The Sustainability Scholars Program is an innovative paid internship program. We match UBC graduate students with on- and off-campus sustainability partners to work on applied research projects that advance sustainability across the region. Managed by the UBC Sustainability Hub.
Apply your research skills to real-world sustainability challenges
Get paid and gain valuable professional work experience
Develop applied skills and knowledge under the guidance of a mentor
Build your professional network and enhance your career prospects

How It Works

The program is open to full-time UBC graduate students from any program or discipline. As a Sustainability Scholar, you work under the guidance of a mentor on an applied research project that supports their organization's sustainability goals.
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Apply

UBC Sustainability Scholars work on applied research projects across a wide range of environmental, economic and social sustainability topics. See our list of current paid internship opportunities.
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Project Library

The Scholars Project Library contains hundreds of reports, charts, tool-kits, and more, documenting the applied research produced by Scholars since 2010. A useful body of knowledge to support further research around sustainability.
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Fraser Estuary Research Collaborative (FERC)

A new stream in the Sustainability Scholars Program focusing on applied research with the goal of restoring and protecting the endangered Fraser Estuary.
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Partner with us

Partner organizations are essential to the UBC Sustainability Scholars Program. Partners provide work experience for UBC graduate students and benefit from their applied research.
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Meet the scholars

UBC Sustainability Scholars come from all kinds of backgrounds and academic disciplines. Scholars stand out for being passionate about sustainability, having a strong work ethic, and for their applied research skills.
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Fund scholars

Climate change, biodiversity loss, and growing inequality are some of the most urgent issues facing our world today. Support from donors will allow scholars to make a direct impact through organizations doing the on-the-ground work needed to address climate change and other critical sustainability challenges.
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Program History

Sustainability Scholars’ projects have been helping to move the dial on sustainability across the region for over 10 years. Find out more about our history, milestones, and impact.
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Project Library

Developing a Sustainability Assessment Model for the UBC Farm: Historical Impact Databases & Mapping

Compared to other intensively managed and diversified farms, the UBC Farm is a highly integrated farm system. This allows the farm to manipulate a wholly contained food system that ranges from food production to processing and consumption across an agricultural and forested landscape. The purpose of this project was to help clarify the farm system components and relationships between them. This involved developing a concept map of the farm system then building a data index and and an evaluation sheet using the framework.

Partner: Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm
Keywords: ecological systems, food systems

Data & Technology
Production, Consumption & Waste
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Xuesi Shen

Program Development Pathways to Incentives Home Energy Labelling

This report describes research intended to inform Metro Vancouver and BC Hydro about potential incentive models which could lower the barriers to obtaining an EnerGuide evaluation and label. Such an incentive program would assist in increasing the affordability, accessibility, and acceptability of labelling as an informational tool, leading to a greater understanding of this landscape by homeowners and builders and further normalizing home energy labelling in the region.

Partner: Metro Vancouver
Keywords: green buildings, sustainable development & green economy

Built Environment & Mobility
Climate Change & Energy
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Jessica Hayes

Healthy Built Environment Linkages: A Toolkit for Design, Planning and Health

The Healthy Built Environment Linkages Toolkit is a guide to designing and creating a healthier built environment. It is based on health evidence research and informed by expert opinion. The toolkit was developed in 2014 for the BC Healthy Built Environment Alliance, a network of public health, planning, and design professionals. This research project was a review of new food systems literature since 2014. The research started with identifying key search terms and databases. Relevant articles were summarized and assessed. The strength of each link in the evidence diagram, was updated based on the number and quality of studies and findings supporting it. A number of new impacts and health outcomes were added as a result of this review.

Partner: Provincial Health Servcies Authority
Keywords: ecological systems, food systems, social sustainability

Built Environment & Mobility
Human Well-being & Social Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Deanne Manzer

Review of Energy Compliance Process for UBC Multi-family Buildings

The goal of this project is to improve implementation of energy requirements of the British Columbia Building Code and investigate the relationship of code requirements with the energy credits associated with the UBC Residential Environmental Assessment Program certification, for UBC multi-family buildings. 

