October 5, 2021

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OCTOBER 5, 2021 | VOLUME CIII | ISSUE VI WRITING FOR PEOPLE AND CHILDREN SINCE 1918

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Crowds flood Main Mall for Truth and Reconciliation march

Something in the Water makes a splash at Fringe

Finding your Black community at UBC

What’s a ‘hybrid’ class?

Mark Pearson: Journey to the Tokyo Olympics

NEWS

CULTURE

OPINION

BLOG

SPORTS

THE UBYSSEY

PHOTO ESSAY

UBC students erect memorial along NW Marine Drive to mourn pedestrian victims of early morning collision // 2

INSIDE

CLIMATE FEVER

Getting heated about Science Literacy Week // 7–12

NEWS

OCTOBER 5, 2021 TUESDAY

EDITORS CHARLOTTE ALDEN + NATHAN BAWAAN

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ON THE COVER COVER BY Isabella Falsetti

U THE UBYSSEY

OCTOBER 5, 2021 | VOLUME CIII | ISSUE VI

EDITORIAL

BUSINESS

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Elder Pauline Johnson, also known as Fishwoman, of the Treaty Eight Cree Nation.

ISABELLA FALSETTI

Crowds flood Main Mall for Intergenerational March on first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Owen Gibbs Contributor

This article mentions residential schools, sexual abuse and physical abuse.

Thousands of students turned out to UBC campus on Thursday, September 30 to listen to survivors of Canada’s residential school system and honour Indigenous children that never made it home.

The event, entitled the Intergenerational March to Commemorate Orange Shirt Day, was held to mark the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The march — organized by UBC’s STEM faculties — began at the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre and ended at the Reconciliation Pole.

The day began with opening remarks by Elder Seis’lom of the Stl’atl’imx First Nation, who gave a land acknowledgement and reflected on the impact of systemic racism on Indigenous peoples today, as well as the failure of many major institutions to properly approach reconciliation.

“What we have here today, my dear friends, my dear relatives — we don’t come here to show you anything. We’re here to share with you what we have learned and picked up along the way in terms of the closing of the last residential school back in 1996,” Elder Seis’lom said.

Many songs and performances accompanied Elder Seis’lom’s words, including a pair of pieces honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, as well as their male counterparts.

Other works honoured local Indigenous spirits, to reconnect those lost to Canada’s centuries-long genocide.

The march concluded with a speech from Elder Pauline Johnson, also known as Fishwoman, of the Treaty Eight Cree Nation. Her heartbreaking account of her and her family’s experiences as day and residential school survivors brought many to tears.

“Residential school was not a happy place, it was not a happy home. It was not anything beautiful to understand in regard to the children that were there who were physically and [sexually] abused,” she said.

“I know you keep hearing the same things over and over again, but until they start rewriting and teaching our children — and everyone throughout the world — the whole history … this is going to continue going on and on and on.”

Elder Johnson sang a “healing song” at the end of her speech and encouraged attendees to close their eyes and silently absorb the spirituality of the music.

“I give thanks to all of you who are wearing orange today.

It’s such a great honour to know that you support the Aboriginal, Indigenous people in this way on this day. It’s a very touching day,” Johnson said.

First-year environment and sustainability student Asalah Youssef who attended the march said her heart was “full” seeing all of the allies convening on “the journey of reconciliation together.”

“It’s a path that takes a full heart and full mind to be fully

committed to the work,” said Youssef. “There’s so much good energy here today, but also a lot of reflecting and feeling for all the Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island.”

Youssef also emphasized the need for everyone to work to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action.

“I hope to see more authentic action in all of our lives ... and in the institutions that we exist and learn and work at,” she added.

This was the first year of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation being recognized as a federal holiday. Classes were cancelled and students and faculty were encouraged to spend the day reflecting on Canada’s genocidal relationship with Indigenous peoples.

“It’s a day to really genuinely reflect on history and not just to take it as a day off,” said first-year land and food systems student Ella Scott. “We need to give Indigenous people voices and this day is just kind of the first step to do that.”

