SPEAKERS
SPEAKERS
Ara Beittoei
Tara Moreau
Navin Ramankutty
Jim Vercammen
BIOGRAPHIES
Ara Beittoei
Ara Beittoei is an educator and practitioner at the Centre for Community Engaged Learning and the Faculty of Applied Science at the University of British Columbia. Upon completing a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering he pursued further studies in environmental studies and sustainability science at Lund University, Sweden where he developed a special interest in systems dynamics and learning methods that are conducive to sustainability and social change. He currently works on developing and embedding community-based experiential learning into courses and programs at UBC.
Tara Moreau
Dr. Tara Moreau is the Associate Director, Sustainability and Community Programs at University of British Columbia (UBC) Botanical Garden. She is responsible for developing, overseeing and implementing all aspects of sustainability and community programs.
In 2012, Tara completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship with the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions through a joint appointment at UBC and Kwantlen Polytechnic University. She holds a PhD in Plant Science from the Faculty of Land and Food Systems (UBC, 2010), an MSc in Agriculture (Dalhousie University, 2004) and a BSc in Biology & Environmental Science (Bishops University, 2000).
Tara comes to the Garden with international sustainability experience working as a consultant with the UN-Food and Agriculture Organization. Locally, she is Co-Chair of Vancouver’s Food Policy Council and is a volunteer board member at the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation’s (SPEC) where she co-founded the SPEC School Garden Program and the SPEC Urban Farmer Field School. Tara is lead author on peer-reviewed publications and has presented on issues related to food systems, sustainability education, organic pest controls and food policy.
Navin Ramankutty is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Environmental Change and Food Security at the Liu Institute for Global Issues and the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. His research program aims to understand how humans use and modify the Earth’s land surface for agriculture and its implications for the global environment. Using global Earth observations and numerical ecosystem models, his research aims to find solutions to the problem of feeding humanity with minimal global environmental footprint. He contributed to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report and to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He was an editor of the journal Global Food Security and Global Ecology and Biogeography, and is an Associate Editor of Environmental Research Letters. He is an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow.
Navin Ramankutty
Jim (James) Vercammen grew up on a mixed grain and cattle farm in southeastern Saskatchewan. After completing a bachelor and masters degree in agricultural economics at the University of Saskatchewan, he pursued a PhD in Agriculture and Resource Economics at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1991 he began his academic appointment at the University of British Columbia with a joint appointment with the Food and Resource Economics Group and the Sauder School of Business. Jim originally examined farm credit and insurance markets, grain transportation and agri-food policy. His more recent interests include agri-food innovation and agri-environmental markets with a specific emphasis on contracts. Jim is currently one of four editors of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics (2013 – 2017).