towards a more sustainable, food secure future.
The Dairy Education and Research Centre, located a 2-hour drive from UBC Vancouver campus, is an internationally recognized dairy cattle research centre supporting the development and adaptation of new technologies for the dairy industry in British Columbia and beyond. The Centre has a large research herd that can provide sufficient numbers of experimental animals at a given physiological stage to meet most research requirements. These features support a vibrant critical mass of students, postdoctoral fellows, staff, visiting scientists, and faculty. A 10,800 square-foot student residence building opened in September 2015, which allows students and researchers to live on-site at the Agassiz, B.C. research station, and more closely monitor their research projects in dairy cattle welfare, animal reproduction, and resource recovery.
The Wine Research Centre has sites at both UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan campuses, with modern and fully equipped laboratories. Researchers in the Wine Research Centre also have access to the outstanding research facilities in the Michael Smith Laboratories (MSL) which is conveniently located adjacent to the Centre. The MSL has established itself as a force in the global biotechnology research community. Research areas include grapes, vineyards, and soils; wine and fermentation; winery performance and sustainability; and wine territory competitiveness.
In the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, our researchers are focused on finding viable solutions to pressing global crises and are known worldwide for their innovation and leadership in areas such as food science, dairy reproduction and animal welfare, sustainable agriculture, and community health and nutrition.
Our researchers have attracted millions of dollars in research funding from sources including Genome Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Michael Smith Scholar, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
Our experts are conducting ground-breaking research in many areas including:
Name | Research Interests |
---|---|
Barichello, Richard | Agricultural economics |
Black, Jennifer | Human nutrition and dietetics; Community Health / Public Health; food banks; food environments; Nutrition; Public health; school food environments; social determinants of health |
Black, Thomas Andrew | Biometeorology; Soil physics; Microclimate modification |
Carrillo, Juli | Plant-insect interactions; Agroecology; Invasive species; evolution; Ecology; community ecology; Environmental Change; Plant evolution; Population Ecology |
Castellarin, Simone | Enology and viticulture; Horticultural crop growth and development; Crop physiology; Fruit ripening; Secondary metabolism; Environmental stresses; Viticulture |
Cerri, Ronaldo | Animal and dairy sciences; Animal behaviour; Animal developmental and reproductive biology; Animal physiology; Agricultural Machinery and Technology; Animal Production; Animal Reproduction; Biotechnology and Activity monitors; Dairy cattle reproduction; Endocrine Regulation; Endometrium-conceptus cross communication; Estrous cycle physiology in cattle; Inflammation and stress; Production medicine in dairy cattle |
Cohen, Tamara | understanding the interplay between different lifestyle behaviours; how eating behaviours relate to weight management; Obesity |
Cornelis, Jean Thomas | Earth and related environmental sciences; Pedology; Biogeochemistry; Soil-Plant Interactions |
Dee, Derek | Enzymes (including kinetics and mechanisms, and biocatalyst); Proteomics; Nanofabrication, growth and self-assembly; Food chemistry (including fermentation); Protein Folding; protein stability; protein aggregation; protein engineering; funtional amyloid; bacterial amyloid; protein nanofibrils; food proteins; legume proteins; aspartic proteases; psychrophilic enzymes; precision fermentation; Biophysics; food chemistry; alternative food proteins; optical tweezers; single molecule force spectroscopy; cryoEM |
Frommel, Andrea | Animal physiology, environmental stress; Sustainable Aquaculture; climate change; Early development in fish; Alternative feeds in aquaculture; Fish physiology |
Guan, Leluo | Functional Genomics, Animal Microbiome |
Gulati, Sumeet | Agricultural economics; Wildlife and habitat management; Ecological policy; Economics of Human Wildlife Conflict; Economics of Urban Transportation; Effectiveness of Carbon Taxes; Effectiveness of Environmental Policy; International Trade and its Effect on the Environment; Political Economy of Environmental and Trade Policy |
Jessri, Mahsa | Human nutrition and dietetics; Community Health / Public Health; Epidemiology; Nutrition; Health Policies; Lifestyle Determinants and Health; Health Promotion; Health Prevention; Statistics and Probabilities; Preventive Medicine; Artificial Intelligence; Chronic Disease Prevention; clinical epidemiology; Dietary Assessment; Dietary Pattern Modeling; Dietetics; Machine Learning; Nutritional Epidemiology; predictive analytics; Public and Population Health; Simulation; Health Economics and Modeling |
Jovel Ayala, Eduardo | Ethnobotany, mycology, natural product chemistry and Aboriginal health |
Karakochuk, Crystal Dawn | Human nutrition and dietetics; Nutrition; Global Health and Emerging Diseases; Hematology; Biochemical markers of iron status; Clinical dietetics; Determinants and causes of anemia; Inherited blood disorders (sickle cell, thalassemia, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency); International nutrition; Maternal and child nutrition; Micronutrients (namely iron, folic acid, and zinc); Risk-benefit of micronutrient supplementation |
Kitts, David | Food chemistry and toxicology, cellular and molecular mechanism, oncology |
Knipfer, Thorsten | |
Kontogiorgos, Vasileios | Food colloids, gels, foam and emulsions; Food chemistry (including fermentation); Food rheology, food texture and sensory evaluation; Nutraceuticals, functional foods and bioactive; food chemistry; Physical chemistry of foods; Food colloids; Food emulsions; Food polysaccharides; food proteins |
Krzic, Maja | Soil sciences; Soil health; Soil management; Soil science education |
