BC Agriculture and Climate Change Education Series

BC Agriculture and Climate Change Education Series

The BC Agriculture and Climate Change Education Series was created out of a four-part event exploring climate challenges and adaptation strategies in British Columbia’s agricultural sector. Hosted across eight post-secondary institutions in spring 2019, the series included expert presentations, Q&A sessions, and activities designed to bring regional and broader perspectives together.

Professionally recorded videos are available in the modules below to integrate into courses, training, and professional development.

Module 1 – Using Future Climate Projections

Trevor Murdoch & Kari Tyler, Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium

✔ Gain an overview of climate science concepts, tools, and methodologies

✔ Explore case studies from the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium on regional agricultural work

✔ Learn how climate science can be integrated into programs and policies

✔ Discover strategies to help organizations and institutions adapt to climate change impacts

Presenter Bios

Trevor Murdock is a climate scientist with an undergraduate degree in Physics and Astronomy Co-op from the University of Victoria (1995), and an MSc. in Earth and Ocean Sciences from the University of Victoria (1997). Murdock currently leads the Regional Climate Impacts Theme at Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium. For the past 20 years, Murdock has worked on applications of climate research to assist decision-making and planning. His work focuses particularly on climate scenarios and online mapping tools, downscaling to high resolution, analysis of historical climate data and improvement of seasonal climate predictions.

Kari Tyler is the user engagement and training specialist at Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium. She is a resilience and adaptation expert with a Masters in Adult Education and Community Development. Her past work experience is in designing climate change resilience and adaptation programs, policy, and in leading planning processes with different levels of government, research institutes, and humanitarian organizations in Canada, the United States, and Asia and Latin America regions.

Module 1, Part 1

Module 1, Part 2

Module 1, Part 3

Module 2 – Adaptation Concepts and Initiatives

Emily MacNair, BC Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative

✔ Explore adaptation strategies at both regional and farm scales

✔ Understand the role of collaboration in identifying and implementing solutions

✔ Review case studies highlighting adaptation efforts in BC agriculture

✔ Gain insights into ongoing initiatives supporting agricultural adaptation in the province

Presenter bio

Emily MacNair is the Director of the BC Agriculture & Food Climate Action Initiative (CAI), and has managed CAI’s activities and programs since its inception in 2008. Emily led the development of the BC Agriculture & Climate Change Action Plan and an assessment of the agriculture sector’s risks and opportunities in relation to climate change. Since 2013, Emily has managed the delivery of adaptation-focused programs for the sector in B.C. From 2004 to 2008, Emily was a Program Manager with the Investment Agriculture Foundation and prior to that delivered projects for various non-government organizations.

Module 2, Part 1

Module 2, Part 2

Module 2, Part 3

Module 3 – Collaborative Research for Producer Adaptation

Dr. Sean Smukler, University of British Columbia

✔ Explore the importance of a collaborative, cross-sector approach in agriculture

✔ Learn about ongoing work by the BC Agricultural Climate Adaptation Research Network (ACARN)

✔ Examine real climate change research questions facing the industry today

✔ Identify the expertise needed to effectively address agricultural climate challenges

Presenter bio

Dr. Sean Smukler is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Land and Food Systems (LFS) at UBC. He earned a PhD in Ecology at the University of California, and a M.S. in Forest Soils at the University of Washington. He is the Junior Chair of Agriculture and the Environment at LFS, and he has been the Chair of the BC Agriculture Climate Adaptation Research Network since its inception in 2017. His research program is focused on working with farmers, and other managers of agricultural landscapes to find ways to better monitor, protect and enhance biodiversity and the availability of ecosystem services including food, fiber, fuel and timber production, greenhouse gas mitigation, and water quality and quantity regulation. 

Module 3, Part 1

Module 3, Part 2

Module 3, Part 3

Module 4 – Extension for Climate-Smart Agriculture

Dr. Kent Mullinix, Institute for Sustainable Food Systems, Kwantlen Polytechnic University

✔ Explore the role of extension in linking industry and university-based research

✔ Understand its impact on climate change mitigation and adaptation in BC agriculture

✔ Learn about effective extension programming and current service providers in BC

✔ Gain insights from extension specialists and farmers through a panel discussion

Presenter bio

Dr. Kent Mullinix is the Director of the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and an Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, UBC. He attended the University of Missouri earning a B.S. in Agriculture, an M.S. in Horticulture, and a Ph.D. in Agriculture Education. He also earned a Ph.D. in Plant Science from UBC. His research focuses on ecologically sound crop production, agriculture education programming, sustainable agriculture and food systems, and family-based agriculture revitalization as a foundational and integral element of a sustainable society.

Module 4, Part 1

Module 4, Part 2

Module 4, Part 3

Project Acknowledgements

The series was delivered live to nearly 300 individuals across the province thanks to the cross-provincial collaboration of these educational institutions: 

  • Northern Lights College (Fort St. John)
  • University of British Columbia (Vancouver and Okanagan)
  • Kwantlen Polytechnique University (Richmond)
  • University of the Fraser Valley (Abbotsford)
  • Thompson Rivers University (Kamloops)
  • University of Northern British Columbia (Prince George)

Funding Acknowledgement

Funding for these events was provided in part by the governments of Canada and British Columbia under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.