Faculty of Science

Canadian Immigration Updates

Review details about the recently announced changes to study and work permits that apply to master’s and doctoral degree students. Read more

Notice: Canadian Immigration Updates

At �� Science, outstanding scientists and students strive to unravel the principles that underlie our universe - from the subatomic to the macroscopic, from pure mathematics to biotechnology, from ecosystems to galactic systems. Through the breadth and depth of our academic endeavours and the calibre of the people who make up our community, we take pride in discovering new scientific knowledge and preparing Canada’s and the world’s next generation of scientists.

A diverse range of highly ranked programs

With access to master’s and doctoral degrees through nine departments and 350 research groups, our graduate students work with world-class faculty to explore the basic sciences, and to pursue interdisciplinary and applied research across departments and units. ��’s research excellence in environmental science, math, physics, plant and animal science, computer science, geology and biology is consistently rated best in Canada by international and national ranking agencies.

Committed to outstanding graduate training

�� Science houses a wide range of prestigious NSERC Collaborative Research and Training Experience and related industry programs: from atmospheric aerosols to high-throughput biology, from biodiversity research and ecosystems services to plant cell wall biosynthesis, from quantum science and new materials to applied geochemistry. The options for enriched graduate training in industry related fields are almost endless.

World-class research infrastructure

Our affiliated institutes and centres include ��'s Michael Smith Laboratories, Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, Biodiversity Research Centre, Life Sciences Institute, Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, Mineral Deposit Research Unit, and TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics.

Top research talent

�� Science boasts more than 50 Canada Research Chairs, 12 fellows of the Royal Society of London, and has been home to two Nobel Laureates. Our graduate students have won 15 prestigious Vanier Scholarships.

A diverse, supportive community of scholars

�� Science is committed to excellence, collaboration and inclusion. Women account for 41 per cent of the Faculty's graduate enrollments, and the percentage of international students has increased to 50 per cent over the past decade.

Fact Sheet

Mission

To nurture an exceptional scientific learning and research environment for the people of British Columbia, Canada, and the world.

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678

Master's Students

(2023)
1038

Doctoral Students

(2023)
435

Graduate Degrees Awarded

(2022)
428

Full-Time Faculty
161.6

million in Research Awards

Research Centres

Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology

Computational Sciences and Mathematics

Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences

Lithoprobe: Canada's National Geoscience Project

Genomics and Biological Sciences

Geomatics for Informed Decisions Network

Human-Computer Interaction

Vancouver Institute for Visual Analytics

Life Sciences

Chemistry and Materials Science

Physics

�� ATLAS Project at Large Hadron Collider

Sustainability

Research Facilities

Designed to inspire collaboration and creativity across disciplines, the (ESB) lies at the heart of the science precinct on ��’s Vancouver Campus. The $75 million facility is home to Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Statistics, the Pacific Institute of the Mathematical Sciences, and the dean’s office of the Faculty of Science. ESB’s teaching facilities will help Canada meet the challenges of a transforming and growing resource sector. Just as importantly, the researchers and students working and learning in the facility will offer a valuable flow of well-trained talent, new ideas, and fresh professional perspectives to industry.

Research Highlights

Receiving more than $120 million in annual research funding, �� Science faculty members conduct top-tier research in the life, physical, earth and computational sciences. Their discoveries help build our understanding of natural laws—driving insights into sustainability, biodiversity, human health, nanoscience and new materials, probability, artificial intelligence, exoplanets and a wide range of other areas.

�� Science boasts 50 Canada Research Chairs and 10 fellows of the Royal Society of London, and has been home to two Nobel Laureates.��

Schools / Departments

Department

Graduate Degree Programs

Research Supervisors in Faculty

or browse the list of faculty members in various academic units. You may click each unit to view faculty members appointed in that unit. View the full faculty member directory for more search and filter options.