Engineering graduate student and former Engineering Undergraduate Society president Emma Dodyk added that the march was just one step to reconciliation, but a step in the right direction.

“I hope that the march ... encourages people to continue their own kind of learning,” she said.

“I would encourage faculty of applied science students to take part in that and just continue to think about and reflect upon all of our roles as students on stolen land.” U

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The crowd gathering ahead of the march.

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Musicians performing traditional drum songs.

ISABELLA FALSETTI

3 | NEWS | TUESDAY OCTOBER 5, 2021 DATA TRANSPARENCY //

As provincial COVID-19 cases climb, UBC campusspecific data remains limited Joey He Contributor

With in-person classes in full swing and hundreds of provincial COVID-19 cases being reported every day, students remain in the dark when it comes to UBC campus-specific data.

The COVID-19 situation on campus is continuously changing, as indicated by new rapid-testing policies and recent exposures that are being reported by one student’s COVID-19 tracking database.

Despite these developments, Matthew Ramsey, director of university affairs at UBC Media Relations, maintained his previous statement that UBC is unable to release campus COVID-19 data due to privacy concerns.

In a new email to The Ubyssey, Ramsey said that UBC must be “mindful of privacy considerations” while supporting Vancouver Coastal Health’s (VCH) efforts to contain the pandemic.

“It’s important to know that UBC cannot communicate cases broadly unless we are directed to do so by VCH to support their contact tracing efforts,” said Ramsey.

Public notifications are only made when it is not possible to reach all close contacts and it becomes necessary to inform the public about a potential exposure, said VCH in a written statement.

“We respect patient confidentiality at all times and rely on it for our public health response, so people feel safe co-operating with our teams and don’t face stigma from the community.”

However, AMS VP Academic and University Affairs Eshana Bhangu believes UBC has the infrastructure to protect students’ privacy and still provide the campus community with

COVID-19 information. She pointed out that UBC has no problem protecting large amounts of private student data, such as addresses and credit card information.

“I think for an institution like UBC, [with] our size and our budget, I fully expect that it’s feasible to maintain students’ privacy, while at the same time informing the community members of important information in a responsible way,” Bhangu said.

She emphasized the importance of an institutional database in limiting discriminatory presumptions as students theorize about who might be sick.

“If we have an institutional database, I think we’ll definitely see reduced anxiety or panic amongst students as they’re trying to guess if their classmates have COVID or not.”

Currently, the BC Centre for Disease Control uploads biweekly neighbourhood-level COVID-19 data of people living in the UBC neighbourhood, though it does not include commuters. There has also been some information reported on UBC vaccination rates. Still, no official UBC source exists for cases on campus.

For Laura Marr, a fourth-year French major, not having this data is “pretty disconcerting” and has made her more anxious during the shift back to in-person classes.

Marr said it’s likely that not everybody is taking the necessary precautions, and knowing so little about the extent of COVID-19 exposures is worrying. She highlighted the need for “open dialogue” from the university, something she believes would help students stay safe without invading their privacy.

Marr’s thoughts echo those of Wayne Fan, a fourth-year biology student who believes the university should keep students informed,

Students remain in the dark when it comes to UBC campus-specific data.

especially as in-person classes have been reimplemented as part of BC’s Restart Plan.

“We’re a part of the restart plan, but if we don’t know what’s going on, if we don’t know the status quo, it’s really hard to unify us,” said Fan. “It puts a lot of students in fear and we feel neglected.”

While Fan went on to acknowledge that having more information could also be scary, he thought it was important for the university to provide “an indicator of how we’re doing.”

Dr. Ken Denike, a medical geographer and assistant professor emeritus in the UBC department of geography, had similar thoughts. Denike is confident information could be released

without invasion of privacy.

“We were always working between providing information that informs people and not providing information that identifies people,” said Denike about his work in epidemiology, adding that the campus could “readily” do the same.

According to Denike, it would be helpful to release spatial maps that provide a general range of where cases are occurring. He also referenced his past research in which he studied the approximate sites of salmonella cases in Vancouver and did so without disclosing actual locations or risking individual identification.