Partner: UBC Sustainability & Engineering
Keywords: green buildings, sustainable development & green economy

Built Environment & Mobility
Climate Change & Energy
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Amy Ferguson

Developing Digital Communications Strategies, Tools and Content: Energy and Environmental Sustainability

The GreenCare team focuses on issues relating to energy, environment and sustainability including recycling and composting at the Lower Mainland Health Organizations (LMHOs). The purpose of this project was to move forward GreenCare’s communications strategies and help in shaping the direction of their communications in the future. It was a combination of both a research report and pieces of online communications content. It included content writing for the GreenCare website, reviewing KPIs to track website trends, creating key metric reports, reviewing online engagement strategies, and developing a video proposal and script for a GreenCare video.

Partner: Fraser Health Authority 
Keywords: social sustainability

Climate Change & Energy
Human Well-being & Social Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Tess Munro

Towards Greener Health care: Using consultation and research to strengthen a grassroots employee sustainability program

Integrating sustainable practices into health care is a complex process, due in part to the fast-paced nature of health care, the limited resources available to devote to issues seen as “outside patient care,” and biomedical cross-contamination in recycling. This project was developed to support an ongoing engagement strategy, keeping experienced leaders engaged, and looking at more systemic changes including culture change.

Partner: Fraser Health Authority 
Keywords: leadership & behaviour change, social sustainability, sustainable development & green economy

Human Well-being & Social Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Evan Hammer

Recommendations for The Solid Waste Research Collaborative

The purpose of this report is to identify areas of improvement for the Solid Waste Research Collaborative (SWRC) and provide a series of recommendations based on a comparison of similar collaboratives. The report includes a literature review highlighting best practices for research collaboratives and a summary of interviews with six of research collaboratives from Canada and around the world. 

Partner: Metro Vancouver
Keywords: sustainability in education, waste management & recycling

Production, Consumption & Waste
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Shirin Karoubi

Advancing the Concept of the Circular Economy in Canada

To support the Circular Economy Working Group of the National Zero Waste Council, this report aimed to clarify the concept of the circular economy in relation to the upstream waste prevention values of the council and identify the advantages of this congruency. Through a literature review and informational interviews with multiple council members, current practices were analyzed to explore how the concept of the circular economy is being applied in Canada and where opportunities exist to advance the concept further.

Partner: Metro Vancouver
Keywords: sustainable development & green economy, waste management & recycling

Policy, Economics & Governance
Production, Consumption & Waste
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Mike Phillips

Emerging Practices for Invasive Species Management in the Metro Vancouver Region

This report summarizes the current state of science for several priority invasive species and recommends the most effective control techniques for these plant species in Metro Vancouver. Techniques range from mechanical, manual, cultural, biological and chemical control. Where knowledge gaps remain, this report also identifies opportunities for future research.

Partner: Metro Vancouver
Keywords: biodiversity, ecological systems

Ecological Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Li Ma

External Forces Impacting Long-term Industrial Land Use and Demand in the Metro Vancouver Region

This study examines a number of external forces that have the potential to affect the industry uses and the demands of industrial lands in the Metro Vancouver region. Overall, the literature highlights that industrial uses are rapidly changing globally, and without a deliberate policy in place, industrial lands will likely be converted to other uses. The topics explored in this study shed light on a number of these emerging issues, as well as potential opportunities and challenges.

Partner: Metro Vancouver
Keywords: sustainable development & green economy, transportation

Built Environment & Mobility
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Dustin Lupick

Drought, wildfire, and climate change in Metro Vancouver’s water supply area

This report details the impact of climate on the forested ecosystems of the Water Supply Area (WSA) of Metro Vancouver. It examines disturbance and climate history in the area, including a general discussion of how drought impacts forested ecosystem, followed by a more detailed discussion regarding the history of wildfires, insect outbreaks, and drought within the WSA. The report also includes an examination of future trends within the region.

Partner: Metro Vancouver
Keywords: ecological systems, water

Ecological Systems
Natural Resources
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Derek van der Kamp

Reducing Transportation Impacts through Fuel Improvements in Metro Vancouver

The objective of this study is to review the literature on improved fuels for transportation, and their impact on transportation emissions, as well as explore policy and regulation that could be used to motivate a transition to improved fuels. The focus is on fuels that could replace conventional gasoline and diesel, with particular emphasis on on‐road vehicle applications.

