Environment and Sustainability

B.A.Sc., McMaster University; D. Phil (1999) Oxford University

"I work at the intersection of economic and environmental geography. My primary research interests span political economy, political ecology, environmental studies, development studies, and resource and environmental management. I conduct research in both the 'developing' and 'developed' world, and consequently have an interest in debates over postcolonialism and development. My theoretical interests currently focus on the debate over the use of markets and market instruments in environmental management (the 'neoliberal nature' debate). My primary research focus for the past few years has been on water governance in the context of neoliberalism (water privatization, decentralization of water management). I am also developing new research projects on the geography of food, and on resilience. I would particularly welcome students working in these latter two areas."

Dr. Bakker holds the Canada Research Chair in Political Ecology.

Website: www.geog.ubc.ca/~bakker

Website: www.watergovernance.ca

Email Contact: karen.bakker@geog.ubc.ca

Office Phone: 604-822-6702

Room Number: GEOG 142

B.A.Sc., McMaster University; M.E.M., Duke University; Ph.D. (2002), University of Wisconsin-Madison

"Why does climate matter? This question is the basis of a broad program of modelling and field research examining how changes in the climate over time affect biogeochemical cycling and the function of marine ecosystems like coral reefs. This research provides insight into the causes and effects of human-induced climate change, the efficacy of policy and mitigation options, and the consequences for human welfare. Current areas of research include the climate change and coral reefs in the central equatorial Pacific; the obstacles to public education about climate change; the effect of climate and agriculture on nutrient loading to large river systems; and trade-offs between food, feed and fuel production."

Website: www.simondonner.com/

Website: www.geog.ubc.ca/~sdonner

Email Contact: simon.donner@ubc.ca

Office Phone: 604-822-6959

Room Number: GEOG 133

B.A. Honours, Queen's University; M.A., Ph.D. (2000), York University

"My research lies in environmental history and water history, with a regional specialization in Canada, particularly Alberta and British Columbia. I serve as a co-leader of the Canadian Water History Project (with Stphane Castonguay, UQTR), and an executive leader of the Network in Canadian History and Environment. The politics of large rivers lies at the core of my research program. How have rivers been contested by different social and cultural groups? How have rivers been perceived and understood? And how have political economies shaped and been shaped by rivers and the resources drawn from them? I have explored these questions in a book on the environmental history of the Fraser River, Fish versus Power, published by Cambridge University Press (2004), which received a Clio prize from the Canadian Historical Association. Recently I completed a co-authored book exploring the overlapping uses of and claims to the Bow River in Alberta, The River Returns (McGill-Queens UP) with colleagues, Christopher Armstrong and H.V. Nelles. I am currently working on a book-length manuscript, Mobilizing Rivers, which analyzes the development of hydro-electricity in Canada during the Second World War."

Website: blogs.ubc.ca/waterhistory

Website: niche-canada.org/water_history

Email Contact: matthew.evenden@geog.ubc.ca

Office Phone: 604-822-6407

Room Number: GEOG 251

B.A. Honours, M.A. 1984, Queen's University

"My main area of interest is Geographic Data Visualization, and I teach courses in Cartography, Geographic Information Science and Remote Sensing. I work on collaborative research projects that use GIS to visualize environmental history and I undertake research on the evolution of the teaching of cartography in academia, and the learning of spatial concepts by children. I teach an introductory course on geography (Vancouver and its Region) and specialized project courses on sustainability when the opportunity arises."

Website: www.geog.ubc.ca/~sallyh

Email Contact: sally.hermansen@geog.ubc.ca

Office Phone: 604-822-5970

Room Number: GEOG 144

Honours Degree, Universite d'Angers; M.B.A., Institut d'Administration des Entreprises; D.Phil. (1999), Oxford University

"My research interests bring together political geography, political ecology, and war studies. I have focused most of my work on the links between natural resources and armed conflicts, but also examined the political economy of war and reconstruction, the resource curse, corruption, as well as natural disasters and political crises. Most of my fieldwork has been conducted in South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, but I also have a long-standing interest in Latin America. I tend to use historically grounded fieldwork approaches, occasionally using comparative and large-N quantitative methods. While remaining targeted at an academic audience, I have also thrived to make some of my work policy relevant. I am currently working on the political geography of oil, as well as post-conflict violence."

Dr. Le Billon holds a joint appointment in the Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, and the Liu Institute for Global Issues, College for Interdisciplinary Studies.

Website: www.geog.ubc.ca/~lebillon

Email Contact: philippe.lebillon@geog.ubc.ca

Office Phone: 604-822-5218

Room Number: GEOG 216

B.A., University of Toronto; M.E.S., York University; Ph.D. (1981), University of Toronto

"My research is centred around developing the research program for the CIRS project (www.cirs.ubc.ca); sustainable energy systems; sustainable building systems; the interaction among climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainability; gaming and simulation tools; futures studies; the intersection of lay and expert knowledge; participatory integrated assessment; business and sustainability issues; and generally the points of interaction among sustainability, climate change, socio-technical change, behaviour change, modeling and simulation, and community engagement processes. All my research has been on industrialized country applications."

Website: www.johnrobinson.ires.ubc.ca

Email Contact: john.robinson@ubc.ca

Office Phone: 604-822-9188

Room Number: 2260 West Mall, room 2351

B.A., Trinity University; M.A., Ph.D. (1999), University of Texas, Austin

"My current project examines the environmental dimensions of United States' border security policies in the US-Mexico borderlands, with a specific focus on protected areas like national wildlife refuges."

Website: juanitasundberg.wordpress.com

Email Contact: juanita.sundberg@geog.ubc.ca

Office Phone: 604-822-3535

Room Number: GEOG 125