Climate Communications and Engagement Coordinator

The Department of Psychology’s Climate Action Committee received UBC Workplace Sustainability Funding for its project Resilient Futures: Climate Stories and Action. To meet the project’s goals, the committee is recruiting a UBC student to support digital communications, website development, storytelling, programming, and events.

About Resilient Futures: Climate Stories and Action

This project aims to a) inspire actionable climate solutions by amplifying personal stories of climate action; b) improve research collaboration and sustainability through equipment sharing; and c) address climate anxiety by hosting workshops and events with psychologists and behavioural sustainability experts.

The project aligns with UBC’s CAP2030 Engagement & Outreach goals by fostering climate literacy and inspiring collective action through storytelling and workshops. Through storytelling and events, this project will inspire students, faculty, and staff to adopt climate-positive behaviours and create conversations around climate anxiety and climate action.

Work performed

In consultation with the Communications Specialist and Climate Action Committee (Chair: Dr. Jiaying Zhao), the successful candidate will have responsibilities in these areas:

Climate storytelling

Create a story series to showcase positive examples of carbon reduction while boosting productivity and well-being in the department
Manage climate story submission portal on the psychology department’s website
Create communications plan to invite climate story submissions on how to cut carbon while improving our research and teaching
Develop other knowledge translation pieces, such as video clips
Develop and launch a social media campaign featuring personal stories of climate action.
Expand opportunities for public climate learning through climate related content
Develop digital story archive
Design a certificate to recognize climate champions

Engagement

Work with Psychology Climate Action Committee on workshop content; coordinate and market events and workshops.
Market and promote the workshops and events.

Online trading market for research equipment
Create a webpage on PSYC AIR (Arts Internal Resources Website) to facilitate the sharing and exchange of research equipment among psychology labs.

Flight efficiency: conference travel decision tool
Create a decision tree for conference travel within the department to help faculty and students decide when and how to fly; what factors to consider, E.g. local over international, direct flights over layovers, social networking, collaborations, virtual meetings.

Admin

Develop creative and project briefs; manage timelines to support the progress of projects.
Assist with the development of written and visual communication materials, including reports, briefs, website posts, infographics and presentations.
Package workshop materials to be made publicly available and to provide a foundation for future learning.

Qualifications and Experience

UBC undergraduate or graduate student in sustainability, marketing, media studies, journalism, psychology or an appropriate combination of relevant skills and experience will be considered.
Commitment to climate action, climate justice, and building public awareness around environmental challenges.
Interest in helping others understand climate issues and take meaningful action.
Experience in coordinating and facilitating online and/or in person events.
Experience in design, new media, and digital communications. Eager to learn new technologies.
Experience with WordPress or other Content Management Systems
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, a good grasp of grammar, and demonstrable creativity, accuracy and attention to detail.
Well-developed planning and organizational skills; ability to multi-task and prioritize.
Ability to exercise initiative, resourcefulness and sound judgment.
Be adaptable, responsive, collaborative and enthusiastic about producing high quality communications and events that further the reputation and presence of our department.
Must enjoy working with people, have the ability and desire to work in a dynamic and learning culture work environment.

Salary/Wage: $25/hour | Hours per week: 8-10
Duration: July 10, 2025 – September 10, 2025

To apply

Submit resume and cover letter on Careers Online (Job ID: 989331) or to Bonnie Vockeroth, Communications Specialist, UBC Psychology

Application deadline

July, 1, 2025

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Learn more about our EDI in Hiring

Perceptions of Aging Research in Canada (PARC)

Help UBC researchers better understand how 2SLGBTQIA+ people aged 50 years and above feel and think about their everyday activities and well-being.

The Perceptions of Aging Research in Canada (PARC) Study (Principal Investigator: Dr. Christiane Hoppmann, Health and Adult Development Lab) seeks to gain knowledge about key resources that help maintain wellbeing in everyday life.

