2026 Peter Wall Legacy Award Recipients
UBC is excited to announce the recipients of the 2026 Wall Fellowships and Wall Research Awards.
Each year, these prestigious UBC awards provide approximately $4-million to push forward innovative faculty and student research tackling major sustainability challenges in British Columbia and around the world. The Wall Legacy Awards are made possible by an extraordinary gift from Dr. Peter Wall, now exceeding $165-million.
All projects align with three key areas of focus: urban sustainability, environmental protection of coastal areas, and sustainable approaches to resource-intensive industries, with a particular emphasis on the province of B.C. Research ranges from climate change to biodiversity loss, sustainable transportation, energy storage, urban water systems, biodiversity conservation, and more.
Read the media release here.
Wall Fellowships
Wall Fellowships of $1,000,000 each were awarded to:
Mapping invisible networks of ocean microbiomes
Ocean microbes are essential to healthy marine ecosystems, yet little is known about how they move between species or spread disease. This research will map microbial networks among B.C. coastal invertebrates living adjacent to intensive aquaculture, documenting their microbiomes, identifying hidden reservoirs of marine pathogens, and improving our ability to trace disease outbreaks. Working with coastal First Nations and the Hakai Institute, the project will also engage First Nations students in community-based environmental genomics research, combining scientific discovery with local knowledge to help protect ocean health.
Healthy urban environments: Tackling toxic tire-derived chemicals to protect people and ecosystems
Every year in B.C., toxic chemicals from tire wear wash off roads, contributing to coho salmon die-offs, harming aquatic ecosystems, and exposing people to potentially harmful pollutants. Working with municipal and First Nations partners, this research will investigate how tire-derived chemicals affect human and ecosystem health, measure exposures, and develop sustainable solutions to reduce contamination from road runoff and airborne tire particles. By advancing our understanding of how urban infrastructure affects health, this work will help create healthier communities and protect aquatic ecosystems from toxic contaminants.
Wall Research Awards – Individual Faculty Awards
Research awards of $80,000 each were awarded to:
From Forest Ruts to Streams: How Forestry Machinery Alters Water and Solute Pathways and Connectivity
Forestry machinery can leave behind ruts, tracks, and compacted soils that alter how rainfall and snowmelt move through forests and reach streams, yet these impacts remain poorly understood. This research will examine forested landscapes across British Columbia, using advanced modelling to understand how machinery-related disturbances affect water movement and stream connectivity under current and future climate conditions. In partnership with regional offices of the B.C. Ministry of Forests, the project will translate these findings into practical guidance for forestry operations to help protect water resources in actively managed forests and surrounding communities.
After the Burn: Impacts of Wildfire Ash on Young Salmon
As wildfires become more frequent and severe, their hidden impacts on freshwater ecosystems are an increasing concern. When wildfire ash washes into streams where Pacific salmon lay their eggs, it can alter water chemistry and introduce harmful compounds that may affect young salmon’s development, behaviour, and survival. This research will investigate how wildfire ash exposure impacts salmon during their earliest life stages, addressing a critical knowledge gap. The findings will help guide conservation strategies and freshwater habitat management during wildfire events to better protect salmon populations in a changing climate.
MICROVIROWORM: Exploring the Roles of Earthworm Viromes and Microbiomes in Enhancing Agroecosystem Resilience in British Columbia
Intensive farming can lead to decreased soil nutrient cycling and raise the risk of plant diseases. Building on a previous diversity study at the UBC Farm, this research will investigate the roles of microbes and viruses living within B.C. earthworms and their potential to enhance nutrient availability in soils and improve plant resilience to soil-borne diseases, ultimately reducing dependence on synthetic inputs. Our project aims to develop sustainable methods that will help improve soil and plant health and create a more resilient farming system, aided by the ‘soil engineers’, the earthworms, and their resident microbes.
Wall Research Awards – Team Faculty Awards
Research Awards of $200,000 each were awarded to:
Climate Change and its Impact on B.C.’s Electricity Generation: AI Driven Climate and Grid Planning
British Columbia relies on hydropower for clean electricity, but climate change is altering snowpack and water flows, making energy supply less predictable as demand grows from population growth, electric vehicles, and heating. This research will use climate data, water system modelling, and advanced energy system analysis to understand future impacts on B.C.’s electricity system and identify solutions, including renewable energy and storage options. The findings will support long-term planning for a reliable, resilient and sustainable electricity system in the face of a changing climate.
