VIU Science and Technology Community Lecture Series for Spring 2022 focuses on Climate Change

The series features 11 free lectures from researchers on a range of topics connected to climate change issues.

Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) spring 2022 Science and Technology Lecture Series is shining the spotlight on climate change research.

“Climate change is one of the greatest challenges currently facing humanity, and everyone will be impacted by the rapid environmental changes that are currently occurring on Earth,” says Dr. Tim Stokes, a VIU Earth Sciences Professor and the series coordinator and organizer.

At each lecture, researchers will share their findings on climate change science and delve into topics such as investigating changing snowpacks in Coastal BC, water resource management on Vancouver Island, and tracking past shifts in sea levels and their effects on humans. The Science and Technology Lecture Series has been offered almost every spring term for the last 15 years and was created as an opportunity for researchers to share their findings on a range of different science issues and topics with the VIU community and the public.

The series runs on Wednesdays, from 7-8 pm, from January 19 to April 6. There is no lecture on February 23, during VIU’s Reading Week. Lectures are offered in-person at Building 355, Room 203 at VIU’s Nanaimo campus and most lectures will be live streamed via Zoom. In-person attendance is at a reduced capacity of 50% and attendees must provide proof of vaccination and wear masks at all times. For Zoom links or to register to attend in-person lectures please visit the Science and Technology Community Lecture Series website.

The series kicks off on Wednesday, January 19 with Natural and Anthropogenic Climate Changes, presented by Dr. Steven Earle from Thompson Rivers University. Earle will discuss how the Earth’s climate has changed over time and how these past changes are used to better understand modern climate. Earle says that “none of the natural climate processes” can account for the current episode of rapid climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, and “if the past is anything to go by, we need to get much more serious about our climate future.” 

Other presentations in the lecture series are:

• How Wild Mammals are Responding to Climate Change, presented by Dr. Stan Boutin, an Emeritus Professor from the University of Alberta, on January 26.
• Water Balance Model for Vancouver Island: Insights about Water Management in a Changing Climate, presented by Dr. Alan Gilchrist, a VIU Geography Professor, on February 2.
• Planes, Drones and Snowmobiles: Measuring Snowpack in Coastal British Columbia in the 21st Century, presented by Dr. Bill Floyd, Research Hydrologist with the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, on February 9.
• HarmCheck: High Impact, Quantitative, Harm Reduction Drug Checking, presented by Dr. Chris Gill, a VIU Chemistry Professor and Co-Director of VIU’s Applied Environmental Research Laboratories, on February 16.
• Ocean Acidification in British Columbia’s Coastal Waters, presented by Dr. Wiley Evans from the Hakai Institute on March 2.
• Humans and the Holocene: Navigating Climate Change and Shifting Sea Levels in the Ancient Pacific Northwest, presented by Dr. Rhy McMillian, a University of British Columbia Post-Doctoral Fellow and a VIU Grad, on March 9.
• Computational Simulations of Ice Sheet Flow and Sea Surface Temperatures, presented by Dr. Sam Pimentel, an Associate Professor at Trinity Western University, on March 16.
• Advances in Environmental Psychology in Relation to Climate Change and Community, presented by Dr. Lindsay McCunn a VIU Psychology Professor, on March 23.
• Tropical Forest Transformation, Regrowth, and Loss: Implications for Carbon Sequestration and Emissions, presented by Dr. Sean Sloan, VIU’s Canada Research Chair in the Human Dimensions of Sustainability and Resilience, on March 30.
• Can Owls Sink Carbon? Relating Climate Change to a Flag Ship Species in Vancouver Island’s Last Native Forests, presented by Jeremiah Kennedy of Pacific Megacops Research Alliance, on April 6. 

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Media Contact:

Rachel Stern, Communications Officer, Vancouver Island University

C: 250.618.0373 l E: Rachel.Stern@viu.ca | T: @VIUNews