Co-Investigators: Christiane Hoppmann, Juhyeong Lee, Yoonseok Choi

Eligibility Requirements: 2SLGBTQIA+ People aged 50 or older who live in Canada

Location of Study: Online

Compensation: Volunteers receive a Loblaws gift card of up to $50

Questions? For more information email parc@psych.ubc.ca or phone 604-822-3549

Ready to participate?

Thanks for your interest in the PARC study! If you want more information about participating in the study, please fill out the form for more details.

Visit the study website

B.R.A.I.N. Lab: SCANS: Spontaneous Craving and Neurophenomenology in Smokers

Do you smoke cigarettes? You may be eligible to participate in a research study.

The Behavioral Reward Affect + Impulsivity Neuroscience (B.R.A.I.N.) Lab at the University of British Columbia is recruiting participants for a research project assessing a new method to study cigarette smokers’ experience of craving.

Study title: SCANS: Spontaneous Craving and Neurophenomenology in Smokers

Principal Investigator: Dr. Christian Schütz (PI, UBC Psychiatry); Dr. Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva (UBC Psychology), Stefanie Todesco, PhD Student

Study Description: Cigarettes can be very difficult to quit, with relapse occurring often. Craving, or desire for cigarettes can be strong in people who smoke and make it more difficult to quit. So far, there is little research on craving that studies smokers’ subjective (or, first-person) experience of craving. It is important to understand how smokers experience craving (for example, how strong their craving is) so we can better understand the nature of craving.Who can participate?

Purpose of study: The main purpose of this study is to assess a new method to study cigarette smokers’ experience of craving. To do this, you will be asked questions about your craving regularly while watching film clips.

Eligibility: The study team will determine your eligibility based on your responses to the following survey and through potential follow-up assessments completed via phone or in-person, if required.

You may be able to participate in this study if you:

Are between 21 and 40 years old at the start of the study
Smoke ≥10 cigarettes/day for at least 2 years
Can verify smoking status with a breathalyzer
Willing to abstain from smoking for ≥12 hours prior to 2nd visit
Are not currently undergoing or seeking treatment for smoking
Are able to provide informed consent
Are able to complete assessments in English

You may not be able to participate in this study if you:

Have any diagnosed mental health disorder (current or in the past year) or potential mental health disorder, as determined by the research team
Have other moderate-to-severe substance use disorders (other than nicotine), as determined by the research team
Are using medications that may significantly impact performance on research tasks, as determined by the research team
Have Autism Spectrum Disorder or other cognitive impairment that would affect performance on research tasks, as determined by the research team
Have a non-correctable clinically significant sensory impairment (e.g., cannot hear well enough to complete an interview)

What does my participation involve?

Participation will include questionnaires, computer tasks, and viewing movie clips. Take this short survey to check your eligibility: https://rc.med.ubc.ca/redcap/surveys/?s=LCP8EK4447KTMC7N

Type of compensation: Session 1: 1 hour; $20; Session 2: 1.5 hours; $30

Contact: For more information, contact the B.R.A.I.N Lab: https://brainlab.med.ubc.ca/contact

The Solitude Study

Photo: Age Without Limits

Help UBC researchers better understand how partners aged 60 years and above feel and think about their everyday activities and wellbeing.

The Solitude Study (Principal Investigator: Dr. Christiane Hoppmann, Health and Adult Development Lab) seeks to gain knowledge about activities people engage in by themselves and with other people in everyday life.

Co-Investigators: Christiane Hoppmann, Anita DeLongis, Denis Gerstorf, Theresa Pauly

Eligibility Requirements: Participating partners must be 60 years or older, living in Canada, and co-residing.

Location of Study: Online

Compensation: Volunteers receive a President’s Choice online gift card of up to $90

Questions? For more information email solitude@psych.ubc.ca or phone 604-822-3549

Effects of Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES) on Perception and Cognition Study

UBC Psychology researchers are recruiting paid participants for a transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) study on perception and cognition.

