Meet the Team
Network Manager
Love-Ese Chile, PhD
Bio
Dr. Love-Ese Chile is known for turning research into real-world impact. With a deep commitment to innovation, accessibility, and meaningful change, she uses storytelling to spark dialogue and connect diverse stakeholders. As Network Manager, Love-Ese guides her team in organizing knowledge-sharing events, translating complex research into clear, accessible language, and managing collaborative projects that bridge academia, government, and industry.
Love-Ese holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia. Her leadership and contributions have been recognized with several national awards, including the 2024 Clean50 Emerging Leader Award, the 2023 UBC Chemistry Young Alumnus Award, and the 2024 Gloria Baylis Award for Entrepreneurship and Advocacy from the Canadian Black Scientist Network.
Project Coordinator
Nisa Chavez
Bio
Nisa’s work is driven by her interest in how knowledge and social context influence on-farm practices. Her experiences across research, industry, and non-profit sectors highlighted the importance of breaking down silos and fostering collaboration to create inclusive and responsive solutions to climate change. At ACARN, she builds on this insight by bringing together diverse voices to align priorities that enhance both human and environmental resilience. For Nisa, knowledge creation and exchange are grounded in listening, adapting, and growing in step with the land and communities involved.
She holds a B.Sc. in Applied Biology from UBC, a knowledge mobilization certificate from the UBC KxM Unit, and she volunteers with the LFS Young Alumni Council.
Steering Committee
Sean Smukler (Chair)
Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, University of British Columbia
Soil Systems, Crop Production
Shabtai Bittman
Agassiz Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Soil Systems, Crop Production
Andrew Black
Soil Physics and Biometeorology Group, University of British Columbia
Climate Modelling, Soil Systems, Water Systems, Extreme Weather Response
Lauchlan Fraser
Thompson Rivers University
Ecological Restoration, Livestock Management, Extreme Weather Response
Miranda Hart
Wine Research Center, University of British Columbia Okanagan
Soil Systems, Crop Production, Ecological Restoration
John Janmaat
University of British Columbia Okanagan
Socioeconomic Transitions, Agricultural Policy, Water Management
Woo Soo Kim
Simon Fraser University
Agritech Innovation, Remote Sensing and Management
Bing Lu
Simon Fraser University
Remote Sensing and Management, Crop Production, Soil Systems
Jason Lussier
Climate and Environment Programs, BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Soil Systems, Extension and Adoption, Agricultural Policy
Ian McLachlan
Strategic Climate Initiatives, BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Climate Modelling, Socioeconomic Transitions, Agricultural Policy
Kent Mullinix
Institute for Sustainable Food Systems, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Crop Production, Socioeconomic Transitions, Agricultural Policy
Robert Newell
Royal Roads University
Socioeconomic Transitions, Habitat and Biodiversity, Agricultural Policy
Michael Preston
University of Northern British Columbia
Soil Systems, Ecological Restoration, Crop Production
Tom Pypker
Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Thompson Rivers University
Water Management, Climate Modelling, Extreme Weather Response, Habitat and Biodiversity
Rahul Singh
BC Centre for Agri-Tech Innovation, Simon Fraser University
Agritech Innovation, Extension and Adoption
Gary Telford
Agassiz Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Extension and Adoption, Agricultural Policy
Past Team Members
Shauna MacKinnon (Network Manager, 2019-2024)
Juliana Cao (Knowledge Translation Assistant, 2022-2026)
Asha Wareham (Project Coordinator, 2023-2025)
Shambhavi Arora (Communications Assistant, 2025)
Subin Lee (Communications Assistant, 2024-2025)
Katie Kathiresan (Communications Assistant, 2024)
Renli Xiang (Research Assistant, 2024)
Wenwen Wang (Communications Assistant, 2023-2024)
Catalina Garcia (Communications Assistant, 2023-2024)
Rachel Wang (Communications Assistant, 2021-2022)
Jason Lussier (Network Coordinator, 2017-2019)