Lamers, Yvonne | Human nutrition and dietetics; Nutrition; Nutrients; Biological and Biochemical Mechanisms; Breast Feeding and Infant Nutrition; Clinical Chemistry; Maternal and child health; Micronutrients; Newborn Screening; Nutritional Biochemistry; Nutritional Biomarker; Periconceptional folic acid supplementation; Pregnancy; Prenatal Supplements; Toddler Nutrition; Vitamins |
McAusland, Carol | Interactions between globalization and public good provision, impacts of trade liberalization on environmental politics, potential use of trade policy to stem damages from exotic species introductions and biological invasions Environmental impacts of international trade, implications of skilled labor migration for the global provision of public goods |
McKendry, James | Musculoskeletal biology and physiology; Health promotion and disease prevention; Aging process; Human nutrition and metabolism; Nutritional physiology; Clinical nutrition; Exercise physiology; Sports nutrition; Kinesiology; Skeletal Muscle; Protein metabolism; Aging; Nutrition; exercise; Sarcopenia; Protein; Muscle Disuse; Stable Isotope Tracers; Omics; Cell Culture; Microscopy |
Measday, Vivien | Chromosome segregation in the budding yeast using molecular biology and genomic tools |
Noack, Frederik | Environment and natural resources economics; Economics of Biodiversity; Economics of Conservation; Fisheries Economics; economic development; Forests |
Pratap-Singh, Anubhav | Environment and natural resources economics; Food sciences (including food engineering); Natural resource management; Agri-food Transformation Products; cold plasma; food engineering; food processing; Functional Foods; heat transfer; high pressure; mass transfer; novel non-thermal processing; Nutriceuticals and Functional Foods; pasteurization; pulsed light; sterilization |
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems.
Year | Citation | Program |
---|---|---|
2025 | Is it possible for animals to be directly included in institutional decision-making? Dr. Ryan’s research in Applied Animal Biology explored how reframing human–animal relationships and including animals’ perspectives in decisions can lead to more ethical science, policy, and governance, benefiting the billions used by humans each year. | Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Animal Biology (PhD) |
2025 | Dr. Chantapakul studied the use of bacteriophages, viruses that target bacteria, to manage stem gall disease in blueberries in British Columbia. He found that phages can reduce soil-borne bacteria, offering an eco-friendly alternative to chemical treatments. His research supports blueberry growers and promotes sustainable farming practices. | Doctor of Philosophy in Food Science (PhD) |
2025 | Dr. Gowton examined extrafloral nectar, or EFN, production in Faba bean to understand how biotic factors, like rhizobia and herbivory, and abiotic factors, such as elevated CO2, nitrogen, and silicon, affect plant defenses. She found EFN production relied more on biotic interactions rather than abiotic interactions, highlighting its context-dependent role | Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Science (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Pow studied the carbon, water, and net greenhouse gas balances of an intensively managed forage field using micrometeorological methods. This research improves our understanding of the effects of field management on crop production and nitrogen fertilization efficiency while minimizing net greenhouse gas emissions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Soil Science (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Cheung investigated the structure and function of an antimicrobial plant protein domain using molecular modeling. She identified specific structural components that govern how the protein associates with membranes, gaining insights that deepen current understanding of the ubiquitous protein and accelerate the development for novel applications. | Doctor of Philosophy in Food Science (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Litzow conducted research in environmental and development economics, specifically studying how environmental change affects populations in low-income settings. She documented how pollution and economic crises negatively affect educational and labor market outcomes and highlighted the need for careful policy design to slow environmental change. | Doctor of Philosophy in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Ha investigated the impact of elevated carbon dioxide on plant-insect interactions across multiple insect species. His work narrowed knowledge gaps on how different insect species respond to feeding on CO2-enriched host plants, and contributed towards gaining a deeper understanding of how plant-insect interactions can change in the near future. | Doctor of Philosophy in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Wong found a human friendly virus called bacteriophages to be highly effective against a foodborne pathogen, Salmonella, in various fresh produce. For the Salmonella strains that are less susceptible to bacteriophage attack, she found them to utilize genes that can cleave bacteriophages before attack, thereby protecting themselves for survival. | Doctor of Philosophy in Food Science (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Mozaffari examined the impact of diet diversity on type 2 diabetes. She showed that a diet diverse in five food groups, and a variety of vegetables and plant protein sources, may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. These findings will inform the revision of some dietary guidelines, which currently advocate for a diet limited to only three food groups. | Doctor of Philosophy in Human Nutrition (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Nyamaizi examined strategies for reducing excessive soil phosphorus levels in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. Her findings provided appropriate phosphorus fertilizer rates and a tool for assessing the potential risk of phosphorus loss. Her research addresses phosphorus management challenges and its potential loss to nearby water sources. | Doctor of Philosophy in Soil Science (PhD) |