Zana Mody
Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)
Counting blue carbon for coastal communities: understanding socio-ecological contexts of nature based climate solutions and mangrove restoration
Review details about the recently announced changes to study and work permits that apply to master’s and doctoral degree students. Read more
A diverse range of highly ranked programs
With access to master’s and doctoral degrees through nine departments and 350 research groups, our graduate students work with world-class faculty to explore the basic sciences, and to pursue interdisciplinary and applied research across departments and units. UBC’s research excellence in environmental science, math, physics, plant and animal science, computer science, geology and biology is consistently rated best in Canada by international and national ranking agencies.
Committed to outstanding graduate training
UBC Science houses a wide range of prestigious NSERC Collaborative Research and Training Experience and related industry programs: from atmospheric aerosols to high-throughput biology, from biodiversity research and ecosystems services to plant cell wall biosynthesis, from quantum science and new materials to applied geochemistry. The options for enriched graduate training in industry related fields are almost endless.
World-class research infrastructure
Our affiliated institutes and centres include UBC's Michael Smith Laboratories, Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, Biodiversity Research Centre, Life Sciences Institute, Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, Mineral Deposit Research Unit, and TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics.
Top research talent
UBC Science boasts more than 50 Canada Research Chairs, 12 fellows of the Royal Society of London, and has been home to two Nobel Laureates. Our graduate students have won 15 prestigious Vanier Scholarships.
A diverse, supportive community of scholars
UBC Science is committed to excellence, collaboration and inclusion. Women account for 41 per cent of the Faculty's graduate enrollments, and the percentage of international students has increased to 50 per cent over the past decade.
Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology
Computational Sciences and Mathematics
Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Genomics and Biological Sciences
Human-Computer Interaction
Life Sciences
Chemistry and Materials Science
Physics
Sustainability
Designed to inspire collaboration and creativity across disciplines, the Earth Sciences Building (ESB) lies at the heart of the science precinct on UBC’s Vancouver Campus. The $75 million facility is home to Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Statistics, the Pacific Institute of the Mathematical Sciences, and the dean’s office of the Faculty of Science. ESB’s teaching facilities will help Canada meet the challenges of a transforming and growing resource sector. Just as importantly, the researchers and students working and learning in the facility will offer a valuable flow of well-trained talent, new ideas, and fresh professional perspectives to industry.
Receiving more than $120 million in annual research funding, UBC Science faculty members conduct top-tier research in the life, physical, earth and computational sciences. Their discoveries help build our understanding of natural laws—driving insights into sustainability, biodiversity, human health, nanoscience and new materials, probability, artificial intelligence, exoplanets and a wide range of other areas.
UBC Science boasts 50 Canada Research Chairs and 10 fellows of the Royal Society of London, and has been home to two Nobel Laureates.
Name | Academic Unit(s) | Research Interests |
---|---|---|
Bertram, Allan | Department of Chemistry | Atmospheric sciences; Chemical sciences; Atmosphere (Including Chemical Aspects); Physical and analytical chemistry of atmospheric aerosols |
Beschastnikh, Ivan | Department of Computer Science | Computer and information sciences; software engineering; distributed systems; cloud computing; software analysis; Machine Learning |
Bizzotto, Dan | Department of Chemistry | Electroanalytical chemistry; Electrochemistry; Colloid and surface chemistry; Electrochemical Systems; Surface Characterization; Surfaces, Interfaces and Thin Layers; Sensors and Devices; Electrochemical and Fuel Cells; biosensors; electrocatalysis; fluorescence microscopy; interfacial analysis; self assembled monolayers; spectroelectrochemistry |
Blakney, Anna | Michael Smith Laboratories, School of Biomedical Engineering | Biomedical materials; Medical molecular engineering of nucleic acids and proteins; Gene and molecular therapy; Gene delivery; RNA; Biomaterials; Immunoengineering |
Bloem-Reddy, Benjamin | Department of Statistics | developing methods for evolving networks whose history is unobserved; distributional limits of preferential attachment networks; uses of symmetry in statistics, computation, and machine learning |
Bohlmann, Joerg | Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Botany | plant biochemistry, forestry genomics, forest health, conifers, poplar, bark beetle, mountain pine beetle, natural products, secondary metabolites, terpenes, floral scent, grapevine, Conifer genomics Forest health genomics Mountain pine beetle, fungus, pine interactions and genomics Chemical ecology of conifer, insect interactions |
Boley, Aaron | Department of Physics & Astronomy | Astronomy and Astrophysics; Planet formation, protoplanetary disk evolution, formation of meteorite parent bodies |
Bonn, Douglas Andrew | Department of Physics & Astronomy | Condensed matter, high temperature superconductors, microwave measurements, crystal growth |
Borduas-Dedekind, Nadine | Department of Chemistry | Chemical sciences; atmospheric chemistry; chemical mechanisms; atmospheric ice nucleation; Biogeochemistry; mass spectrometry; Photochemistry; indoor chemistry; atmospheric aerosols; singlet oxygen |
Bostock, Michael | Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences | structure of the Canadian upper mantle, Geophysics, formation and evolution of the first continental landmasses, the structure and dynamics of subduction zones |
Bouchard-Cote, Alexandre | Department of Statistics | machine/statistical learning; mathematical side of the subject as well as in applications in linguistics and biology |