Name	Academic Unit(s)	Research Interests
Chan, Kai	Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability	Natural environment sciences; Human Ecology; Ecology and Quality of the Environment; Social and Cultural Factors of Environmental Protection; Applied Ethics; Values and Lifestyles; Sustainable Development; conservation finance; Conservation science; cultural ecosystem services; Ecosystem services; environmental assessment; environmental values; incentive programs; payments for ecosystem services; resilience; social-ecological systems; sustainability science
Chau, Albert	Department of Mathematics	Differential Geometry and Partial Differential Equations
Chen, David	Department of Chemistry	Instrumentation
Chen, Jingyi	Department of Mathematics	Algebraic and differential geometry; Differential Geometry, Partial Differential Equations
Chen, Jiahua	Department of Statistics	Statistical theory and modeling; empirical likelihood; finite mixture model; sample survey; asymptotic theory; imputation
Cheung, Wai Lung	Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries	Global change biology; Ecological impacts of climate change; climate change; Marine Ecosystems; sustainability; biodiversity; Interdisciplinary
Choptuik, Matthew	Department of Physics & Astronomy	Theoretical physics, Relativity/Computational Physics
Chou, Keng Chang	Department of Chemistry	Chemical physics
Christensen, Villy	Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries	Fisheries management; Global change biology; Ecosystem function; Ecosystem modelling
Chritz, Kendra	Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences	Anthropocene, Onset, tempo, and trajectory of human impacts on biological processes and environmental change
Clune, Jeff	Department of Computer Science
Cohen Freue, Gabriela	Department of Statistics	statistical genomics (focus in proteomics), robust estimation and inference, linear models with endogeneity
Colliander, James	Department of Mathematics	hamiltonian dynamical systems; partial differential equations; harmonic analysis
Conati, Cristina	Department of Computer Science	artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, affective computing, personalized interfaces, intelligent user interfaces, intelligent interface agents, virtual agent, user-adapted interaction, computer-assisted education, educational computer games, computers in education, user-adaptive interaction, Artificial intelligence, adaptive interfaces, cognitive systems, user modelling
Condon, Anne	Department of Computer Science	Algorithms; Molecular Programming
Cooke, Ilsa	Department of Chemistry	Role of icy dust grains in interstellar chemistry; Constraining aromatic and carbon chemistry during star formation; Observational Astronomy
Coombs, Daniel	Department of Mathematics	Mathematical biology; Cellular immunology; Complex physical systems; Epidemiology (except nutritional and veterinary epidemiology); Cell Signaling and Infectious and Immune Diseases; Cell biophysics; Disease models; Epidemiology; Immune cell signalling; Mathematics
Cronk, Quentin Charles	Department of Botany	Plant biology; botany; taxonomy; systematics; genomics
Crowe, Sean	Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences	Geobiology, biogeochemistry, microbial evolution
Cytrynbaum, Eric	Department of Mathematics	Bacterial cell division, Microtubule and cellular organization, Wave propagation in excitable media
d'Arcy, Mitch	Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences	Earth and related environmental sciences; Geomorphology; Climate/palaeoclimate; Sedimentology; Geochronology; remote sensing
Dake, Gregory	Department of Chemistry	Organic, bioactive, metal as catalyist
Damascelli, Andrea	Department of Physics & Astronomy	Electronic and magnetic properties of condensed matter and supraconductivity; Electronic Structure of Quantum Materials
Dao Duc, Khanh	Department of Mathematics	Genomics; Mathematical biology; Neurocognitive patterns and neural networks; Agricultural spatial analysis and modelling; combine mathematical,computational and statistical tools to study fundamental biological processes; regulation and determinants of gene expression and translation; Machine Learning for Biological Imaging and Microscopy; Database development and management; Biological and Artificial Neural Networks for geometric representation
Davies, Jonathan	Department of Botany, Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences	Phylogenetics & Biodiversity. Development and application of phylogenetic methods in ecology and conservation biology

Graduate Student Stories

Johnathan Wong

Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD)

Efficient Algorithms in Genomics

Ariana Shivji

Master of Science in Chemistry (MSc)

The production and applications of erbium-165 in nuclear medicine

Jake Felker

Master of Science in Microbiology and Immunology (MSc)

Investigating the antibacterial response of macrophages to Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Ana Mucalica

Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD)

Interaction of drug nano-carriers with particle-laden blood flow

Carraugh Brouwer

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

Label-free, mass-resolved single protein detection in real time using interferometric scattering microscopy

Connor Durfy

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)

Developing homogenous electrocatalysts for carbon dioxide conversion

Jacquelina DaSilva

Master of Science in Zoology (MSc)