Sociovirology for sustainable management of grapevine leafroll disease
Grapevine leafroll disease poses a severe challenge for B.C.’s wine industry, affecting three-quarters of newly planted vines and reducing grape quality and yields. With no cure available, growers often remove infected vines, creating waste and increasing reliance on imported plants and chemical treatments. This research will use sociovirology – an emerging field that explores interactions between viruses – to develop more sustainable disease management strategies, including identifying plants that can safely remain in vineyards and using beneficial viruses to protect against disease. The project will advance environmentally friendly approaches to support a resilient B.C. wine industry.
Untapping Watershed Relations: Water in Woodhaven Park
The Okanagan Nation Alliance’s Water Strategy calls for collaborative efforts to “Build collective siwɬkʷ [water] consciousness.” This entails understanding watersheds not only as hydrological, but also social and cultural entities. Guided by this call, the project will address current water stress and ecological deterioration in Woodhaven Regional Park (Kelowna, B.C.) as part of the greater Bellevue Creek watershed. It will train a cohort of interdisciplinary graduate students in arts-sciences methodologies specifically around watershed relations, and support this cohort to develop, implement, and contribute to a series of science-informed, interdisciplinary arts-led community engagement activities that foreground climate and water justice principles.
Sustainable Forestry in an Uncertain Climate: A Co-developed Approach to Modelling Post-harvest Regeneration and Wildfire Risk
Forestry is one of British Columbia’s most important economic sectors, but climate change is challenging the practices that have long supported it. Rising temperatures, drought, and wildfire are affecting how forests recover after harvesting and fire. In partnership with Ntityix Resources, a Westbank First Nation forestry company that already practices long-term, sustainable forest management, this research will model how climate and management practices interact to shape forest regeneration, wildfire risk, and wildlife habitat outcomes. The findings will support climate-ready, place-based forestry strategies that advance sustainable forest management across B.C.
From Field to Supply Chain: A Multi-Indicator Sustainability Benchmarking Framework for British Columbia Farms
B.C. farmers face growing demands from buyers, certifiers, and policymakers to demonstrate sustainability across areas such as greenhouse gas emissions, soil health, biodiversity, and farming practices, yet no single tool helps them measure progress across these areas. Building on LiteFarm, UBC’s globally used farm management application, this research will create a free, bilingual, privacy-protected sustainability benchmarking tool that helps farms respond to diverse supply chain requirements through a unified approach. Co-designed with B.C. and global farming communities, including small-scale and Indigenous producers, the platform will support sustainable agriculture, inform policy, and strengthen climate and biodiversity efforts across the province.
Wall Research Awards – Graduate Student Awards
Research awards of $25,000 each for master’s students and $30,000-$60,000 each for doctoral students were awarded to:
Hyperlocal Air Pollution Characterization Across Vancouver’s Urban Landscapes
My research focuses on characterizing traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) at the neighborhood scale, where people live, work, and play. As cities increasingly emphasize denser, mixed-use development to accommodate population growth and reduce urban sprawl, concentrating more people and traffic into smaller spaces can inadvertently increase public exposure to TRAP. Using a mobile laboratory equipped with air quality sensors, I will measure hyperlocal, on-road TRAP concentrations across land-use designations in Vancouver. These measurements will then be used to evaluate and improve the regulatory air pollution model used to assess compliance with air quality standards, AERMOD, supporting better estimation of air pollution in densifying cities.
Designing Resilient Medical Supply Chains for British Columbia
My research develops mathematical models for making British Columbia’s medical supply chains robust enough to survive major shocks. Rural and remote communities depend on a small number of fragile transportation corridors for medical supplies, with little redundancy if any of them fail. I use optimization algorithms to decide where to place 3D printing hubs and drone delivery routes, how hospitals should source supplies, and how inventory should be managed across the network. The goal is to ensure communities don’t lose access to critical medical care when roads close, demand surges, or supply lines fail.
Design Strategies for British Columbia’s Wildland-Urban Interface
My research examines how architects and landscape architects can promote fire-adapted urbanization in high-risk communities across British Columbia. As climate change intensifies wildfire activity in B.C., more homes are expected to burn, particularly at the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where burnable structures meet vegetative wildlands. Using geospatial analysis, my research will examine the spatial relationships between wildfire risk, settlement patterns, and socioeconomic factors affecting housing outcomes in B.C. Building on these findings, my research will develop regionally applicable design strategies to help inform safer, more sustainable approaches to development in British Columbia’s WUI.
