At the heart of UBC's CLL initiative is a transformative idea: leveraging the collaborative expertise of the university and using the campus as a testbed where researchers, students, staff, and external partners explore innovative solutions to sustainability challenges.
Initiated in 2020, CLL Fund Competitions have enabled faculty and staff to co-create and co-deliver over 20 unique CLL projects at both UBC campuses . These CLL projects demonstrate five distinctive characteristics: innovation, research excellence, relevance to campus and community, student engagement and learning opportunities, and potential for off-campus impact and knowledge sharing.
WELCOMING SMALL- AND LARGE-SCALE PROJECTS
Managed by the Sustainability Hub, the 2025 competition at UBC Vancouver introduced distinct streams for small and large funding requests to support more diverse collaborations and projects.
All applications underwent a stringent peer-review process by UBC faculty and staff, followed by interviews and final review by the UBC Vancouver CLL Steering Committee.
The eight winning projects address a range of issues and showcase how faculty, staff and students are working across disciplines to respond to global sustainability challenges here at UBC.
“We are very excited by the opportunity these innovative projects provide to advance research and contribute to operational solutions. We look forward to seeing their impact as they strengthen UBC’s leadership in sustainability and resiliency on our campuses and in the broader community.”
– John Metras, Co-chair CLL Steering Committee, Associate Vice-President, Facilities, UBC
2025 CLL FUND COMPETITION RECIPIENTS
Future-Proof Labs: Elevating Sustainability in UBC Teaching Spaces
Small Project Stream: $30,000
This two-year project will audit current plastics use in teaching labs and collaborate with educators and students to introduce evidence-based alternatives that uphold teaching excellence. Through research, hands-on student engagement, and creative knowledge mobilization, the initiative advances UBC’s zero waste and climate action goals while equipping the next generation of scientists for a low-waste, climate-resilient research future.
Faculty lead: Dave Ng, Associate Director and Professor of Teaching, Michael Smith Laboratories, Faculty of Science
Staff lead: Kate Andrews, Lead, Green Labs & Strategic Sustainability Programs, Campus + Community Planning
Co-lead: Natalia Bercovich, Research Associate, BRC Molecular Biology Lab Lead, Rieseberg Lab, Department of Botany, Faculty of Science
Fabric of Campus Fibre Garden
Small Project Stream: $30,000
This meadow-like research garden at the heart of campus, including student-built public furniture and a field station for cultural activity, will demonstrate how agricultural systems can integrate into our daily lives and urban green spaces. Producing fibres from mostly-native plants, this focus on regenerative, pre-colonial fibre traditions will further research on sustainability in textiles, UBC's work towards climate resilience and decolonization, and community experiential learning.
Faculty lead: Germaine Koh, Assistant Professor, Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory, Faculty of Arts
Staff lead: Simone Levy, Urban Design Planner, Campus + Community Planning
Co-lead: Renée Lussier, Landscape Architect, Campus + Community Planning
Modeling Changes in Student AI-Engagement Profiles Following an AI-Awareness Intervention
Small Project Stream: $30,000
Developing strategies that promote sustained learning while helping students make informed, intentional choices about AI is central to UBC's Teaching, Learning, and Research, priorities. This project supports these core commitments by examining whether educational interventions can influence when and how students use AI to support deep human learning, and assessing their relative impact across student groups.
Faculty lead: Melissa R. Hunte, Assistant Professor, Department of Language & Literacy Education, Faculty of Education
Staff lead: Warren Code, Associate Director, Skylight (Science Centre for Learning and Teaching)
"These projects highlight the innovation and creativity of the UBC campus research community – they’re exciting and demonstrate excellence in so many ways. I am most inspired by the relationships that will be developed through each of these projects, and the potential for student and community involvement."
– Juli Carrillo, CLL Committee Member, Associate Professor, Land and Food System, UBC
Smart Distributed Power Management for a Sustainable and Resilient Campus
Small Project Stream: $27,200
By exploring intelligent distributed power management using smart plugs, this project aims to advance campus sustainability by improving power management, reducing the risk of outages, and enhancing resilience to extreme weather events. Longer term, it intends to reduce UBC’s carbon footprint by shaping loads toward times when grid carbon intensity is lower.
Faculty lead: Mohammad Shahrad, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
Staff lead: Maximilian Kniewasser, Climate Action Planner, Campus + Community Planning
Chemical Atlas of Native BC Plant Species (CAN-BC): An Innovations Resource for Sustainability Research, Learning, and Knowledge Sharing
Large Project Stream: $69,500
The CAN-BC Project will reveal hidden chemo-biodiversity aspects of native BC plant species at UBC Botanical Garden. This information will be compiled into an online tool for use by the UBC campus community and beyond to inspire learning, research, and applications ranging from ecology to bioproducts.
