· Spring/Summer 2012 ·
Departments
Take Note is edited from material that appears in other campus communications, including UBC Reports. We thank Public Affairs for allowing us to use their material.
An 11-piece gold and silver jewellery collection created by Haida artist Bill Reid is now on display at UBC’s Museum of Anthropology (MOA). The collection was created over a 20-year period (1954-1974) for Sydney Friedman and his late wife, Constance Livingstone-Friedman, who were longstanding UBC professors and early patrons of Reid. Standouts of the collection [...]
An international team from the Nippon Foundation-University of British Columbia Nereus program has unveiled the first global model of life in the world’s oceans, allowing scientists and policymakers to predict – and show through 3D visualizations – the state of life in the oceans of the future. Combining scientific data from three major factors impacting [...]
Approximately half the world’s population relies on traditional biomass (wood, animal waste, coal or charcoal) for cooking fuel because of limited access to clean sources of energy. This dangerous practice causes indoor air pollution and leads to severe respiratory diseases that kill approximately two million people worldwide annually, according to the World Health Organization. It’s [...]
Many Canadians complain about government, especially after tax time. Nearly half – 45 per cent – say that government laws, services and programs are irrelevant to their well-being and quality of life. This is according to a national poll by McAllister Opinion Research on issues studied by UBC public policy professor Paul Kershaw. “These results [...]
An object of global historical and cultural significance, received by explorer Captain James Cook from a Canadian First Nation during his final voyage to the Pacific (1776-1779), has been donated to UBC’s Museum of Anthropology (MOA). Cook became the first European to set foot on the Northwest Coast when he arrived at BC’s Nootka Sound [...]
Anti-gay bullying is a common occurrence in schools across Canada. Although school and community programs to counter it already exist, how effective are they? The answer to this question is the focus of a $2 million, five-year study led by Elizabeth Saewyc, professor of nursing and adolescent medicine at UBC’s School of Nursing. The study [...]
Most of us imagine scientific research being carried out within the confines of well-lit laboratories scattered across university campuses. But sometimes, researchers have to travel for their work. This April, researcher Philip Ainslie led a 25-member team of international scientists on a six-week research expedition to Mount Everest’s Pyramid laboratory. The team, which included several [...]
UBC has expanded its use of broad-based admissions – an application process based both on grades and personal experiences – to all applicants of direct-entry undergraduate programs at the Vancouver campus, making UBC the largest Canadian university to include non-academic criteria in its application process on this scale. The move requires applicants to answer four [...]
An exceptional collection of classic, foreign and independent films valued at $1.7 million is now being housed and preserved by UBC and SFU. Videomatica – Vancouver’s iconic independent video rental store that specialized in rare and esoteric titles – has donated the bulk of its 28,000 DVDs, 4,000 VHS titles and 900 Blu-rays to UBC. [...]
In Columbian mining towns, artisanal miners are using mercury to extract gold from ore, putting themselves, their communities and the country’s food exports at risk for mercury contamination. Typically a poverty-driven activity, artisanal mining provides a source of income for those with few other options. “These miners aren’t villains, they’re victims,” says UBC professor of [...]
