Happy Pride Month!

We’re proud of every one of our faculty, staff & students here in the Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences. For Pride Month, we’ve been interviewing members who identify as part of the LGBTQ2SIA+ Community. Hopefully their stories will help young queer people feel comfortable exploring a future in science.

Professor Kendra Chritz – Geochemist & Paleoecologist

Kendra Chritz is an assistant professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences. She looks at the chemistry of ancient biological material (teeth, bones, soils) to tell what past environments were like. Her particular interest is in the intersecting interactions between people and their ecosystems over time: how the environments we evolved in made us who we are, how prone we are to modifying our environments, what we’re doing to environments now. Because of her particular focus on the ancient evolutionary aspect of her work, I do most of my research in museums around the world and in the field in eastern Africa, where we evolved.

Andy Randell – Geologist & Science Communications Guru

Andy is a professional geologist living in Vancouver who is tailoring his career to bring change to the minerals exploration industry. Since 2014, he has established his consulting business, SGDS Hive, which takes on graduate geoscientists and mentors them through a variety of exploration projects to help engage and educate the next generation of geologists. He also started a non-profit society, Below BC, to provide outreach to the public around Earth Science topics, which now serves several thousand people in British Columbia each year. Andy was awarded the Bedford Young Mining Leaders Award from the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum in 2016 for his ongoing contributions to the industry, and the AME Special Tribute Award 2020 for contributions to geological knowledge in British Columbia. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Geoscience from the University of Cardiff (Wales). Outside of his own businesses, Andy is an Executive Director at the Association for Mineral Exploration, and also sits on the Geological Society Committee for the Canadian Institute of Mining, Mining and Petroleum and has several other community volunteer roles beyond the exploration industry.

Dr. Craig PokuAtmospheric Scientist

Dr. Craig Poku is an atmospheric and climate scientist based at the University of Leeds. He completed a degree in Mathematics at King’s College London, where he graduated with a 1st Class Honours in 2014. Following this, he went onto a completing a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences in 2019, where he focused on improving our understanding on fog microphysics over the UK. His current work focuses on improving fog forecasting over India, in addition to understanding how we can adapt climate change communications for different parts of society.

Professor Sara Harris – Climate Science Educator

Sara Harris is a Professor of Teaching in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia. She typically teaches climate science, environmental science, and oceanography, which she will continue after she finishes serving in the Faculty of Science Dean’s Office as Associate Dean Academic.

Anthony Di Stefano – Atmospheric Scientist

Anthony Di Stefano is a PhD student in the Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia. Anthony is an atmospheric scientist whose work aims to improve the representation of clouds and precipitation in weather forecast models. His goal is to produce higher-accuracy precipitation forecasts in British Columbia. In the new normal brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Anthony is taking time to re-examine his purpose, in research as in everyday life. His aim is to bring social and scientific views of the weather closer together, and to be part of a science community embracing greater standards of inclusion, equity and justice.

Daniel Gowryluk – Museum Educator

Daniel Gowryluk is the Education Outreach Coordinator and Assistant Curator at the Pacific Museum of Earth. Daniel joined the PME team in 2018 following a successful career path through several other science museums—from Manitoba to British Columbia. He has a passion for inspiring curiosity and wonder in all museum visitors and has fundamentally reshaped the museum’s outreach voice through his whimsical and upbeat personality.

Professor Mitch D’Arcy – Geomorphologist

Mitch D’Arcy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia. Mitch joined the faculty at UBC in March 2020, making him one of the newest faculty members. He is a geomorphologist who studies how climate change influences surface processes on Earth. Originally from London in the U.K., Mitch has been in Germany for the past years prior to his move to Vancouver.

Professor Stuart Sutherland – Micro-Palaeontologist

Stuart Sutherland is a micro-paleontologist and Professor of teaching in the Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia. Originally from the U.K., Stuart has been in Vancouver since 2000 when he joined the faculty at UBC. He is an award-winning educator and currently serves as the Chairperson of the Pacific Museum of Earth’s Governing Committee.

A Note on our new Pride Logo:

Every year we enjoy turning our already colourful branding into a special Pride Logo. This year, we recreated the “Progress” Pride Flag using photographs of specimens in our collection! Can you name any of them? Do you know the meanings of the various colours in this Pride Flag?

Bars:

  • Red = Life (Zoisite/ Thulite from Canada)
  • Orange = Healing (Opalized wood from Nevada)
  • Yellow = Sunlight (Sulfur from San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico)
  • Green = Nature (Uvarovite from Russia)
  • Blue = Serenity (Lapis from Afghanistan)
  • Purple = Spirit (Amethyst displayed in our gallery)

Chevrons:

  • Black & Brown = Communities of Colour (Black = Hemtatite from Cumberland, UK: Brown = Crocidolite from South Africa)
  • Pink, Light Blue & White = The Trans Community (Pink = Rhodocrosite, No Location Data: Blue = Halite/Salt from Saskatchewan: White = Opal from Coober Pedy, South Australia)