The Sustainability Scholars Program is an innovative paid internship program. We match UBC graduate students with on- and off-campus sustainability partners to work on applied research projects that advance sustainability across the region. Managed by the UBC Sustainability Hub.
Apply your research skills to real-world sustainability challenges
Get paid and gain valuable professional work experience
Develop applied skills and knowledge under the guidance of a mentor
Build your professional network and enhance your career prospects

How It Works

The program is open to full-time UBC graduate students from any program or discipline. As a Sustainability Scholar, you work under the guidance of a mentor on an applied research project that supports their organization's sustainability goals.

Apply

UBC Sustainability Scholars work on applied research projects across a wide range of environmental, economic and social sustainability topics. See our list of current paid internship opportunities.

Project Library

The Scholars Project Library contains hundreds of reports, charts, tool-kits, and more, documenting the applied research produced by Scholars since 2010. A useful body of knowledge to support further research around sustainability.

Fraser Estuary Research Collaborative (FERC)

A new stream in the Sustainability Scholars Program focusing on applied research with the goal of restoring and protecting the endangered Fraser Estuary.

Partner with us

Partner organizations are essential to the UBC Sustainability Scholars Program. Partners provide work experience for UBC graduate students and benefit from their applied research.

Meet the scholars

UBC Sustainability Scholars come from all kinds of backgrounds and academic disciplines. Scholars stand out for being passionate about sustainability, having a strong work ethic, and for their applied research skills.

Fund scholars

Climate change, biodiversity loss, and growing inequality are some of the most urgent issues facing our world today. Support from donors will allow scholars to make a direct impact through organizations doing the on-the-ground work needed to address climate change and other critical sustainability challenges.

Program History

Sustainability Scholars’ projects have been helping to move the dial on sustainability across the region for over 10 years. Find out more about our history, milestones, and impact.

Project Library

Grassroots organizations are well-known for their role in directly addressing the needs and interests of equity-seeking groups. Yet, research has shown that large-scale non-profit organisations usually receive more support and higher amounts of grant funding than those organizing at the community level. This project aims to understand how the City of Vancouver can better foster broader community well-being by supporting grassroots community organizing practices.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Funder: City of Vancouver & UBC
Keywords: equity, diversity, inclusion, healthy city, leadership & behaviour change, social sustainability, Grassroots Organizations

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2022
Natacha Monestel Mora

The City of Vancouver is in the process of developing a living roof webpage as part of the implementation of the Rain City Strategy. This report aims to provide support for the development of a living roof webpage, design guidelines and standard design drawings to improve public engagement and knowledge sharing. The report provides suggestions on webpage design, layout, and content, design guideline structure and a list of typical drawings. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Funder: City of Vancouver & UBC
Keywords: clean water, climate adaptation, green infrastructure, green buildings, sustainable development & green economy, water

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2022
Michael Peterson

Marine conservation and public engagement, until recently, have been conducted as separate entities. This report aims to highlight nuanced global best practices for re-incorporating community stewardship as a critical strategy in urban marine conservation. Spotlighting False Creek, Vancouver, this report also piloted seven marine-focused engagement strategies. The results will contribute to the False Creek Friends Society's long-term goal of establishing an urban marine park within False Creek.

Partner: False Creek Friends Society
Funder: False Creek Friends Society
Keywords: social sustainability, sustainability in education, water

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2022
Maggy Spence

The guide takes a holistic approach by considering how buildings, infrastructure and land use can work together to create resilient communities through a low carbon resiliency (LCR) lens. LCR is the intersection between climate change mitigation and adaption measures that maximize co-benefits to communities. A compilation of existing research, policy examples, and case studies combined with stakeholder interviews provide recommendations on how local governments can rebuild better.

Partner: Community Energy Association
Funder: BC Hydro
Keywords: ecological systems, green buildings, sustainable development & green economy

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2022
Lorena Polovina

BC Nature is a federation of over 50 nature clubs throughout BC, and one of its main purposes is to support the work and goals of those clubs. Many of the clubs in the Lower Mainland conduct similar invasive species management activities, however, currently there is not enough communication and no collective strategy amongst them. This report identifies club actions that are benefiting species at risk and proposes collaborative projects with potential funding opportunities in the Lower Mainland.

