When clinical professor Jan Christilaw first arrived in Uganda, she found a country “so vibrant and full of life it’s like a heartbeat. You land there and you see mangos hanging from the trees and you think, how can this place be poor? It’s just dripping with lush vegetation and the weather is perfect and there are fruits and vegetables everywhere.”

Do our food choices impact climate change? A new project launched by the Faculty of Land and Food Systems aims to answer this question by demonstrating how sustainable agricultural techniques and dietary choices can reduce the production of greenhouse gases.

Better solar cells are just some of the sustainability solutions UBC Chemistry graduate students are investigating--with help from Mountain Equipment Co-op.

With all of the sustainability issues facing society today – poverty, depletion of natural resources and global warming, to name a few – it’s reassuring to know that UBC scientists are actively working on finding solutions to create a healthier world.

Shawn Johnston wants to generate more buzz at UBC Farm – from bees. In a recent study, Johnston looked at just how bee-friendly UBC Farm is for native pollinators such as Bumblebees and Blue Orchard Mason Bees.

“If you are not investing in innovative strategies, you are not moving forward in solving the pressing issues of today,” says Dr. Michael Krausz, UBC Prof. of Psychiatry and a Clinician at St. Paul’s Hospital.

A UBC music researcher is teaching the world’s first university course on musical expressions in a Canadian inner city.

The class will help more than 30 UBC music students to learn about music in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and to showcase the musical talents of neighbourhood residents.

Anyone who has ever feasted a little too heartily at Thanksgiving knows some of the uncomfortable implications of the food choices we make.

But UBC researchers say the digestive perils of one too many drumsticks pale in comparison to the consequences of the food choices consumers make in the grocery aisle.

Imagine sailing across the South Pacific aboard a cruise ship while gaining academic credit towards a Bachelor of Science degree at the same time.

That’s exactly what fourth-year Global Resource Systems student Jordan Marr did, and he didn’t have to pull any strings to convince anyone.

The global food system that currently serves UBC and its region has delivered large volumes of low-cost food, but is also implicated in the health issues that flow from over and under-consumption and faces many challenges to its sustainability.