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Home / 2023 / May / 26 / UBC Okanagan experts ready to talk about floods, wildfires
Environment & Sustainability

UBC Okanagan experts ready to talk about floods, wildfires

UBCO professors available to comment on water, heat, wildfires and connected challenges

May 26, 2023

A helicopter dumping water on a forest wildfire

A helicopter with water bucket attacks a forest fire.

Spring rain may have dampened wildfires burning in BC and Alberta, but the dangers of dry forests and swollen rivers remain.

Wildfires are abundant in Alberta, while many areas in BC are on flood watch. It seems the changing climate is becoming less predictable and more volatile as each year passes. UBC Okanagan has several professors available to comment on heat, wildfires and associated issues.

Phil Ainsley, Professor of Environmental Physiology, Co-Director of Centre For Heart, Lung and Vascular Health, School of Health and Exercise Sciences

Areas of expertise:

  • Heat and pollution and their isolated and combined influence on physiology and human health
  • Effect of temperature and oxygen availability on physiology, pathology and performance
  • Acclimatization, adaptation and maladaptation to environmental stress

Email: philip.ainslie@ubc.ca
Tel: 250 878 6171

Mathieu Bourbonnais, Assistant Professor, Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences

Areas of expertise:

  • Wildfire risk, suppression and mitigation
  • Firefighting and use of satellites for wildfire detection and monitoring

Email: mathieu.bourbonnais@ubc.ca
Tel: 778 583 0272

Greg Garrard, Professor of Environmental Humanities, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies

Areas of expertise:

  • Environmental literature
  • Culture and climate change (including skepticism)
  • The cultural ecology of wildfire
  • Political polarization

Email: greg.garrard@ubc.ca
Tel: 250 863 2822

Kevin Hanna, Associate Professor, Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences

Areas of expertise:

  • Vulnerable infrastructure
  • Risk and disaster assessment wildfire management and policy
  • Climate change and risk events

Email: kevin.hanna@ubc.ca
Tel: 250 807 9265

Mary-Ann Murphy, Associate Professor, Social Work Sociology

Areas of expertise:

  • Dealing with the emotional trauma of wildfires
  • Lessons from evacuees
  • What to pack when evacuating
  • Caring for seniors in extreme heat

Email: mary-ann.murphy@ubc.ca
Tel: 250 807 8705

David Scott, Associate Professor, Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences

Areas of expertise:

  • Effects of wildfire on hydrology and erosion
  • Evaluation of fire site rehabilitation methods in terms of controlling erosion and sedimentation

Email: david.scott@ubc.ca
Note: Dr. Scott is only available for interviews via email.

Dwayne Tannant, Professor, School of Engineering

Areas of expertise:

  • Landslides, rockfalls
  • Post-wildfire debris flow mitigation

Email: dwayne.tannant@ubc.ca
Tel: 604 801 4301

Media Contact

David Bidwell
Writer/Content Strategist
University Relations

Tel: 2508083042
E-mail: david.bidwell@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Advisory
More content from: Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, Health, Safety and Environment, School of Engineering, School of Health and Exercise Sciences, School of Social Work

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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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We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

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