Partner: BC Nature
Funder: UBC (Sitka Foundation)
Keywords: biodiversity, ecological management, restoration

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2022
Kephra Beckett

Settler colonial-capitalist policies have reduced the ability of Indigenous peoples to harvest foods from and enact food sovereignty within the Fraser River estuary. This report explores the repercussions of environmental change on traditional foods in the estuary, focusing on pollution, invasive species, and climate change. The report culminates in recommendations to support healthy habitat for traditional food species and recommendations for collaborating with Musqueam on food sovereignty.

Partner: Centre for Sustainable Food Systems
Funder: UBC (Sitka Foundation)
Keywords: ecological systems, food systems, social sustainability

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2022
Katharine Baldwin

This report looks into the feasibility and effectiveness of utilizing trees as natural assets to manage rainwater in low-density residential zoning across the city of Vancouver. Through the review of case studies and climate adaptable tree species suitable to Vancouver, recommendations were made as to which trees may be suitable to be planted in a residential front yard in an effort to mitigate surface runoff and manage rainwater. Required setbacks and restrictions were also considered.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Funder: City of Vancouver & UBC
Keywords: climate mitigation, green infrastructure, healthy city, sustainable development & green economy, water

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2022
Julianna Neudorf

This project provides insight into the regulatory environment and business practices of suite-level sub-metering of thermal energy services in the Vancouver area. The purpose is to identify the issues for thermal energy sub-metering in multi-unit residential buildings from an affordability and equity perspective. Recommendations were made for the City of Vancouver and stakeholders to raise the accountability and optimize the transparency for third-party sub-meter arrangements.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Funder: City of Vancouver & UBC
Keywords: climate action, equity, diversity, inclusion, low carbon buildings, green buildings

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2022
Haowen Wu

The key goals of this research are to detail:
1. Who are the entities responsible for urban freight?
2. What is their parking behavior?
3. What modes do they use? 
4. What impacts do they have on other users?
We conducted extensive data collection across five municipalities. We found that freight parking activity was dominated by invisible freight, primarily food delivery from passenger vehicles. Almost all freight delivery had short-duration parking and occurred in metered parking.

Partner: TransLink
Funder: TransLink
Keywords: transportation

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2022
Elmira Berjisian & Madison Lore

This project aims to shed light on how childcare and early learning can be more culturally safe for urban Indigenous children and families. Through a literature review, interviews with community members, and visits to childcare facilities this report highlights a few issues that urban Indigenous families and children face along with some suggestions to tackle these issues.

Project video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10hEkoFNEBxa5S_KKtXLbOL69d3722R_t/view?usp=sharing

Partner: City of Vancouver
Funder: City of Vancouver & UBC
Keywords: equity, diversity, inclusion, healthy city, social sustainability, sustainability in education

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2022
Eanimi Agube

This project aims to improve the mental health support services provided for IBPOC students, faculty, and staff on both UBC campuses, and provide considerations for engaging with IBPOC affinity groups. The report includes suggestions on improved institutional infrastructure and systemic changes that are necessary to respond to existing recommendations. Draws from scholarship and University of Toronto, University of Southern California, and McGill University as comparative case studies. 

Partner: UBC Wellbeing
Funder: UBC Wellbeing
Keywords: leadership & behaviour change, social sustainability, sustainability in education

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2022
Elaina Nguyen

Rising sea levels, increased storm events, and an ecologically damaging seawall present the need for a change. This report re-envisions the Stanley Park seawall as a multifunctional coastal pathway that naturally protects the shoreline from erosion, increases intertidal habitat, and creates meaningful experiences between park visitors and the marine environment. The design proposals in this report aim to inspire and initiate further dialogue on an alternative future for the seawall.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Funder: City of Vancouver & UBC
Keywords: access to nature, climate adaptation, healthy city, biodiversity, ecological systems, water

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2022
Brontë Mutukistna

This report explores the opportunities to grant legal recognition to the Fraser River estuary. This includes a global survey of rights-of-nature laws in other jurisdictions and an assessment of the feasibility of applying these models in the local context.

