Grant: Collaborative Research and Training Experience

Biodiversity research seeks to understand the spectrum of biological diversity, its evolution, and its protection through research at all levels, from genes to ecosystems through to interactions with society. As the scope of global climate change, human-caused habitat alterations, and associated extinction rates rise, the need to understand what generates and maintains biodiversity has never been more pressing. The University of British Columbia's Biodiversity Research Centre proposes to build a premier training program, named Biodiversity Research: Integrative Training & Education (BRITE). The BRITE program will increase our capacity for training of biodiversity scientists at all levels - undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral. The innovative nature of the application - allowing for rotations among labs, international travel and collaboration, and internships with partner agencies - will produce a generation of biodiversity scientists who are able to integrate diverse research tools and questions to understand the ecology and evolution of life on earth and to solve one of the most pressing problems of our time: the rapid loss of species diversity. Scientists trained by BRITE will not only improve our understanding of what generates and maintains biodiversity, but these scientists will also be better equipped to translate this understanding into concrete action - affecting policy, assessing species and ecosystems at risk, developing recovery plans, and guiding Canada toward effective measures to protect our environment and the incredible diversity of life that it supports.