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VPRI: What excites you most about your new role as Special Advisor Climate? Do you have specific goals you’d like to achieve during your two-year term?

What excites me most are the climate researchers and students here at UVic and our collective potential to make positive change — something that feels especially needed at this moment in time. In this role, I will be working to connect the climate community at UVic and more broadly in Victoria and beyond, to showcase the great climate work that is being done across campus, and to catalyze new climate initiatives. 

Fall 2024 was my first semester in this new position and I invested time meeting with climate researchers and deans from across campus to learn about the climate research and initiatives they already have underway, what they view as strategic priorities related to climate, and where they would like to see the university focusing effort. 

These conversations reinforced for me that people across campus care about climate change and are already doing great work on it, but also that people are eager to connect with other climate researchers. 

To meet this need, this semester we’ll start hosting in-person events for researchers working on climate change — or those interested in doing so — to help build those connections across campus. 

To advance one research aspect of UVic’s Climate and Sustainability Action Plan, we’re also working towards launching a new UVic climate hub, with a website featuring UVic climate research, and highlighting climate news and events from across campus.

VPRI: How has your previous experience prepared you for this new chapter?

Four years ago, I made a shift in my own research program from climate change impacts to solutions. At the same time, I was seeking ways to have a bigger impact by building climate initiatives that would harness the collective climate change expertise here at UVic. 

The major result from these initial efforts was the development of UVic’s new graduate program, . Now in its second year, the program is training graduate students from across campus and building a ³Ô¹ÏÍø for excellence in our community, which again, is a testament to the great climate researchers and students we have here at UVic.

I also participated in the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan process and was vocal about the need for a unifying climate centre or hub on campus and our need to build strong connections with climate solutions seekers in our community, government, industry and beyond. Fast forward four years, and I am delighted to now have the opportunity to focus on this work and to bring these and other new efforts to fruition here at UVic.

VPRI: From your perspective as Special Advisor Climate, what makes the UVic research community unique?

Several things! UVic has so many climate strengths, from physical climate science to impacts to diverse facets of climate solutions — clean energy technology and policy, climate finance, climate journalism, the list goes on… that we can leverage. Our commitment to ʔetalnəwəl | ÁTOL,NEUEL, respecting the rights of one another and being in right relationship with all things, moves us to support Indigenous-led climate action and co-create solutions. We are also exceptionally well-situated being in British Columbia — a province committed to climate action — and more specifically in Victoria, the capital, which gives us unique access to the provincial government at a time when they are trying to advance their climate change mitigation and adaptation plans. This presents so many opportunities for partnerships with provincial government as well as with local communities, municipalities and Victoria’s ocean and clean tech industries to advance climate action. Finally, I believe UVic is at the sweet spot for size — we’re big enough to have great impact and small enough to still be connected as a community.

My goal for these two years is to harness these many strengths to advance UVic’s climate solutions impact.

VPRI: Do you have advice for new researchers?

Yes. Having connections with other climate researchers is empowering, so reach out if you’d like to learn more and get involved. And stay tuned for upcoming climate events.