UBC Community Engagement

After the Rupture: Positioning BC and Canada in a Changing Global Trade Landscape

For decades, the Canada-US relationship was of two nations bound by an intertwined economic fabric. Now, as the 2026 review of CUSMA looms and global protectionism becomes a new global standard, the strands may be fraying to a breaking point. On March 19, 2026, a panel of leading experts from the Allard School of Law, Vancouver School of Economics, Faculty of Forestry and Political Science joined a public audience at UBC Robson Square to move beyond the headlines and consider new geopolitical realities and their impact on Canada as a nation and the daily lives of individual Canadians.

Stories of partnership: How Community Veterinary Outreach and UBC are leveraging the bond between people and their pets to improve health access in the DTES

In Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES), Community Veterinary Outreach, a national charity, is working with UBC researchers and students to reduce barriers to health care by allowing people to access support for themselves alongside their trusted animal companions. Research shows that pets offer profound physical, emotional and mental health benefits, especially for people facing marginalization. For many, the well-being of their animal takes priority over their own.   CVO's model leverages that bond, providing veterinary care alongside human health services in the same space by creating a setting where people come to care for their animals. The model also opens the door to preventative care, health advocacy, and social support that clients may not otherwise pursue for themselves. To learn more about this project, we spoke with Kyla Townsend and Kelsi Jasmine from Community Veterinary Outreach (note: Kelsi has since moved on from CVO), as well as members of UBC's animal welfare program: Alex Boo, veterinarian and adjunct professor, and graduate student Alexis Ly. We discuss how their project got started, the unique way CVO approaches its work, and the good that has come from bringing veterinary and human health services together. This initiative was supported by the Community University Engagement Support Fund.

Stories of Partnership: How the Nuxalk Nation Is Working with UBC's Museum of Anthropology to Host the First-Ever Exhibit of Their People

In partnership with the Nuxalk Nation, the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at the University of British Columbia is presenting Nuxalk Strong: Dancing Down the Eyelashes of the Sun—the world's first dedicated exhibition of the Nuxalk. The exhibit features over 60 historic treasures from MOA's collections, as well as other museums, private holders, and Nuxalk families. Visitors are invited to connect with belongings made by Nuxalk Ancestors and contemporary Nuxalk artists, and to witness how the Nation is reclaiming and practicing their ways of being. This exhibition represents a transformative shift in how the Nuxalk Nation engages with museums—not as extractive institutions, but as platforms to share their belief systems, worldviews, and identity with the larger world. To learn more about this groundbreaking collaboration, we spoke with the curators of Nuxalk Strong about the exhibit and the evolving relationship between the Nuxalk Nation and the Museum of Anthropology. Our guests are Snxakila–Clyde Tallio of the Nuxalk Nation, Jennifer Kramer, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Curator at MOA, and Emily Jene Leischner, Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia and a UBC alumna. Learn more: https://communityengagement.ubc.ca/news/how-the-nuxalk-nation-is-working-with-ubcs-museum-of-anthropology-to-host-the-first-ever-exhibit-of-their-people/ [https://communityengagement.ubc.ca/news/how-the-nuxalk-nation-is-working-with-ubcs-museum-of-anthropology-to-host-the-first-ever-exhibit-of-their-people/]

UBC Okanagan Students and a Peachland Conservation Group are Using Bats and Bugs to Build Community Conservation

In Peachland British Columbia, a local conservation group is turning the night sky into a classroom, inviting students and community members to study bats, insects, and the vital ecosystems they share. Peachland’s Bat Education and Ecological Protection Society [https://beepspeachland.com/], better known as BEEPS, leads the Nocturnal Bat and Insect Survey Project, a hands-on learning opportunity that’s using the magic of the nighttime world to spark curiosity, research and education. To learn more about this project, we spoke with collaborators Emma Gaudreau, president of BEEPS and Lily Liang, a UBC Okanagan student majoring in ecology, evolution and conservation in biology [https://biology.ok.ubc.ca/undergraduate/ecology-evolution-and-conservation-biology/] (Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science [https://science.ok.ubc.ca/]) and who also serves as the director of BEEPS. Visit our website here to learn more about the project and read the episode transcript: https://communityengagement.ubc.ca/news/ubc-okanagan-peachland-beeps-bat-survey-project/ [https://communityengagement.ubc.ca/news/ubc-okanagan-peachland-beeps-bat-survey-project/]

UBC Partnering in Research Conference: Community-Engaged Research Ask Me Anything

What does community-engaged research look like in practice, and how can researchers navigate the complexities that arise from community involvement? In this special "Ask Me Anything" session, recorded live at the 2025 UBC Partnering in Research Conference, our speakers tackle these questions and more, sharing insights and practical strategies for effective community engagement. Featured speakers include Katherine Cheng (Downtown Eastside SRO Collaborative), Dr. Michelle Stack (UBC Department of Educational Studies), and Bruce Moghtader (UBC Centre for Community Engaged Learning). As an interactive event, the episode also features reflections and questions from audience members. Together, they explore what it means for research to be truly community-led, the importance of equitable funding practices, and the need for flexible, renegotiable agreements that reflect community timelines over academic pressures. The discussion also surfaces institutional barriers that continue to challenge community-university collaboration, including tenure and promotion systems that undervalue engagement. Listeners will also gain strategies for approaching trauma-informed topics, navigating internal community dynamics, and ensuring accessibility across all stages of partnered research. This episode is part of “Challenges in Partnered Research,” a Q&A series by Partnering in Research [https://communityengagement.ubc.ca/our-work/partnering-in-research/] that highlights individuals transforming policies, practices, and communities through collaborative research. This is one of three sessions recorded live at the UBC Partnering in Research Conference at UBC Robson Square on June 12th, 2025.