Bowman, William | Department of Computer Science | Computer and information sciences; Programming languages and software engineering; Programming languages; Compilers; programming languages |
Boyd, David | Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs | Human rights |
Bradbury, Hal | Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences | Chemical oceanography; Ocean biogeochemistry; Marine geology; Isotope geochemistry; Biogeochemistry; Paleoceanography; Chemical Oceanography; Reactive Transport Modelling; Carbon cycle; Marine Sedimentary Environments; Early Diagenesis; Biogeochemical Cycles |
Brauner, Colin | Department of Zoology | Gas exchange, ion regulation and acid-base balance in fish, Evolution and comparative physiology |
Bruce, Heather | Department of Zoology | Production of morphological diversity by genetic networks |
Brumer, Harry | Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Chemistry | Biochemistry; Chemical sciences; Genomics; Biological and Biochemical Mechanisms; biomass; carbohydrates; cellulose; Chemical Synthesis and Catalysis; Enzymes; microbiota; plant cell walls; polysaccharides |
Bryan, Jim | Department of Mathematics | Algebraic and differential geometry; Algebraic geometry, moduli spaces, enumerative invariants related to theoretical physics. |
Bryman, Douglas | Department of Physics & Astronomy | Particle physics, experimental; Experimental Particle Physics; Applied physics; physics |
Burke, Sarah | Department of Physics & Astronomy, Department of Chemistry | Scanning probe microscopy, organic materials, nanoscale materials, surface physics, photovoltaics |
Bustin, Robert Marc | Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences | Unconventional Petroleum Reservoirs |
Campbell, Trevor | Department of Statistics | automated, scalable Bayesian inference algorithms; Bayesian nonparametrics; streaming data; Bayesian theory; Probabilistic Inference; computational statistics; large-scale data |
Carenini, Giuseppe | Department of Computer Science | Artificial intelligence, user modeling, decision theory, machine learning, social issues in computing, computational linguistics, information visualization |
Cautis, Sabin | Department of Mathematics | Mathematics and statistics; Geometry |
Chan, Kai | Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability | Natural environment sciences; Human Ecology; Ecology and Quality of the Environment; Social and Cultural Factors of Environmental Protection; Applied Ethics; Values and Lifestyles; Sustainable Development; conservation finance; Conservation science; cultural ecosystem services; Ecosystem services; environmental assessment; environmental values; incentive programs; payments for ecosystem services; resilience; social-ecological systems; sustainability science |
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Science.
Year | Citation | Program |
---|---|---|
2024 | Dr. Ruder examined the conditions under which novel agricultural technologies can support transitions to more just and sustainable food systems in Canada. Her research offered new ways to evaluate impacts of technologies, made policy recommendations, and informed a toolkit of public scholarship resources for governing data and technology. | Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Moerhuis investigated the timescales of closed-system crystallization of basaltic magmas within the Earth's crust using the 56 million-year-old Skaergaard intrusion in East Greenland as a natural laboratory, contributing to a better understanding of widespread basaltic magmatism in the North Atlantic at a time of significant global warming. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Li developed computational tools to discover and design novel antimicrobial peptides using machine learning techniques. His research provides high-throughput solutions for the development of novel peptide-based therapeutics to combat the escalating threat of multidrug-resistant bacteria. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Zhang developed statistical methods to uncover hidden patterns in biological data. His research helped to unravel the underlying mechanism of complex diseases. In a study of pancreatic cancer, his method revealed seven gene programs related to cancer progression, which can aid researchers to develop more effective treatment strategies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Oliveira studied a new class of surfaces of interest to researchers in different areas of mathematics and provided many previously unknown examples. His research contributes to an understanding of the deeper relationships between seemingly separate subjects. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Sample developed methods to improve salivary gland dose constraints during radiotherapy. This included the development of medical image deblurring techniques, tools for locating salivary glands on CT images, dose response analyses, and tools for treatment planning with modernized dose constraints. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Reid investigated topics in numerical relativity including the critical collapse of the Maxwell field and further developments of the Z4 formulation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Koniar developed and validated novel methods for assessing the in vivo biodistribution and dosimetry of actinium radiopharmaceuticals for targeted alpha therapy. Her research contributions will assist in the optimization of theranostic agents to deliver personalized cancer care in patients with widespread metastatic disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Physics (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Tian studied how plants transduce immune signals from a major type of immune receptors. He revealed and characterized several essential proteins that regulate the immune pathway. This new knowledge has the potential to be applied to engineering resistant crop cultivars against a broad-spectrum of pathogens. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
2024 | Dr. Su studied 3D computer vision for human digitalization, which converts real-world images and videos into 3D animatable avatars. His methods simplify complicated motion capture pipelines, showing a promising way for 3D avatar creations from everyday devices. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |