LFS Today Nov 19, 2020

Remote Working – Reimbursement for Certain Equipment

Working from Home: COVID-19 – Many members of the UBC faculty and staff community have moved to off-campus working scenarios as a result of COVID-19 measures, and for most this entails setting up an area to effectively carry out job requirements in the most ergonomic way possible. In light of these circumstances, the university will provide a one-time tax-free reimbursement of up to $400 for the purchase of certain equipment employees may have purchased, or need to purchase, in order to have a productive and ergonomically satisfactory remote working space.
 
The deadline to submit expenses through Workday is December 4, 2020.

Employees must assign the expenses to cost centre CC00711, PM010430, otherwise the amount will be expensed to the employees’ default cost centre.
 
To view the LFS Townhall presentation from Ava Yang and Aaron Griffith, click here.
To read full details on the UBC Finance website, click here.

Throwback Thursday (TBT)

Do you have any photos in the last 20+ years of you and your research, field work, teaching or learning activities?

For the LFS Throwback Thursday social media campaign, we would like to feature you! 

Please send your photos, along with a brief description of the photo (who, what, where and when) to megan.leong@ubc.ca. See our Nov 5 TBT of Dean Rickey here.

Random Acts of Recognition

Congratulations to Random Acts of Recognition recipients:

Thank you to this staff team who supported our fall class of graduating students: Eric Skalij, Barbara Hsiao, Sabrina Yan and Rebecca Lee. They came to campus in early November to sort, package and mail each one of our students – undergraduate, graduate, and professional master’s program – a convocation gift. Every student next week will receive a ‘Class of 2020’ LFS tumbler and a congratulatory card. During these times, it’s a special way for the Faculty to reach out to recognize and reward their achievement.

To nominate a faculty member, staff or graduate student that’s been doing an outstanding job or has gone above and beyond in some way, send an email to lfs.recognition@ubc.ca and tell us why this person should be recognized. We’ll send them a $6 Starbucks gift card and acknowledge their good work in LFS Today.

CSFS Associate Seminar with Dr. Siyun Wang

Please join the next CSFS Associate Seminar on December 7 from 3 to 4 p.m. with Siyun Wang, Associate Professor and Principal Investigator of the Wang Laboratory of Molecular Food Safety, LFS.
 
Title: Nature’s Weapon Against Bacterial Pathogens: Bacteriophages and their Applications in Agri-Food
Speaker: Dr. Siyun Wang
Date: December 7, 2020, 3:00-4:00 p.m.
Online via Zoom
Registration Required
 
Find more info and register here: https://ubcfarm.ubc.ca/events/event/csfs-associate-seminars-siyun-wang/

Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF) Seminar

Topic: Collaborating on Financial Innovation to build Resilience to Ocean Risk through Nature Based Solutions
Speaker: Karen Sack, President & CEO, Ocean Unite, Co-Chair, Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance
When: Friday, November 20, 11:00am
RSVP: https://oceans.ubc.ca/rsvp-iof-seminars/
More info.

ILSI North America Webinar

A Predictive Index for Health Status Based on Gut Microbiome Profiling
Friday, November 20, 11:00-12:00 p.m. ET
Register here.

Join ILSI North America’s Gut Microbiome Committee for this webinar hosted jointly with the American Society for Nutrition. Dr. Jaeyun Sung of the Mayo Clinic will talk about his recent work to develop a predictive index for health status using species-level gut microbiome profiling. Dr. Sung will discuss his vision for this index as a potential tool for preventative medicine, including plans for further developing the algorithm and incorporation of data on microbial function. Dr. Sung is interested in input so we are encouraging active participation. Join us!

Canadian Centre for Food Integrity’s Webinar Series

Exploring the 2020 Public Trust Research
Wednesday November 25th, 2020 @ 1:00 p.m. EST

In this webinar we will examine the 2020 Public Trust Research results and provide insights into how the metrics can be utilized to inform the food system’s public trust initiatives. Following the webinar, we will host a panel of CCFI’s Research Advisory Council to discuss the key perceptions.

Register in advance here.