Message from the Dean, LFS Community Connects: January 2025
Posted on January 29, 2025
Welcome to the first issue of LFS Community Connects for 2025. I hope your new year is going well so far!
As I’ve settled into my position as Dean pro tem since October 1, I’ve been fortunate to meet alumni, mentors, industry partners, and students. I’ve learned that many of you are putting your skills to work through entrepreneurial endeavours, helping to fuel our economy here in B.C., working in careers that support human health in diverse ways, and finding solutions that will help advance sustainability in the agri-food industry.
I look forward to engaging even more with you to learn about the work that you are doing, as well as the successes and challenges that you’re encountering.
So far this year with numerous news events happening or forthcoming, I’m certain many of you are preparing, as best you can, to withstand shocks that could impact our country, province, and the agri-food industry, while being cognizant of the future challenges that climate change may bring farmers and producers.
At the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, we are also finding new ways to approach issues that could be part of our future and, therefore, would be very interested in hearing your ideas and approaches to ensure a sustainable food resource. It could be related to extreme climate events that intertwine with our areas of research and study; reviewing policy that impacts food and resource economics; finding solutions to improve food sustainability in agricultural fields; improving safety in the processed food industry, while being in tune with the current messaging as it relates to nutritional quality and food producing; or, ensuring the welfare of animals.
We are fortunate to have three research sites devoted to hands-on learning: the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, the UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre in Agassiz, B.C., and the upcoming Dan On Food and Beverage Innovation Centre on campus. Coordinating faculty-student research activities within these Centre’s to collaborate, will offer a very unique and relevant position for LFS’s agri-food mission, both nationally and internationally.
I would like to warmly acknowledge that it is Lunar New Year this week! In this year of the Snake, we should adopt some of the positive traits commonly associated those born under the sign: resourcefulness, determination, perceptive, and caring for others.
All the best for a healthy and productive 2025,
David Kitts
Professor and Dean pro tem