Faculty lead: Jörg Bohlmann, Professor, Michael Smith Laboratories, Faculty of Science
Staff lead: Dee Ann Benard, Garden Director, UBC Botanical Garden
Co-lead: Adriana Lopez Villalobos, Research Technician, GIS, UBC Botanical Garden
Co-lead: Armando Alcazar Magaña, Analytical Project Manager & Senior Research Scientist, Life Sciences Institute
Co-lead: Tara Moreau, Associate Director of Sustainability and Community Programs, UBC Botanical Garde
Cooling and Conservation: Managing Campus Green Spaces for Biodiversity and Climate Change
Large Project Stream: $93,775
This project will collect green space microclimate and acoustic wildlife data (birds and bats) to understand the connections between heat and wildlife green space usage, and inform the design of resilient UBC landscapes that support human and beyond-human residents. Alongside these core objectives, the project will also center student learning, community science, and knowledge mobilization within and beyond UBC.
Faculty lead: Matthew Mitchell, Assistant Professor, Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship
Staff lead: Emma Luker, Engagement and Sustainability Planner, Campus + Community Planning
Co-lead: Claire McPhee, Climate Resilience & Biodiversity Applied Research Coordinator, SEEDS Sustainability Program, Campus + Community Planning
"The CLL winners highlight our approach in supporting UBC’s Strategic Direction of ‘Maximize UBC System Strengths’. These academic-operational partnerships drive interdisciplinary excellence and spark innovation for campus and community impact."
– Michael White, CLL Steering Committee Member, Associate Vice-President, Campus + Community Planning, UBC
CURE: Campus Unified Research on Ecosystem's 'Good and Bad' Viruses
Large Project Stream: $95,500
The CURE project will map UBC Vancouver’s urban virus diversity or ‘virome’ to identify plant-infecting viruses and beneficial bacteriophages. By integrating cutting-edge genomics with landscape management, the team will develop native biological controls for plant diseases to protect vital carbon-sink trees and landscape or ornamental plants. It aligns with UBC’s Climate Action Plan 2030 and transforms the campus into a "living classroom" for student-led research and innovation.
Faculty lead: Mark Paul Selda Rivarez, Assistant Professor, Applied Biology Program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
Staff lead: Phillip Beck, Head of Soft Landscape, UBC Facilities
Co-lead: Siyun Wang Kazun, Professor, Food, Nutrition and Health Program, Faculty of Land and Food System
Transforming UBC Food Systems & Built Environments - Building Integrated Agriculture (BIA)
Large Project Stream: $100,000
This urban agriculture demonstration involves the installation of custom-built growing pods at UBC Farm and Orchard Commons. The demo builds on Building-Integrated Agriculture (BIA) research/ design co-led by Perkins&Will and QuantoTech, turning campus spaces into living demonstrations of hyperlocal, low-carbon food production. Researchers will work with UBC’s Executive Chef to integrate nutritional results into dining programs, while the public installations will enable social research and community engagement.
Faculty lead: Anubhav Pratap-Singh, Associate Professor, Food, Nutrition & Health, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
Staff lead: Chef David Speight, Executive Chef & Culinary Director, UBC Food Services
Co-lead: Robbin Simao, Manager, Partnerships, Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation
External partner: Perkins&Will (long-standing UBC architecture partner)
External partner: QuantoTech (AgTech company and UBC Food Services vendor)
Funding partner: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) Program; and BC Centre for Agritech Innovation (BCCAI)
"The CLL projects selected this year are great examples of delivering on UBC’s strategic directions of discovering and innovating for impact, and enhancing opportunities for experiential education. Collectively, the projects provide opportunities for students to work on projects that leverage UBC’s research strengths and that integrate with our operational needs in advancing sustainability through real solutions and innovations."
– Iain Begg, Co-chair CLL Steering Committee, Managing Director, Innovation Partnerships, VPRI, UBC
Architectural rendering provided by Perkins&Will
Looking forward
This year's CLL Fund Competition results testify to the power of collaborative innovation and research excellence at UBC. The funding scale and project calibre reflect UBC's firm commitment to leading on critical sustainability and climate challenges.
The Sustainability Hub welcomes inquiries from faculty and operational experts about future CLL projects and opportunities, within and beyond the competition framework. The bi-annual CLL Fund Competition will reopen for proposals in September 2027.
For more information on the UBC Campus as a Living Lab initiative or CLL Fund Competition, contact the CLL management team at CLL.team@ubc.ca