The Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, and Ecosystem Services (BRAES) is a group of over 33 faculty members and their graduate students working in ecology, biodiversity and conservation, and environmental sustainability on UBC’s Okanagan Campus. BRAES’ special strength is its multidisciplinary focus, with members from departments of biology, mathematics and statistics, literary and cultural studies, earth and environmental sciences, physical geography, economics and creative arts.
BRAES is located on the third floor of the Science building on campus. It was founded with funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) that helped to build many of the laboratories currently used by BRAES researchers. Our facilities include:
- Soils laboratory
- Microscope room
- Physiology laboratory
- Computer/GIS laboratory
- Ecology laboratory
- Freezer room
- Cold rooms
- Preparatory room
- Radio-isotope room.
The group began as a Research Centre for Species at Risk in 2005 and became an Institute (known as SARAHS – The Institute for Species at Risk and Habitat Studies) in 2010. Today, BRAES has grown to include more members and a large number of affiliated laboratories. In 2014, the institute changed its name to The Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, and Ecosystem Services to better reflect the breadth and scope of the group’s research expertise.
BRAES researchers work in a range of environments and locations around the globe. They maintain active affiliations with many partner organizations, including government ministries and NGOs. BRAES is committed to promoting research partnerships and carrying out research that will directly inform environmental policy and management decisions.
Photo: B. Lalonde
Affiliated research groups and laboratories
Biodiversity and Landscape Ecology Research Facility
Complex Environmental Systems Laboratory
The Ecological and Conservation Genomics Lab
Fragment Analysis and DNA Sequencing Services (FADSS)
Forest and Mycorrhiza Ecology & Ecophysiology Research Group