The Psychophysics and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, led by Dr. Lawrence Ward, is looking for volunteers to participate in a study of the effects of transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) on perception and cognition. This will involve viewing and responding to visual stimuli presented on a computer screen while you receive weak electrical stimulation on the scalp. Your eye movements will be monitored.

Study Purpose

This study’s aim is to better understand human perception and cognition, its underlying brain mechanisms, and how those can be influenced by electrical stimulation of the brain through the scalp.

Study Procedure

The experiment will consist of two 2-hour sessions, and you will receive $10 for each hour of participation ($30 total).

Eligibility

Participants must be between 18 and 35 years of age. To be eligible to participate you must NOT:

Have magnetizable metal in your brain/skull
Have cochlear implants
Have an implanted neurostimulator
Have a history of seizures (epilepsy)
Be suffering from a neurological or psychiatric disorder
Be suffering from a skin disease
Be allergic to lidocaine (topical anesthetic)
Be pregnant
Be taking psychotropic medicines

Interested?

If you are interested in participating or have any questions, please contact Mehak Dhaliwal at wardlab@psych.ubc.ca

Baby Learning Lab: Volunteer Research Assistant | Exploration

The Baby Learning Lab (Principal Investigator: Dr. Lauren Emberson) is recruiting a volunteer research assistant.

Position Overview

In the position, you will be assigned to a particular project (Exploration). The project represents a novel approach to studying infant neurocognitive development. In that, infants and parents are invited to the lab and asked to play freely, just as they do at home. We measure the infant’s brain using state-of-the-art neuroimaging technology. As each infant and parent pair is allowed to interact in any way they like, we need a way to quantify their behaviours. This is where you come in!

Position Responsibilities

In this position, your main responsibility will be behavioral coding, i.e., watching videos and manually tagging onsets and durations of specific behaviors of interest. As you can imagine, coding requires a lot of attention to detail (although it doesn’t hurt that you will be watching cute babies playing when doing that!). While coding will be done independently, you will be working as part of a group of RAs – the Virtuoso RAs. The team will meet once a week. The goal of the meetings will be to go over the coding you have done, resolve ambiguities, and refine the coding scheme definitions as necessary (e.g., add examples). Research has shown that teams that work well together have higher inter-rater reliability (i.e., different team members code the same behaviors in a consistently similar manner), so the weekly meetings will also help build team spirit. As you can imagine, it is important that everyone has the same level of understanding and is on the same page. During the meeting, you will be asked to give an update on your progress and the meeting will end with a plan for the next week. Each week during the meeting, Senior Research Assistant will set an expected number of videos that should be coded for that week.

Position Requirements

The Baby Learning Lab is looking for motivated an undergraduate student who meet these requirements:

Minimum Commitment: 9 hours/week (In person)
Minimum Semester Commitment: 2 semesters (8 months)
Will References Be Requested: No (but a student can choose to submit them)
Will Transcript Be Requested: No
Will Interview Be Requested: Yes

Additional Information Required: A description of prior informal or formal experience that might be relevant to the position (working or interacting with infants, children, or parents), if any, and (2) a statement regarding how the student would support and contribute to equity, diversity and inclusion in the lab.

To Apply

Submit an application through the lab’s website and one of the lab coordinators will reach out to you soon. You can find the application form here: https://babylearninglab.psych.ubc.ca/join-the-lab/undergraduate-students/

Posting end date: March 7, 2025

About the Baby Learning Lab

The Baby Learning Lab, directed by Dr. Lauren Emberson, studies the capacity of the infant brain to learn, and how these capacities develop across the first months and years of life. To understand the learning mechanisms of the infant brain, we utilize both behavioural (i.e., quantifying actions or eye-movements) and neuroimaging (i.e., functional near-infrared spectroscopy or ‘fNIRS’) methodologies in our research.

UBC Kindness Challenge

The UBC Social Health Lab is recruiting UBC students for a study on spreading kindness within campus residences.