Classroom discourse in a first-year multi-section biology course

Sarah Ravoth

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)

Understanding diverse ecological responses to global change using insect food webs

Alumni on Success

Liam Spencer

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) [2006]

Job Title
Research Scientist

Employer
The Dow Chemical Company

Steven Huan Liang

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) [2010]

Job Title
Assistant Professor

Employer
Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital

Olga Pena

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) [2013]

Job Title
Research Scientist and Manager

Employer
��

Hannes Dempewolf

Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) [2012]

Job Title
Scientist and Project Manager

Employer
Global Crop Diversity Trust

Elitza Tocheva

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) [2007]

Job Title
Assistant Professor

Employer
Universite de Montreal

Ellen T Arena

Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) [2011]

Job Title
Assistant Scientist

Employer
University of Wisconsin Madison

Adam Ford

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) [2014]

Job Title
Assistant Professor

Employer
University of British Columbia

Benjamin Good

Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) [2009]

Job Title
Assistant Professor

Employer
The Scripps Research Institute

Recent Publications

This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by �� faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Science.

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Publication: Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta
�� Author(s): Harold Bradbury (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00167037
Volume: 401
Page Range: 160-173
Publication Date: 15 July 2025

Publication: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
�� Author(s): B Brett Finlay (Michael Smith Labs / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 122
Page Range: e2501030122
Publication Date: 15 July 2025

Publication: Astrophysical Journal
�� Author(s): Douglas Scott (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0004637X
Volume: 987
Publication Date: 10 July 2025

Publication: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
�� Author(s): Villy Christensen (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09628436
Volume: 380
Publication Date: 10 July 2025

Publication: Journal of Theoretical Biology
�� Author(s): Christoph Hauert (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00225193
Volume: 608
Publication Date: 7 July 2025

Publication: Chemical Geology
�� Author(s): Maya Kopylova (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science), Matthijs Smit (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00092541
Volume: 685
Publication Date: 5 July 2025

Publication: Organic Letters
�� Author(s): Katherine Ryan (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 15237060
Volume: 27
Page Range: 7261-7265
Publication Date: 4 July 2025

Publication: Plant Physiology
�� Author(s): Tao Huan (Chemistry / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 198
Publication Date: 3 July 2025

Publication: Aip Conference Proceedings
�� Author(s): Laks Lakshmanan (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0094243X
Volume: 3257
Publication Date: 2 July 2025

Publication: International Journal of Robotics Research
�� Author(s): Michiel Van de Panne (Computer Science / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 02783649
Volume: 44
Page Range: 1396-1427
Publication Date: July 2025

Publication: International Mathematics Research Notices
�� Author(s): Tai-Peng Tsai (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 10737928
Volume: 2025
Publication Date: 1 July 2025

Publication: Limnology and Oceanography
�� Author(s): Brian Hunt (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 70
Page Range: S8-S27
Publication Date: July 2025

Publication: Seismological Research Letters
�� Author(s): Michael Bostock (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 08950695
Volume: 96
Page Range: 2698-2713
Publication Date: July 2025

Publication: Communications in Mathematical Physics
�� Author(s): Gordon Slade (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00103616
Volume: 406
Publication Date: July 2025

Publication: Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
�� Author(s): Alison Lister (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 03702693
Volume: 866
Publication Date: July 2025

Publication: Inventiones Mathematicae
�� Author(s): Joshua Zahl (Mathematics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00209910
Volume: 241
Page Range: 153-206
Publication Date: July 2025

Publication: Journal of Classification
�� Author(s): Harry Sue Wah Joe (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 01764268
Volume: 42
Page Range: 335-363
Publication Date: July 2025

Publication: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
�� Author(s): Douglas Scott (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 2025
Publication Date: 1 July 2025

Publication: Bioinformatics
�� Author(s): Alexandre Bouchard-Cote (Statistics / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 13674803
Volume: 41
Publication Date: 1 July 2025

Publication: Journal of Zoology
�� Author(s): Douglas Altshuler (Zoology / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 09528369
Volume: 326
Page Range: 201-206
Publication Date: July 2025

Publication: Molecular Biology and Evolution
�� Author(s): Loren Rieseberg (Botany / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 07374038
Volume: 42
Publication Date: 1 July 2025