“I find it hard to believe that they can’t do something similar for

ISABELLA FALSETTI

the campus,” said Denike.

Denike’s suggestion aligns with what some students would like to see from UBC. When asked about what information would be helpful to him, Fan expressed a desire for data on case numbers and “spatial distribution” of the cases.

Ramsey acknowledged community members may be concerned about the possibility of COVID-19 cases on campus, stating UBC “understands their wish for transparency and rapid communication.”

“In my opinion, the more information the better, especially at a university,” said Marr. “And it’s just very odd to me that [UBC] wouldn’t want to give us more tools to keep ourselves safe.” U

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE //

UBC’s glove recycling program is changing the narrative around single-use plastics in labs

A pilot version of the recycling program was conducted in 2019.

Anabella McElroy Contributor

To combat plastic waste, a glove recycling program developed in part by a UBC science student is

starting in 14 labs in the Koerner Pavilion at UBC. This August, the program was granted $2,150 from the AMS’s Sustainability Project Fund.

Taylor Bootsma, a fourth-year

ANDREW HA

microbiology and immunology student and the recycling program’s external director, helped develop UBC’s Disposable Glove Recycling Program during a Work Learn at the Soma Laboratory

following a presentation on how to improve sustainability in the lab. Bootsma hopes the recycling program will change the narrative around single-use plastics in labs.

“Scientists produce so much waste … and I feel like there’s not necessarily a lot of motivation to change that,” she told The Ubyssey.

According to one student research report, UBC discards 7 million gloves a year, amounting to 28 tonnes of plastic.

Currently, labs in the Koerner Pavilion are collecting gloves, with the first drop-off date planned for October 6, before transitioning to a bi-weekly shipping schedule.

Gloves collected from each lab will also be weighed as part of an inter-lab competition to encourage recycling over garbage disposal.

A pilot version of the recycling program was conducted in 2019, showing that recycling would have a positive environmental impact.

Rather than ending up in a landfill, the recycled gloves are made into hard plastic products like lawn furniture and plant pots.

Recycling gloves could even save money if Kimberly-Clark brand gloves are used. Kimberly-Clark accepts their own

product for recycling free of charge, but it costs extra on top of shipping to recycle other brands through the company TerraCycle.

Currently, the recycling program is accepting both as labs buy their gloves independently.

AMS VP Finance Mary Gan, chair of the AMS Finance Committee, said the proposal’s goal of raising awareness resonated with her. “It’s something that we never really considered ourselves,” she said of the AMS committee members.

In addition, the focus on glove waste was not something proposed by sustainability projects to the AMS before. “It was really great to see such a unique project come to us.”

Emma Lam, a second-year biology student and the program’s competition leader, said the funding granted by the AMS will sustain the program in the Koerner Pavilion through May. But Bootsma hopes long-term funding can be obtained past this initial grant.

“I think UBC is really committed to sustainability … it’d be awesome if they could step in in the future,” she said. U

PHOTO ESSAY

EDITOR ISABELLA FALSETTI

OCTOBER 5, 2021 TUESDAY

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IN MEMORIAM //

UBC students erect memorial along NW Marine Drive to mourn pedestrian victims of early morning collision Isabella Falsetti Photo Editor

Following last week’s tragic collision in which a driver killed two student pedestrians early Sunday morning, a memorial has been erected at the site of the incident — behind c̓ ə snaʔəm house in the Totem Park residence area — on Northwest Marine Drive.

Such a devastating loss hangs heavy over the UBC community.

Family, friends, peers and strangers have come to pay their respects over the past few days, leaving flower bouquets, candles and handwritten messages.

What’s more, the memorial provides a space to grieve, to reflect — to feel — for those who may need it.

Amid the tears and the anguish present on this small stretch of Marine Drive, there is also overwhelming love and camaraderie — evidence of the support we can offer one another in times of tragedy. U If you are in need of support right now, the following resources are available: UBC Counselling Services, Student Assistance Program, AMS Peer Support, Here2Talk and Crisis Centre BC.