Partner: Raincoast Conservation Foundation
Funder: UBC (Sitka Foundation)
Keywords: biodiversity, ecological systems, water

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2022
Avery Pasternak

This project aims to address the financial and regulatory framework challenges that prevent urban integration of transit stations and development. Given the complexities of delivering affordable housing on high-value land, it also seeks to examine how affordable housing can be provided at key transit nodes. This project includes recommendations pertaining to relationship-building, funding, housing type and tenure, public communication, community engagement, equity, and community amenities.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Funder: City of Vancouver & UBC
Keywords: active transportation, equity, diversity, inclusion, land use planning, social sustainability, sustainable development & green economy, transportation 

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2022
Mélanie Wittes

How can a municipality go circular? This project explores 13 case studies in circular district innovation to understand patterns in creation and operation. Project findings identify key actors, policy frameworks, governance structures, and funding sources characteristic of successful projects. An annotated bibliography, a case studies Spreadsheet, and a tools and resource library offer interested jurisdictions specific tools, resources, and best practices to initiate their circular transition.

Partner: Recycling Alternative
Funder: UBC
Keywords: supply chain management & green procurement, sustainable development & green economy, waste management & recycling 

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2022
Joshua Ayer, Divija Madhani, Josh Travers

The City of Vancouver  experienced 66 fatal and 571 severe injury collisions between 2015 and 2019. This project aims to help the City improve traffic safety by identifying the streets with the most collisions for pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and drivers. Results include a list of streets experiencing the most collisions along with a list of schools within 50 meters of those streets. The City can use the results to prioritize those streets for safety improvements.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Funder: City of Vancouver & UBC
Keywords: active transportation, healthy city, transportation

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2022
Gurdiljot Gill

This project aims to leverage existing policies to reduce embodied carbon in retrofits. This research identifies policies and incentives for reducing embodied carbon emissions in the existing building sector and provides policy recommendations. The findings can assist policy-makers and other stakeholders in gaining a holistic view of retrofit policies, understanding the barriers to the uptake of retrofit schemes, and developing more efficient retrofit policies in the future.

Partner: Community Energy Association
Funder: BC Hydro
Keywords: green buildings

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2022
Haonan Zhang

This project sought to understand anesthetic gas use and emissions across Canada and examine efforts and challenges to mitigate their carbon footprint. We conducted an environmental scan to review efforts to reduce anesthetic emissions; procured pharmacy purchasing data for desflurane and sevoflurane from 2016 to 2021 from six provinces; and interviewed anesthesiologists/environmental experts in academic/health institutions across Canada to discuss efforts to lower anesthetic gas emissions.

Partner: CASCADES / UBC Faculty of Medicine
Funder: UBC
Keywords: leadership & behaviour change

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2022
Andrews Nartey

This report aims to assess the environmental, social, and financial impacts of the implementation of water reclamation in the Metro Vancouver region. Reclaimed water can provide substantial benefits to the region, with those benefits potentially outweighing the costs of setting up such systems. The study finalizes by recommending the next steps of identifying potential users, setting a pricing structure for this new source, and projecting its distribution costs. 

Partner: Metro Vancouver
Funder: Metro Vancouver
Keywords: social sustainability, waste management & recycling, water 

2022
Ana Patino

The project explored existing anesthetic gas emissions reduction initiatives to understand the GHG contribution of anesthetic gases across four health organizations in British Columbia, and prioritize the action needed to reduce their impact. The results emphasies the importance of collecting data regularly, educating anesthesiologists, setting goals to implement reduction initiatives, tracking progress, and developing a communication plan to support and empower anesthesia stakeholders.

Partner: Vancouver Coastal Health
Funder: Vancouver Coastal Health
Keywords: leadership & behaviour change, sustainable development & green economy 

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2022
Alpamys Issanov

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