Climate change is inherently interdisciplinary. Connect and collaborate with climate experts from across the UBC community to deliver climate change and climate justice-related content in your undergraduate courses.
How to Connect
Follow the steps below to have a climate expert deliver a 50 or 80 minute guest lecture in your undergraduate course.
Step 1: Fill out a brief (5-minute) survey to identify your topic(s) of interest and teaching schedule. Although optional, you can indicate any preferences from the climate experts listed below.
Step 2: We'll use the survey to pair you with one or more climate experts. We will send you their expanded profiles for you to review and select a top choice.
Step 3: We will contact the climate expert you selected to confirm their interest and availability. If the climate expert is able to accommodate your request (they will respond within 48 hours), we will send an email to connect you both. You will be asked to provide a course syllabus and to co-identify one or more learning outcomes with the expert. We ask that you email them at least two weeks prior to the lecture date (for a single lecture) and at least three weeks prior for a request to co-teach lecture(s) with the climate expert.
Step 4: After the climate expert has delivered their lecture, we'll send you a brief evaluation of their presentation and the program.
Browse Climate Experts
Climate and People
Nigel Deans (He/Him/His)
Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, Faculty of Science
Climate Science; Climate Justice; Climate and People; Complex Systems Thinking; Climate Adaptation and Resilience; Other
For the past 2.5 years, I have worked for Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC as Research Coordinator for SSHRC and NRCAN funded research conducted by the Resilience by Design lab and the Adaptation Learning Network. In this capacity, I have facilitated interactive workshops on climate change and climate action with over 100 youth age 15 to 24 and presented our research to government, academic, and public audiences.
Climate Adaptation and Resilience
Anber Rana (She/Her/Hers)
Civil Engineering, School of Engineering
Climate Science, Climate Justice, Climate Economics, Climate Law, Planning and Policy, Climate and People, and Climate Adaptation and Resilience
My teaching experience spans over five years, where I taught students from architecture, engineering, environment, and management departments. In addition, I have served as subject matter expert for K-12 educational material development related to energy for local utility in BC. I base my teaching on active learning techniques and ensure student-centered lesson plans. I use formative and summative assessment techniques to gauge student learning and tailor my teaching accordingly.
Farrukh Chishtie (He/Him/His)
Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Medicine
Climate Science; Climate Adaptation and Resilience
My approach in teaching is interactive and engaging. I am a founding member of the Space Science Department at the Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad where as an atmospheric scientist I have developed and taught courses in environmental and atmospheric science, meteorology and remote sensing. I can also share my own experience and ongoing work in climate change related disasters such as floods and droughts in Asia.
Climate Economics
Sadia Ishaq
Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
Climate Science; Climate Justice; Climate Economics; Climate Law, Planning, and Policy; Climate and People; Complex Systems Thinking; Climate Adaptation and Resilience; Other
I have worked as a Teaching Assistant for four courses and facilitated discussion groups, graded students’ assignments, recorded progress and attended course meetings. My approach to conducting tutorials is based on being interactive, connecting assignment questions to lecture material and past knowledge, sharing relevant examples, listening carefully, and encouraging group discussion.
Climate Science
Don Shafer (He/Him/His)
Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice; Faculty of Arts
Climate and People
My experience in media, teaching, public speaking, and working with various community organizations has allowed me to develop a hybrid or blended teaching style that follows an integrated approach. I adjust it based on the task, curriculum, interests with staff or students and the desired outcomes as required. Teaching journalism and the art of communication, the science of climate change and the psychology of denial, or making meaningful connections within a community to initiate significant social change have become lifetime themes. As an adjunct instructor with Kwantlen University, BCIT and City University, I taught Media and Ethics in Communication. This is my second year with the Climate Teaching Connector.
Imranul Laskar (He/Him/His)
Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, Faculty of Science Climate Science; Climate Justice; Climate Law, Planning, and Policy; Complex Systems Thinking; Climate Adaptation and Resilience
I have had the privilege to lead tutorials, mark assignments, develop rubric and prepare and mark final case studies for several disciplinary and interdisciplinary sustainability-focused courses. We initially set the learning goals for the tutorials, and designed our tutorials in a way that is geared towards the profiles and career interests of the class. This helped the students grasp sustainability and system thinking concepts better, and in a personalized manner.
Questions?
Email our program coordinator at ctc.info@ubc.ca.
Testimonials
I found it a very straightforward and easy process! I had a great experience working with the Climate Expert and look forward to participating in the program in the future!
Dr. Sara Elder, ENVR 448A course instructor and Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
The Climate Teaching Connector is a great resource linking learners, faculty and researchers with multidisciplinary perspectives and resources needed to inspire, promote and sustain climate awareness and action. My undergraduate students in PLAN 331 (The Just City in a Divided World) learned immensely from our guest Climate Expert who gave rich examples on climate vulnerabilities generated from an under-studied region and connected these insights to our other lessons on urbanization, city justice, urban revitalization, and climate migration grounded on histories of colonialism, militarization, and economic development.
Dr. Leonora C. Angeles, Associate Professor, School of Community and Regional Planning & Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice
I am planning to continue tapping into this incredible connector as I personally believe it fosters not only connection with people, but also creativity and collaboration which is what we really need - an interdisciplinary approach to actually address these complex challenges that come as a result of climate change. I find it very inspiring and I really hope that other faculty reach out because it’s been amazing!
Raluca Radu, MSN, Faculty Lecturer, Nursing