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Home / 2007 / April / 05 / UBC experts to speak at environment and national park public forum

UBC experts to speak at environment and national park public forum

April 5, 2007

Biology, geography and sustainability experts from UBC Okanagan will join ecologists, park planners, and other experts from across the country at a wide-ranging environmental forum in Naramata on April 16 and 17.

The inaugural South Okanagan Similkameen Environmental Issues, Research and Education Forum will examine the role research and education might play in a national park in the South Okanagan Similkameen region.

“One of the most significant environmental issues in the South Okanagan Similkameen region is the possible establishment of a national park, currently undergoing a feasibility study by Parks Canada and the B.C. Ministry of the Environment,” says Dr. John Theberge. Renowned wildlife ecologists now living in Oliver, Dr. Theberge and his wife Mary Theberge are co-chairs of the forum’s organizing team.

“One important responsibility of national parks is in research and education, particularly related to regional environmental issues that may compromise ecosystem values,” says Dr. Theberge. “This is the first of annual or biannual events that will both provide better public understanding of environmental issues and solutions, and bring environmental practitioners together for discussion, debate and cooperation.”

The public forum is intended to bring international, national and local experts together to explore environmental issues such as climate warming, water shortages, rapid population growth and development. Several members of UBC Okanagan’s faculty are featured as speakers or presenting research posters:

  • “SARAHS: An interdisciplinary approach to studying threatened populations and their habitats,” by Dr. Dan Durall, Assoc. Prof. of Biology and Physical Geography and Director of the Centre for Species at Risk and Habitat Studies (SARAHS).
  • “Land cover and environmental change in the Southern Okanagan: Protecting natural landscapes and biodiversity,” by Dr. Mike Pidwirny, Assoc. Prof. of Physical Geography.
  • “Integrated community based tourism in parks and protected areas: assessing possibilities in the South Okanagan Lower Similkameen,” by Dr. Donna Senese, Assoc. Prof. of Geography.
  • Dr. Fes de Scally, Assoc. Prof. of Geography and Interim Director of the newly created Okanagan Sustainability Institute at UBC Okanagan, will present a research poster, “Understanding the Impacts of Transportation Corridors on the Ecological Functioning of High-Mountain Fans: Lessons from National Parks in Canada and New Zealand.”
  • Laura Hooker, Assoc. Prof. of Biology, presents a poster about “Preliminary Investigations into the Microbial Geochemistry of Saline Lakes in the Okanagan Valley.”
  • Dr. Rosalind Warner, Sessional Instructor in Political Science, presents a research poster on “Natural Destinations: The Culture of Nature Tourism and Protected Areas Governance in Canada.”
  • Students in Donna Senese’s Geography 434 (Geography of Tourism Development) course will present a research poster detailing the findings of their project, “Making Tourism Work in the South Okanagan Lower Similkameen.”

The forum takes place at the Naramata Centre for Continuing Education, in Naramata. More information and registration forms can be found on the Forum website: http://www.ubc.ca/okanagan/natparksedforum or call the Naramata Centre, 250.493.5530.

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Media Contact

Bud Mortenson
Director
University Relations

The University of British Columbia
Okanagan campus
Tel: 250-807-9255
E-mail: bud.mortenson@ubc.ca

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About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

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