Are you a UBC student currently living in student residence on campus? Want to participate in a kindness challenge? Sign up today!

Study Description:
The UBC Social Health Lab invites you to participate in a study aimed at spreading kindness within UBC student residences. In this study, you will be invited to a 30-minute lab visit in the UBC Psychology Kenny building, where a researcher will provide instructions for the Kindness Challenge. You will be asked to complete two 10-minute follow-up surveys and perform a few acts of kindness directed at other students in your campus residence over the course of two weeks.

Co-Investigators: Ariya Kosavisutte and Stella Xia

Purpose of the Study:
To examine the impacts of engaging in acts of kindness towards others in your UBC campus residence.

Eligibility Requirements:
Currently living in UBC campus residence
Have a Canadian phone number that you are willing to share with researchers to receive text message reminders

Location of Study: UBC Social Health Lab, Douglas T. Kenny Building, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 and few online components.

Compensation: 2.5 HSP Credits

Questions? Contact Ariya Kosavisutte at ariyak@student.ubc.ca

Social Perceptions and Life Experiences

The UBC Emotion & Self Lab is recruiting Canadian students for a study on social perceptions and daily experiences as a student in Canada.

Are you a Canadian UBC student enrolled in psychology course? Are you willing to share your insights? Sign up today to participate!

Study description:
The researchers invite Canadian UBC students to participate in a brief, 10-15 minute focus group discussion about various aspects of life as a Canadian student. Following the discussion, participants will complete a short survey in the lab. The discussion will be video-recorded for behavioural data coding purposes and will not be used or distributed outside of the research team.

Co-Investigators: Gabrielle Ibasco and Dr. Jessica Tracy

Purpose of the study:
To understand Canadian students’ social perceptions in relation to events and experiences in their day-to-day lives.

Eligibility requirements:
Must be a Canadian UBC student who is fluent in English. For now, only HSP-registered participants can take part.

Location of study: UBC Emotion & Self Lab, Douglas T. Kenny Building, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Compensation: 1.5 HSP Credits

Questions? Contact Gabrielle Ibasco

Lived Experience of Craving in the Context of Compulsive Overeating Study

Do you experience binge eating? Share your experiences in a study with the Motivated Cognition Lab.

Study description
This study is investigating “what it is like” to crave and feel out of control around food, focusing on those attentional processes and emotions that are likely to generate and motivate compulsive overeating.

The participation involves keeping a diary using a journaling app for one week. At the end of the week, there will be an interview session to further explore the experiences.

Research team
Dr. Rebecca Todd (Principal Investigator; Motivated Cognition Lab, UBC Psychology)
Laura Bickel (Graduate Student Investigator, UBC Philosophy)

Eligibility requirements
To take part in the study, you must meet the following criteria:

Over 19 years of age
Located in the Lower Mainland
Fluent in English
Access to a smartphone or laptop
Willing to install the research journaling app on their mobile phone or laptop and commit to using it at least three times a day
Comfortable with being voice recorded in interview sessions
Willing to share their diary notes
Able to commit approximately 4 hours for one week and a 45-minutes pre-study meeting
At least one binge eating episode per week for the last 3 months. Binge eating is characterized by both of the following:

a. Eating a very large amount of food within a 2-hour period

b. Feeling out of control during those binges

Location of study
The pre-study meeting and interview can take place at a mutually agreed upon location such as UBC campus, a community center with a private room in the Lower Mainland or alternatively online via Zoom.

Compensation
Participants will receive a gift card (28$) for one yoga session at YYoga or for the book store Indigo.

Note: Participants can only receive one of the two.

Sign up today!
Email Laura Bickel at Ibickel@mail.ubc.ca

Thinking about quitting social media? There may be another option, UBC researcher says

Featured in CTV News: A study by Dr. Amori Mikami, a professor of psychology, looks at healthier ways to use social media.