CULTURE

OCTOBER 5, 2021 TUESDAY

EDITOR TIANNE JENSEN-DESJARDINS

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PALE ALES AND PROHIBITION //

Beer and bootlegging: Melanie Gall’s extravaganza Shanai Tanwar Contributor

When one thinks of the 1920s, it would be natural to jump to the extraordinary flapper dresses and ever-flowing champagne that trademarked the era. Perhaps a time of hardship followed by such glamour has a certain sway on the contemporary audience who seeks to be nostalgic for almost any era of the past.

But, a time of such historic indulgence also came at a time of historic impotence, as the incredibly controversial prohibition bill came into effect across much of North America in the early 1920s.

For Melanie Gall, whose new show A Toast to Prohibition debuted at the Vancouver Fringe Festival, the thrill goes much beyond what Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby has to offer.

Sitting in front of me (or my computer screen, rather), Gall was a sight for sore eyes with her glistening hair and a smile brighter than the 9:00 a.m. sun. With the gentle twittering of her pet bird keeping us company through the interview, Gall explained prohibition to me better than any history class ever could.

“We had prohibition here in Canada at several different times.

Often it was to save the grain [and] the barley to produce beer or to

A Toast to Prohibition debuted at the Vancouver Fringe Festival.

produce the different hard liquors.

It was during wartime and it was done as an austerity measure to save that for the soldiers,” said Gall.

When asked why she chose to bring prohibition to a Canadian context, Gall was delighted to fill in the blanks.

“In America, a lot of Canadian millionaires made their fortune over American prohibition [by] importing alcohol,” said Gall.

“A lot of the major producers of scotch or whiskey in Canada built their companies because of Amer-

ican prohibition, because things were often produced in Quebec [or] in Ontario. But it was smuggled into the States, largely on the West Coast, a little more from Victoria than Vancouver.”

When asked why she chose the 1920s in particular as a focus for A Toast to Prohibition, Gall admitted her reasoning was a marriage of both personal and professional interests.

“A lot of the shows I do are biography shows about famous singers in the 1930s or 1940s. I love

COURTESY WENDY GALL

doing that, but you don’t get the younger audiences in. And I thought Prohibition will do it, because I get to wear the feathers and the dress,” she said with a laugh.

As a former opera performer who studied and performed at various universities across Canada before moving to New York, Gall has ambitions to take the show across the globe.

While the play itself was designed to celebrate Prohibition’s hundred year anniversary last year, Gall has hopes that 2021 will be

as good a year as ever to share the piece with the world.

“I am taking it to Edinburgh next summer and bookers from all over the world, including New York, come to the Edinburgh Fringe. So [Vancouver Fringe Festival] is sort of the festival where I put in any last changes. This is what it was like before the pandemic; it was just ‘write a new show, test it out across Canada, take it to Scotland, get bookings around the world, do them.’ And next year, I’d do it all over again with a new show.” U

BARBIE, KEN AND SQUIDS, OH MY! //

Something in the Water makes a splash at Fringe

“And so, in the show, I turn into a giant squid monster,” said Grummett.

Tianne Jensen-DesJardins Culture Editor

When S.E. Grummett graduated from an American Bachelor of Fine Arts theatre program, they weren’t finding roles that reflected their identity.

“There was no parts for people like me and for a long time, I thought ‘Oh, I’m a bad actor because I can’t be a good woman,’ and so I started Scantily Glad Theatre so that I could write parts — at the

time I wasn’t out — for people like me,” Grummett said in an interview with The Ubyssey.

“Since I have been out, now, this is my first show about that experience and about being Trans and non-binary.”

And what a show it was. After watching Something in the Water, the word that came to my mind was ‘Seen’. Walking into the cozy Revue Stage Theatre on Granville Island, I barely registered the signs

COURTESY SCANTILY GLAD THEATRE

warning of nudity in the show. The nudity itself was not hard to notice, however, when the lights came on, Grummett was centre stage, nude and screaming.

