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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 |
|---|---|
| Proctor, Jonathan | Environment |
| Protopopova, Alexandra | Other biological sciences; Social structures; rabbit housing; dog training; cultural differences in human-companion animal relationships; Animal behaviour; animal shelter; Animal welfare; community initiatives |
| Riseman, Andrew | plant breeding; plant genetics; horticulture; roots; stress physiology, Plant breeding, intercrop interactions, nutrient use efficiency, root physiology, biotic/abtioic stressor |
| Rivarez, Mark Paul | Plant pathology; Agricultural ecology; Virology; Bioinformatics; Biogeography and phylogeography; Phylogeny and comparative analysis; Bacteriology; Mycology; Plant microbiota; Horticultural crop protection (pests, diseases and weeds); plant pathology; AI-based modeling; Biological control; virus evolution; virus epidemiology; pathogen diversity; bacteriology; mycology; metagenomics; high-throughput sequencing |
| Robin, Tabitha | |
| Sargent, Risa | Plant biology; Biological control; community ecology; evolutionary ecology; Floral trait evolution; Flowering plants; Herbivory; Pollinator-mediated interactions |
| Smukler, Sean | Natural sciences; Agricultural ecology; Soil health; Climate change adaptation and mitigation; Ecosystem services |
| Stefanska, Barbara | Nutrition and Cancer; Breast Cancer; Hepatic Diseases; Gene Regulation and Expression; Epigenetics, Cancer epigenetics, Nutritional epigenomics |
| Taye, Zelalem | Plant and soil microbiome; Synthetic Microbial Communities; Plant and Soil Health; Genomic Tools and Ecological Modeling; Non-Wood Forest Products & Sustainable Forest Management |
| Vercammen, James | Market Analysis; Marketing and Distribution; R&D and Innovation; Sustainable Development; Supply and Demand Dynamics; food prices; agri-environmental contracts; agri-risk and insurance; commodity futures markets |
| von Keyserlingk, Marina | animal welfare, ethics of animal use, farm animals, dairy cattle welfare, Animal Welfare Behavior, housing and management and how these contribute to animal health and welfare of dairy cattle |
| Wang Kazun, Siyun | Food sciences (including food engineering); Agri-food Transformation Products; Microbiology; Bioactive Molecules; Food microbiology; Food safety |
| Weary, Daniel | Animal and dairy sciences; Animal welfare; Applied animal behaviour; Dairy cattle; Laboratory animals |
| Wittman, Hannah | Sociology and related studies; Farming systems research; food sovereignty; Sustainable agriculture; socio-ecological systems; Agroecology |
| Xu, Zhaoming | Nutrients, Zinc, growth, and growth regulation, Regulatory role of zinc in apoptosis, Zinc and breast cancer |
| Yang, Tianxi | Food sciences (including food engineering); Analytical chemistry; Nano-technology; Chemical engineering; Develop novel Point-of-Care tools for food safety monitoring; Design smart nanomaterials for sustainable farming and precision agriculture; Create sustainable and multifunctional packaging materials to improve food safety and quality |
| Zulyniak, Michael | Human nutrition and metabolism; Population health interventions; Systems biology; Nutritional epidemiology; metabolic diseases; Pregnancy; gestational diabetes; type-2 diabetes; Metabolism; Genetics; health disparity; Nutrition; lifestyle; precision nutrition |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Dr. Nogues explored how the personality of dairy cattle and the way they cope with stress can influence how they interact with others in their social group. Better understanding this individual variation in social behaviour can inform management practices that improve dairy cattle welfare. | Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Animal Biology (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Zarate-Barrera combines economics and computational methods with large-scale data to understand the effects of environmental stressors on non-health-related outcomes and the causes and consequences of female empowerment in violent contexts. | Doctor of Philosophy in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Madhok conducted his doctoral studies in environmental and development economics. His work documents how economic activity shapes the environment in developing nations, with emphasis on biodiversity loss, air quality, and land use change. His findings inform the design of policies that balance economic growth and environmental conservation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Williams examined the effectiveness of folic acid supplementation in children with sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder. The findings from his clinical trial provide evidence to inform nutritional management and supplementation practices in Canadian children living with this disease | Doctor of Philosophy in Human Nutrition (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Rinaldi examined public discourse and planning processes involving water science and democracy in extractive frontiers in Colombia. She found that narratives are shifting towards a more nuanced understanding of complexity, uncertainty and the role of expert knowledge at the water-energy nexus. | Doctor of Philosophy in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Yan investigated the production of waxy layer on fruit surfaces that protects fruits against environmental stresses such as UV Light and dehydration. Her work revealed the critical roles of wax compounds in improving fruit quality and shelf life. Her work will have significant implications on agriculture and horticulture crop development. | Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Science (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Ravani Cecato studied topics in environmental economics. Her research showed that information dissemination contributes to enforcing environmental regulations. She also showed that migration is an important adaptation strategy to climate change. | Doctor of Philosophy in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Sahar showed how feeding and aggressive behvaiours during the pre-calving period are associated with disease during the post-calving period in diary cattle. Using such behaviours, Dr. Sahar built predictive models that successfully identify cows at high risk of disease before they are sick. | Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Animal Biology (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Cochrane studied natural vs synthetic folate supplementation during pregnancy. Her results showed that maternal folate status can be maintained by using either of the two supplements, but that human milk composition is affected. These findings will inform optimal folate supplementation practices during pregnancy for healthy starts in life. | Doctor of Philosophy in Human Nutrition (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Solis-Becerra examined how indigenous cuisine can serve as an effective tool to achieve local Food sovereignty while preserving regional biocultural diversity. Both are key aspects in the development of sustainable food systems and food security strategies aligned with culturally respectful initiatives. | Doctor of Philosophy in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems (PhD) |