Deadlines & important upcoming dates

🌿 Mental Health Resources 🌿

For Students, please consider contacting:

• Stephanie Seo, Science Embedded Counsellor, wellbeing.science@ubc.ca
• Counselling Services, 604-822-3811
• Here2Talk here2talk.ca/home

Student resources

Green folder resources

For Faculty, Staff and PDF/RAs, please consider contacting:

• Employee and Family Assistance Program 1-866-424-0770
• Mental Health Support Line 310-6789 (no area code)

Orange folder resources

FOR EVERYONE

Save the dates: 2025 Zoology summer socials

FOR EVERYONE

2025 BRC save the dates! 
 

• July 25, 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm: Ice Cream Social
   
• September 8, 9:00 – 11:30 am: Ribbon Cutting ceremony for expansion
• September 17, 12:00 – 5:00 pm: BRC Symposium and Open House
• September 23-25: Introductory Workshop on the Basics of Molecular Biology  - - free for BRC members and affiliates. Offered by the BRC Molecular Biology & Ecology Lab
• October 16, all day: IBioS Symposium -  “Agricultural landscape diversification and human-wildlife co-existence: exploring synergies and tradeoffs”
• November 10-12: Eco-Evo Retreat -  Loon Lake in Maple Ridge BC
• November 20: Biodiversity Public Lecture. Justina Ray, President and Senior Scientist of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Canada, will be delivering this year’s public lecture

BRC events calendar

    Staff - news

    Staff - nominations

Call for nominations for the 2025 Zoology Staff Achievement Awards - nomination deadline is Friday, July 18th, 2025.

Staff play a vital role in supporting our students, helping recruit and retain faculty, keeping our labs running, and maintaining the vast infrastructure upon which our faculty and students rely. To honour and recognize Zoology staff who have made outstanding efforts towards transforming the department for all those who learn and work here each year, we are awarding up to three Zoology Staff Achievement Awards annually.  

For guidelines and eligibility criteria (CWL credentials):
https://zoology.ubc.ca/resources/zoology-staff-achievement-awards.
 
Please submit your nomination form as well as upload the letter of support on Qualtrics https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ezGEKyjCenIExEO.
 
For any questions regarding the awards, reach out to awards@zoology.ubc.ca.    
 

    Faculty - news

⛑️  Safety TIPs ☣️

1. Emergency Management - Earthquake and Emergency Preparedness Workshop
   Workshop schedule for Faculty and Staff: June 13, 12:00–1:30 pm (online)
   Register for this workshop 
   
   For further information & additional SRS Emergency Preparedness sessions
    
2. If you have not done this yet, please update your emergency contact information in Workday. In case of an emergency, it is important there is someone UBC can contact if something was to happen.

Adding your emergency contacts

Committees and other units - updates

ZOOLOGY GRAD Program: 2025-26 Student Funding (for faculty):
Mimi is in the process of sending out student funding spreadsheets for 2025-26!
Please talk to your students about what they can expect for funding next year.
We have an updated 2025-26 Funding Policy in our Graduate Student Handbook.
 

BIOLOGY Program: BIO NEWS - Connecting you to what's happening in the UBC Biology Program
 

BIOS2 Summer School in Biodiversity Modelling, this year will be hosted on the West Coast, at the University of British Columbia, on August 18-22, 2025!
If you’re interested, fill in this form by July 1st: https://forms.office.com/r/Wd4GDTV3uy
The 2025 edition will be on the theme “Coding biodiversity: building scenarios with a global ecosystem model”. This is a great opportunity to further your knowledge of Biodiversity Modelling in an informal and friendly atmosphere.
Registrations are now open until July 1st, and the fee includes meals and all activities. More information about the program and fees can be found on this website.

Official registration (admission and payment of registration fees) will take place during the week of July 7th, 2025.

Schmidt Science Polymaths nominations: 

Internal deadline July 15 (Sponsor deadline Aug 10)
Nomination limit: UBC is limited to 3 nominees, faculty members tenured January 1, 2022 or later.  VPRI is coordinating internal selection processes. . 
Internal selection: Applicants can self-nominate for internal selection by sending the following materials by Tuesday, July 15 end of day, to stephanie.oneill@ubc.ca by July 15. Any questions or concerns should also be directed to Stephanie O’Neill at the Office of Research Prizes and Awards.:

1. A brief rationale: up to 300 words
2. Contact info, link to primary up-to-date website, and the primary field(s) of research
3. Current UBC CV with date of tenure

A central committee will review these materials and select the institution’s three nominations for submission.
Should the Schmidt Futures program accept the nominations after an initial review, the identified candidates will be contacted directly to submit an application, typically due in October. Candidates will have VPRI support in finalizing their materials, which includes a detailed nomination form and short CV.
Award Details: Each “Polymath” researcher is awarded $500,000 per year for up to five years.
Eligibility Criteria: In addition to having achieved tenure or an equivalent status prior to the nomination deadline and within the past three calendar years (between January 1, 2022 and August 10, 2025), candidates must satisfy the following criteria:

• Have a remarkable record of accomplishment in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, and/or engineering,
• Have a demonstrated history of pursuing and publishing results in more than one field,
• Have a desire and plan to expand their research portfolios by exploring a substantive disciplinary or methodological shift, but have not yet launched such shifts,
• Demonstrate a need for additional funding to enable new experiments, explorations, or shifts in research directions.

The sponsor is especially interested in supporting highly creative, original, and risky research that is clearly distinct from past areas and directions. They encourage nominations of specifically extraordinary researchers whose work and ideas are adventurous, bold, highly creative, and less likely to receive traditional funding or support. Successful applicants propose potential new projects that are wholly original and very different from any of their past work.

CTLT Summer Institute

1. New Faculty Teaching Orientation, August 18 | 9:45 am–1:30 pm | In-person
   Kickstart your journey at UBC with this engaging half-day orientation at UBCV. Network with fellow colleagues from various departments, enhance your teaching skills and enjoy a complimentary lunch. Plus, don’t miss the special welcome from UBC Present Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon! Register: https://ctlt.ubc.ca/nfto
    
2. CTLT Summer Institute, August 18–22 | In-person & Online
   The CTLT Summer Institute focuses on the fundamentals of teaching and learning. It is designed to help participants enhance their understanding of sound teaching practices and how to implement them in their teaching contexts. The complimentary sessions focus on the fundamentals of teaching and learning for new instructors. Below are some events that may be of interest.
   AUGUST 18: Starting Strong: Preparing for the First Day of Class
   AUGUST 19: Introduction to Lesson Planning
   AUGUST 20: Fostering Neurodiversity Affirming Teaching Approaches
   AUGUST 21: Canvas Tools: Designing Interactive Courses
   AUGUST 22: Building Capacity—Networking and Resource Sharing for IBPOC Teaching and Learning Community
    

FORESTRY

1. A Night of Ecological Film & Dialogue - Saturday, July 5, 2025 | Doors: 6:00pm Event: 6:30pm-9:00pm
   Forest Sciences Centre, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC
   Register: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8cyc6pWbrZ1HGzc
    
2. Malcolm Knapp Research Forest Insect BioBlitz, 5–6 July 2025
   The objective of a BioBlitz is to document as much biological diversity as possible during a short interval of time — in this case, documenting as many insect (and other arthropod!) species as possible during the two-day event.
   Questions about this event can be directed to Debra Wertman at debra.wertman@ubc.ca.

Reminders

Check www.zoology.ubc.ca
for news, events, resources & more

Zoology event calendar