Starting off with no layers of clothing between them and the audience set the tone for the rest of the show — Grummett held nothing back. Between dates with Barbie and Ken and breaking news of squid attacks, Grummett bared much more than their body to the

audience. “[The show] is based on my experience of coming out as Trans and feeling like, “Does my Transness, does my gender identity make me a monster? Does it make me unlovable? Is everyone going to hate me or think I’m disgusting?”

“And so, in the show, I turn into a giant squid monster,” said Grummett.

While at first the public reacts poorly to these squid-transitions, as more breaking news reports come out, society begins to understand that these squid-monsters might just hold the power to save the world.

I know, it sounds a little fishy.

But when you look past the tentacles, the show transforms into a highly-personal story of self-understanding. While I’m sure Grummett’s process of coming to terms with their gender identity did not involve underwater pseudo-therapy sessions with Barbie, there were plenty of elements of the show that probably were part of their journey.

Of course, it’s funny to watch this squid-monster disguise themselves in order to be allowed entry into the two available washrooms, but when you substitute this squid-person for someone whose gender is beyond the socially-accepted gender binary, this scene has a tragic tinge to it.

When asked about how puppetry plays a role in their performance, such as the tentacles and webbed hands, Grummett replied that it can be used as a disruptor to the perceived beliefs about their identity based on physical appearance.

“My body carries with it

perceived genders on stage, and so [with] puppets and masks and clown, I’m able to move beyond that. It’s almost like a way of doing drag for me. I can be a squid-monster, I don’t have to be feminine or female or a woman perceived by the audience,” said Grummett.

“For Queerdo-weirdos, this is a really empowering show … Shows with Queer characters and Trans characters that aren’t made by Queer Trans people are often fixated on trauma and pain. And that trauma and pain is real, but this is a show that’s a comedy.”

For a show about gender identity and socially-constructed binaries, at the heart of this performance lies laughter. When faced with a world that gets so hung up on who gets to use what washroom, it seems strange not to laugh, and that’s what this show is all about. For anyone who’s ever questioned why things have to be the way they are, and for those who hope for a more inclusive future, this show will make you feel seen. Even though Grummett was the one in the nude, by the end of the show, I felt like someone had peeled back the layers of my clothes and taken a good, long look at who I am. Watching this performance made me laugh, made me gasp, but most importantly, it made me feel seen.

S.E. Grummett put it best: “This is a show that’s empowering. This is a show that you’ll leave waving your tentacles proudly. I hope that you are seen and that you can have a laugh at how absurd the binary is, and how absurd it is that we’re expected to fit into these two very rigid binaries.” U

6 | CULTURE | TUESDAY OCTOBER 5, 2021 SWIPING LEFT //

A Coveted Wife of East Vancouver: Reality and fiction Brooklyn Sutherland Contributor

Coming to the doors of the play, I was welcomed by enthusiastic volunteers eager to dole out tickets to the sold out show, A Coveted Wife of East Vancouver.

The stage was set with curtained and painted backdrops accompanied with uplifting music — including hits ranging from the classic Grease musical to the mellow “Orinoco Flow” by Enya to set the mood of the outdoor stage.

The picnic pavilion of Granville Island is set amidst wetlands sporting bulrushes and willow trees. Aside from the glare of the setting sun, the outdoor location of the play could not be beat.

Using actual East Vancouver cafés, Café Deux Soleils and Joe’s Café, as the show’s backdrop grounded the performance in the local area.

Telling the tale of two best friends, Sam (played by Megan Phillips) and Kali (Hayley Sullivan), this performance was a fun take on their experiences in the dating world over the past five years, leaving behind the message that despite everything, their friendship endured both in real life and on the stage.

The musical numbers were quirky and creative, leaving the audience giggling. The 12 days of Christmas spin-off regarding

Aside from the glare of the setting sun, the outdoor location of the play could not be beat.

their dating app pairings was a fan favourite.

I enjoyed the dynamic nature of Mostafa Shaker as he played several different characters with simple outfit changes. First was Mansplain, a macho talk-a-lot who wouldn’t let his date get a word in.