Publication: Genome Biology and Evolution
�� Author(s): Keith Adams (Botany / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 17
Publication Date: 1 July 2025

Publication: People and Nature
�� Author(s): Kai Chan (Institute for Resources,Environment & Sustainability / Faculty of Science)
Volume: 7
Page Range: 1480-1482
Publication Date: July 2025

Publication: Astronomy and Astrophysics
�� Author(s): Wing Shan Man (Physics & Astronomy / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 00046361
Volume: 699
Publication Date: 1 July 2025

Publication: Computers and Geotechnics
�� Author(s): Erik Eberhardt (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Faculty of Science)
ISSN: 0266352X
Volume: 183
Publication Date: July 2025

Recent Thesis Submissions

(MIIM - PHD)
(MIIM - MSC)
(GSAT - MSC)
(MIIM - MSC)
(GSAT - MSC)
(CHEM - PHD)
(CHEM - PHD)
(BOTA - PHD)
(CHEM - PHD)
(CHEM - PHD)
(CHEM - PHD)
(CHEM - PHD)
(GSAT - PHD)
(ZOOL - PHD)
(CHEM - PHD)
(BIOF - MSC)
(CHEM - PHD)
(CHEM - PHD)
(GSAT - MSC)
(MIIM - PHD)
(MIIM - MSC)
(MIIM - MSC)
(PHYS - MSC)
(ZOOL - PHD)
(BOTA - PHD)
(CHEM - PHD)
(PHYS - PHD)
(CHEM - PHD)
(OCGY - PHD)
(BIOF - MSC)

Doctoral Citations

A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.

Year	Citation	Program
2025	The energy transition will likely require increased mining of critical metals. Dr. Vanderzee's research can be used to help certain critical metal mines offset their greenhouse gas emissions by using their waste products for CO2 sequestration. The research can also be used to improve mine efficiency by leveraging detailed geological knowledge.	Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD)
2025	Dr. Zheng explored new efforts in green and sustainable organic synthesis towards creating pharmaceutically relevant nitrogen-containing compounds by leveraging the use of earth abundant metal catalysts.	Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2025	Dr.Nyamayaro explored bioderived materials as replacements for harmful plastics in advanced applications. He chemically tailored the properties of cellulosic materials and used them to fabricate biodegradable electronics and design innovative materials with novel flow properties. His findings advance eco-friendly materials in sustainable technology	Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2025	Dr. Bornarel developed an end-to-end model to investigate trophic amplification (how environmental changes intensify higher in the food web) along BC’s coast. By coupling physical-biogeochemical and food web models, they identified key feedbacks driving this process, advancing ecosystem modeling for fisheries and conservation.	Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2025	Dr. Sidrow developed new statistical methods to infer hidden behaviours from complex biologging data collected by modern sensors. He applied these methods to investigate the foraging behaviour of Killer Whales off the coast of British Columbia using animal-borne tags.	Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD)
2025	Dr. Fernández Boyano investigated placental DNA methylation to better understand early-onset preeclampsia, a serious pregnancy complication. Her work revealed distinct molecular features of this condition and informed a science communication initiative to bring placental research closer to the public.	Doctor of Philosophy in Genome Science and Technology (PhD)
2025	Dr. Press investigated how the avian brain uses visual motion to guide flight. He developed techniques to record neural activity in flying zebra finches and found that neurons known to mediate stabilizing eye movements are also implicated in locomotion. This research improves our understanding of how self-motion is encoded in behaving animals.	Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)
2025	Dr. Dufresne studied the ultrafast electron dynamics of a novel quantum material, revealing how electronic interactions drive its exotic insulating state. Utilising a developed laser system to and probe ultrathin samples, their work showed how light and dimensionality can tune and control emergent quantum phases.	Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)
2025	Ice nucleating substances can initiate ice formation in clouds, affecting cloud properties and climate. Dr. Worthy developed a new technique for studying ice nucleating substances in the environment, which can improve our understanding of their concentrations and identities, and thus their impacts on climate.	Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD)
2025	Dr. Pathak’s research focused on the interplay between topology and unconventional superconductivity in layered, two-dimensional quantum materials. Her research predicted novel mechanisms for topological phase formation, occurrence of Majorana modes and spontaneous edge currents, contributing to the development of future quantum technologies.	Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD)

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