LFS Today Nov 2, 2020 | LFS Intranet 2020

LFS in the News: Sean Smukler & Jennifer Black

Associate Professor Sean Smukler was quoted in an article for the National Observer: Soils are thinning in B.C.’s breadbasket — and it could hurt farmers’ crops. Also quoted in the article is Siddhartho Paul (PhD in Soil Science). The article also appeared in the Toronto Star and Yahoo News.

Associate Professor Jennifer Black was quoted in an article for the Vancouver Sun: More families struggling with hunger during pandemic.

Calling All Master Pumpkin Carvers!

Trick-or-treat – LFS is holding a pumpkin carving contest to find out who can design the most creative pumpkin. The main criteria to win is creativity! The judges will be your peers, who will place their vote for the most creative jack-o-lanterns.

Here are the rules:

Be creative – read up on some tips.
You must be the main pumpkin artisan, but you may enlist the help of those in your household, especially those who are underage.
Submit a photo of your pumpkin with a CAPTION.
Send your photo & caption to lfs.today@ubc.ca by Tuesday, Nov. 3 (9 pm).
We will collect photos and open up voting next week!

Sharpen your carving knives! Here are the prizes:

First place – Isman Cup Bragging Rights & Lunch Delivered via Door Dash
Second and Third place – LFS Swag Bag mailed to you

Any questions? You can contact Barbara Hsiao at Barbara.hsiao@ubc.ca or Karen Lee at Karen.lee98@ubc.ca.

FNH Graduate Seminar

Wednesday, November 4, 2020 – 4:00 p.m. (livestream)

FOOD
Speaker 1: Catherine Wong
Supervisor: Siyun Wang
Open Topic Seminar Topic: Efficacy of probiotics and synbiotics against recurrent Clostridium difficile
Chair: Yu Tong Linda Lu

Speaker 2: Sara Zamani
Supervisor: Derek Dee
Open Topic Seminar Topic: Detecting a major peanut allergen, Ara h 2, in foods using immunoassays
Chair: Ronit Mandal

Zoom Info for FOOD:
https://ubc.zoom.us/j/61135797717?pwd=aHgyVXFTVlRFQnE3eG5NcGwvME1PZz09
Meeting ID: 611 3579 7717
Passcode: 108777

HUNU
Guest Speaker: Alejandra M Wiedeman, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow | Devlin Lab
Department of Pediatrics | University of British Columbia
BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Topic: FTO rs9939609 variant and cardiometabolic disease risk in children treated with second-generation antipsychotics

Zoom Info for HUNU seminars:
https://ubc.zoom.us/j/63007485675?pwd=VUx3VUNqV1VvelFzaXYrOFFxeUxtQT09
Meeting ID: 630 0748 5675
Passcode: 531631

Please check the FNH Graduate Seminar Series webpage for general information and for the full schedule.

2020 Killam Postdoctoral Fellow Research Prize Competition

The Postdoctoral Fellows Office is pleased to announce that the 2020 Killam Postdoctoral Fellow Research Prize Competition is now open.

The Killam Postdoctoral Fellow Research Prizes are awarded annually for excellence in research. Established in 2011, the Killam PDF Prize is in memory of Izaak Walton Killam and his wife, Dorothy Johnston Killam, who together created the Killam trusts. Two prizes in the amount of $5,000 each are awarded to fulltime Postdoctoral Fellows at UBC in recognition of outstanding research and scholarly contributions while at UBC.

Nominations for the Killam PDF Prize are made to the Dean’s Office of their appointing faculty, and faculties submit their nominations to the PDFO. The Nomination Guidelines, Nomination Form, and evaluation guidelines can be found on the PDFO website: https://www.postdocs.ubc.ca/award/killam-postdoctoral-fellow-research-prize.

The Internal LFS application deadline is Friday, November 13, 2020.

The nomination deadline for submission to the PDFO from the respective Deans’ offices is Thursday, December 3, 2020 at 10:00 AM PST. Deans, nominators and nominees will be apprised of the status of their nominations by April 1, 2021.

November is Thrive Month at UBC

This November, learn about, talk about, and explore your path to mental health during Thrive month.

Whether we’re working and learning from home or on campus, the past few months have presented many new challenges and changes. It is more important than ever for each of us to foster and maintain mental health and to make sure we have the skills and resources to cope and be resilient through life’s ups and downs.

Here are just a few ways you can participate in Thrive this year:

Participate in a Thrive event: While we won’t be thriving together in person, there’s lots of great events planned for the month. Be sure to check out the thrive calendar.
Register your workplace for Not Myself Today, a free online mental health literacy tool for faculty and staff.
Explore the Thrive 5+: What helps you thrive? For some, it might be moving more or connecting with others. Being in nature, or engaging in the arts. Explore ways to support your mental health that work best for you.
Practice self-care: Prioritize your mental health by taking time to move your body between classes or meetings, take your lunch breaks, and take time between online meetings and classes.
Build your mental health literacy with a workshop or training from Health Wellbeing and Benefits, or by joining the Wellness Centre online (students).
Check in with your classmates and colleagues (and yourself). Learn to recognize the signs something might not be right, and know the resources that are available.

Learn more at www.thrive.ubc.ca.

Wall Scholars Program 2021-22

Applications are invited from accomplished scholars and thinkers from UBC and other academic institutions world-wide to the 2021-22 Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies Wall Scholar Program. The deadline to apply is Friday, November 6.

Successful scholars will spend a year in residence at the Institute focusing on the theme of Complex Systems. The 2021-2022 Wall Scholar cohort will explore novel ways to integrate and enrich our knowledge of dynamic systems and how we can bring about positive change within them. Understanding complex systems with their dynamics and key properties presents unique challenges and opportunities for improving society and our ways of being.

The program brings together scholars who seek to take time away from their regular activities to explore new ways of thinking and build new connections with scholars outside of their field. We encourage applications from all disciplines, including but not limited to Medicine, Science and Engineering, and the Performing Arts.

Due to expected COVID-19 international travel restrictions for 2021-22, we particularly encourage applications from scholars across Canada who would be willing to relocate to Vancouver for the year in residence.

Wall Scholars will be in residence for the period August 1, 2021 to July 31, 2022. More info here.

Get Active with the Move U Crew!

The Move U Crew with UBC Recreation are UBC’s movement specialists with experience in fitness, dance, stretching, and a variety of other recreation specialties! Here are some of the programs they are offering this year:

Wellbeing Walks (On-Campus): This year we will be offering physically distanced walks starting from Orchard Commons every Thursday, 11:30-12:30pm. Walks are free and open to everyone (registration is required)! You can check out our full schedule of Wellbeing Walks here.
Movement Breaks (In-Person or Online): The Move U Crew will still be offering 5-10 minute movement breaks both in person and online. Movement breaks are a great way to break up your meeting/class and provide a healthy brain break! You can request movement breaks for free through our Move U Crew page.
Get Active at Home (Online): Throughout this year, we will be offering lots of resources to keep you active at home through free fitness classes, wellbeing challenges, movement breaks, events, blog posts, and more! To check out this webpage, please see here.
Lunch + Lift (Online): Lunch & Lift is a series of free 2-in-1 interactive wellbeing workshops consisting of a 30-minute movement class, followed by a 30-minute interactive wellbeing session facilitated by a UBC wellbeing professional. For information about the schedule and registration, please see our Lunch + Lift Workshop Series page.