Understanding Barriers to Expanding Kelowna’s Urban Forest
My research aims to support the City of Kelowna in expanding their urban forest as part of their efforts to adapt to extreme summer heat. Urban trees provide myriad benefits, but infrastructure and specific land-use types often take precedence. Using a model that virtually plants trees, I will investigate whether Kelowna’s current canopy targets are realistic, and which barriers, policy adjustments, and landscape features will most impact the future forest. This research will provide city staff and forestry professionals with a flexible tool for planning a sustainable urban forest that helps keep cities like Kelowna cool.
Engineering Bacteria for Sustainable Copper Removal
My research focuses on transforming safe, naturally-occurring bacteria into tiny copper-capturing machines. By equipping them with proteins found in nature, these bacteria can pull dissolved copper out of contaminated water before it reaches rivers and lakes. This approach combines microbiology and engineering to create a cleaner, more sustainable alternative to conventional water treatment. My goal is to develop a technology that helps reduce the environmental impacts of mining and industry while protecting the freshwater ecosystems that communities across British Columbia depend on.
Effects of glyphosate exposure on the gut microbiomes of free-ranging forest mammals
My research investigates how the use of Glyphosate-Based Herbicides (GBH) in B.C. affects forest ecology by examining the gut microbiomes of wild mammals. Glyphosate has been shown to bioaccumulate and disrupt gut microbial communities with downstream health consequences, but there has been little research evaluating the effects of industrial GBH application on the gut microbiota of wildlife, and how wildlife health and behavior might change as a result. I use fecal samples from voles, weasels, and moose to compare microbial composition and functionality with known GBH application and glyphosate content. I aim to inform sustainable forestry practices and government policies.
Understanding Carbon Storage in British Columbia’s Coastal Marshes
My research focuses on understanding why some coastal marshes store more carbon than others. Coastal marshes naturally remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, making them important allies in addressing climate change. However, not all marshes function the same way, and we still know relatively little about what controls their ability to act as long-term carbon sinks. By comparing two coastal marshes in the Fraser River delta with different hydrological conditions, I will investigate how water movement and vegetation influence carbon storage. This research will improve our understanding of coastal wetland ecosystems and help inform conservation, restoration, and climate planning in British Columbia.
Cultivating resilience: Fire, restoration, and community visions for shrub-steppe stewardship
My research focuses on the fire ecology of endangered antelopebrush ecosystems in the Okanagan Valley, B.C., which are one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in Canada. This project investigates the impacts of prescribed burning, or the use of controlled low-intensity fires, as a sustainable management approach to reduce the risk of wildfires and facilitate ecological restoration of these fire-adapted ecosystems. In addition to traditional field data collection, interviews and workshops with community members will be conducted to find pathways forward for sustainable and inclusive community-led conservation and management that bridges across values, priorities, and diverse visions for the future.
Bloom or Bust: How local processes influence phytoplankton in Barkley Sound, British Columbia
My research focuses on the conditions that influence phytoplankton in Barkley Sound, British Columbia. Phytoplankton, or microscopic marine algae, form the base of ocean food webs. Their seasonal blooms provide a critical food source for many important species in British Columbia, such as salmon. However, bloom timing and size can vary, and short-term extreme events like marine heatwaves can disrupt healthy bloom conditions. Most current monitoring focuses on large ocean regions, missing important small-scale processes that influence phytoplankton growth—such as tides and daily wind patterns. My research uses high-resolution ocean measurements to explore how local processes impact coastal phytoplankton.
Intelligent System of Sustainable Biomass Reactors
My research aims to make AI ‘black boxes’—systems making accurate decisions without showing how or why—completely transparent. I design methods that uncover their true reasoning logic, allowing us to monitor, guide, fix, and guarantee these systems operate reasonably. I am applying this to automate portable machines (with AI systems) that convert British Columbia’s forestry waste into clean energy, such as biochar-based fertilizers. By discovering how these complex machines actually operate, we can build a smart controller that reliably adapts to varying forest conditions. This ensures safe waste conversion, reduces wildfire risks, and empowers rural communities with sustainable bioenergy.
Between Laws: Collaborative Governance and Decolonization in the Quw’utsun-Xwulqw’selu Watershed
My research examines how water governance in British Columbia is evolving amid Indigenous legal resurgence and accelerating climate change. As Indigenous people assert their rights and legal traditions in environmental decision-making, multiple knowledges and laws are interacting in governance spaces. I focus on how Indigenous governments, and specifically Cowichan Tribes First Nation, are collaborating with Crown governments in planning and governance around the Cowichan-Koksilah watershed. By examining the changing dynamics and expectations of authority in co-governance, this research aims to produce practical recommendations for communities seeking to bring more sustainable and decolonized visions for sharing watersheds to life.