Partner: Metro Vancouver
Keywords: sustainable development & green economy, transportation

Built Environment & Mobility
Policy, Economics & Governance
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Hasti Hosseinizand

Informing the Activation of the Okanagan Charter for Health Promoting Universities & Colleges

This report describes a synthesis of sustainability, health promotion, and wellbeing initiatives at various universities that was completed at the national and international level. The purpose of this work was to assist with developing a set of recommendations to inform UBC’s path in activating and formalizing the adopting of the Okanagan Charter.

Partner: Wellbeing at UBC
Keywords: social sustainability

Human Well-being & Social Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Alison Cassidy

Strengthening Health Care Resilience to Climate Change: An Assessment of Acute Care Facilities’ Resilience to Extreme Events

Health Emergency Management BC (HEMBC) and Lower Mainland Facilities Management (LMFM) are partnering on a multi-phased project to develop adaptation action plans at the facility-level to holistically strengthen the climate resilience of health care facilities in the Lower Mainland. This report summarizes the first of multiple phases of this project, which aims to provide a first glance at the current state of our facilities’ resilience to extreme events in order to identify priority areas before conducting more detailed assessments that will shape the site-specific adaptation plans.

Partner: Fraser Health
Keywords: social sustainability

Climate Change & Energy
Human Well-being & Social Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2016
Jackie Yip

Cultural considerations in private property tree planting

The primary objective of this report is to inform strategies for the City of Vancouver’s private property tree planting programs in order to help achieve Vancouver’s Greenest City target of 150,000 newly planted trees by 2020. This project examines cultural nuances, using interviews, surveys and relevant literature, within the Chinese and South Asian communities as they relate to private property tree planting.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: ecological systems, social sustainability

Ecological Systems
Human Well-being & Social Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2015
Gurtej Tung and Elaine Zeng

A Public Engagement Toolkit For Sea Level Rise

Coastal cities all over the world have begun planning for sea level rise out of the recognition of its potential impacts on our land, infrastructure and communities. Public participation is a key part of good planning processes; however, the scope and complexity of climate change demands that planners utilize innovative tools to communicate and engage with the public. This report includes the background, rationale and a roadmap to demonstrate how the recommended engagement tools can used in combination to achieve public participation on sea level rise. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: climate and renewables, leadership & behaviour change

Climate Change & Energy
Human Well-being & Social Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2015
Tina Barisky

New strategies for reducing potable water use in parks and golf courses

This report discusses the data that is collected by the city on water consumption in parks. The data itself, the collection process, storage, access and the people involved are included, along with some recommendations. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: lighter footprint, water

Production, Consumption & Waste
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2015
Daniel Klein

A Work Commute Trip Reduction Strategy for The Vancouver Police Department: An Exploration of Opportunities and Barriers at the Graveley Campus

This report explores sustainable commuting options for the staff driving to and from the Vancouver Police Department’s (VPD) Graveley Campus. The VPD is striving to reduce its carbon footprint and by encouraging staff to “green” their commute, this project addresses both this goal and other strategies outlined in the 2015 VPD Business Plan.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: green transportation, transportation

Built Environment & Mobility
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2015
Mania Nematifar

VF&RS Energy Usage Audit and Recommendations

This project is intended to help the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Service (VFRS) meet the City’s 2020 Green Buildings Goal. The report includes 1) an audit and assessment of current energy usage and practices at the firehalls; and 2) a technical analysis of recommendations for reducing GHG emissions. The results provide information to inform successful implementation of new systems, technologies, and best practices to reduce energy usage at the VFRS.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: green buildings, climate and renewables

Built Environment & Mobility
Climate Change & Energy
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2015
Ashley Boulter

Developing an Outdoor Lighting Strategy for the City of Vancouver

Well-designed outdoor lighting can contribute to an accessible, healthy, and liveable city. At the same time, cities need to better understand and manage the negative impacts of unnecessary outdoor lighting at night on human health and safety, and on wildlife. The purpose of this project was to lay the groundwork for developing an outdoor lighting strategy by identifying precedents and best practices used in other jurisdictions and recommending ways City staff can move forward on the Vancouver Outdoor Lighting Strategy motion to council.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: climate and renewables

Climate Change & Energy
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2015
Kathryn Lennon

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