When does hybridization promote invasion success? Evolutionary insights from a beach invader
My research aims to better understand the evolutionary role of hybridization (cross-species mating) during successful species invasions. Invasive species are one of the largest drivers of global biodiversity loss and can have negative consequences for human health, ecosystem functioning, and native biodiversity. Through investigating a robust system of beach invaders (C. maritima and C. edentula) that are naturally hybridizing along the coast of British Columbia and Australia, and by incorporating advanced genetic and genomic tools, I hope to elucidate the mechanisms underlying invasion success, predict future trajectories of invasives, and help inform invasive species management and prevention.
Microchip systems for rapid detection of environmental pollutants
My research focuses on developing a microchip – specifically a microfluidic chip – system capable of simultaneously separating and detecting individual pollutants within an aqueous sample. Such a system can extract information and control the movement of sample volumes that are a few hundred picolitres small – approximately ten thousand times smaller than a human tear. Currently, my microchip system can separate and detect individual antibiotic residues, an emerging pollutant of great concern in aquatic environments and food systems. Ultimately, my research has the potential to improve environmental pollutant screening efforts.
Lightweight and Interpretable Decision Trees for Bridging the Industrial AI Deployment Gap
My research explores how optimization can improve lightweight and interpretable AI models, such as decision trees, and how these optimized models can support industrial decision-making in areas such as process monitoring and predictive control. Unlike complex ‘black-box’ models, optimized decision trees can explain their predictions through clear, human-readable rules while remaining small enough to deploy on embedded or edge devices. I am applying this work to portable biomass-to-biochar conversion reactors in British Columbia’s forestry sector, where trustworthy real-time monitoring can help operators accurately detect undesirable reaction conditions and improve the production of valuable bioproducts and clean energy.
Attributing Ocean Extremes and Fisheries Decline to Climate Change
My research aims to quantify how climate change is driving extreme ocean conditions and fisheries declines along the B.C. coast and to link these impacts back to specific sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Marine heatwaves and other ocean extremes have already affected important B.C. species like salmon and herring, with cascading effects on coastal ecosystems, economies, and cultural practices. By combining data from both climate and fisheries models, this work will determine how confidently these fisheries impacts can be attributed to emissions, supporting climate accountability and stronger protection of B.C.’s marine environments.
Characterizing the viruses of copepods and larval Dungeness crab in British Columbia
My research identifies, studies, and monitors viruses of copepods and larval Dungeness crab, planktonic animals that are integral to B.C. marine food webs and fisheries. The viruses that infect these organisms and their effects on host populations remain poorly understood, with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) identifying a specific knowledge gap in Dungeness crab larval biology. B.C. fishers and conservation bodies rely on accurate biological information, including knowledge of pathogens, to support healthy fisheries and ecosystems. My research will strengthen pathogen surveillance and contribute to understanding the life cycles of organisms key to B.C.’s coastal economy.
Rethinking Mobility in a Warming Climate
My research focuses on understanding how the built environment and microclimate conditions shape older adults’ mobility and experiences in a warming climate. In collaboration with the Inclusive Environments Lab at Simon Fraser University and community partners across Metro Vancouver, I combine walk-along interviews, real-time surveys, and environmental measurements collected along neighbourhood routes to better understand how older adults experience heat in their everyday lives. This research will provide practical, place-based evidence to help design climate-responsive urban environments that support mobility, accessibility, and participation in community life for older adults in British Columbia and beyond.
“We Have Been Around Water Since Day One”: The Non-Material Dimensions of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Relationships with the Ch’iyákmesh River
My research focuses on understanding the non-material relationships that Squamish People hold with the Ch’iyákmesh River. Through sharing circles, walks and talks, and community-based research, the project explores the cultural, spiritual, emotional, and ancestral dimensions that shape Squamish relationships with the river. By centring Indigenous knowledge and lived experience, this research aims to support more holistic approaches to freshwater governance and contribute to reconciliation by highlighting values that are often overlooked in conventional water management.
Microbes Turning Manure into Renewable Energy
My research focuses on the microorganisms that turn livestock manure into renewable natural gas. British Columbia’s dairy, hog, and poultry farms produce enormous amounts of manure that can pollute air, soil, and water if left unmanaged. Anaerobic digestion offers a solution, using microbes to convert waste into biogas, but current systems often underperform. I study the hidden microbial communities inside farm-scale digesters to understand which organisms work together most effectively, and how combining different manure types can boost energy output. My findings will help farmers turn waste into a valuable, sustainable energy resource.