Next up, River, the spiritual soul who gave Sam a “strength flower” upon going their separate ways.

Following that came Adonis Blade, the pimp, and finally, the murderer. All were distinctly different while holding the underlying theme of being an all around bad date.

Swiping left was a key element of the play. Watching the two girls

navigating Sam’s love life was entertaining as they explored different apps and acquaintances — a clever take on modern dating. Her quest for love was left unresolved, though her friendship with Kali only strengthened as she helped her friend battle alcoholism in tandem with her rom-com-esque dating journey. I really enjoyed the dynamic between the two actors: leaving each other enough space for individual monologues and then coming together for joint musical numbers and conversation.

A scene that was really well done was the kidnapping incident, where Kali kidnapped Sam as an intervention for dating the

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murderer. Though Sam recognized her date as a murderer that she studied in high school, she felt she was already too involved to refuse.

Kali’s interpretation of driving a car was spot on while Sam struggled inside with a blindfold.

Overall, it was a good play. The actors stayed in character despite wind blowing the backdrop up and an awkward moment of fake eyelashes being exposed. The music was engaging, well sung and lively, with original music and lyrics highlighting an authentic feel to the play. I was a little disappointed to learn that Megan was not the real songwriter, as was boasted throughout the perfor-

mance. Instead, Marn Norwich was behind the lyrics, and Itamar Erez arranged and performed the music; both did an excellent job.

The audience was a respectful crowd, happy to give the crew a laugh.

The production left some questions for the audience, like ‘What are the characters doing now?’ I suppose that could be answered with ‘putting on a play at the Fringe Festival,’ though one can’t help but wonder if Sam ever did find love. Even when the performance came to an end there were elements of the show that kept the story rolling into reality. U

INDIGENOUS TEACHINGS //

BC Culture Days: ‘Legends that Teach’

Thomas wishes to demonstrate the beauty and value of storytelling.

Manya Malhotra Senior Staff Writer

BC Culture Days is a series of province-wide events taking place from September 24 to October 24, 2021 that celebrate the arts, culture and storytelling. The month-long hybrid celebration has something to offer for all arts and culture lovers — from virtual and in-person tours of heritage sites to ventriloquism and musical performances. It also offers more hands-on activities like acrylic painting and even the opportunity to create your very own ring with the help of the Richmond Gem and Mineral Society. There are both virtual events that can be attended

from the comfort of your homes and immersive in-person events.

Each year, up to ten artists from across the province are selected to present a project that is personal to them. They collaborate with an experienced mentor who closely works with them in creating their project and developing their artistic aspirations. Ambassadors also promote BC Culture Days by acting as spokespeople for the event. Dr. Billy Cohen, an assistant professor in the UBC Okanagan school of education has been selected to be a mentor to Ambassador Kenthen Thomas for one of this year’s BC Culture Days events.

Cohen researches the transforming potential of Indigenous,

COURTESY KENTHEN THOMAS

Interior Salish and Syilx-Okanagan knowledge and pedagogy through organic language and cultural knowledge revitalization.

His mentee, Thomas, is a teacher by profession and also works towards integrating Indigeneity into the educational system.

Thomas is also an actor and has been around almost the entirety of Western Canada sharing stories of his Secwepemulucw ancestors.

For BC Culture Days, Thomas wishes to demonstrate the beauty and value of storytelling through stories called “Legends that Teach.”

In an interview with The Ubyssey, he talked about how all through life, people are given instructions on how not to behave and what not

to do without any real explanations or examples. He says that in the legends and stories told by his ancestors, “they don’t tell you this is what you need to do or this will happen. Instead, they show you.”

According to Thomas, we learn lessons and values through the stories told by our ancestors in ways that simple directions and instructions just cannot replicate. “[The] words of [our] ancestors [are] more than just words . . . they are lessons,” he said.

Cohen echoed Thomas’s sentiments and spoke about the value of thinking of “traditional stories as wisdom of our ancestors . . . being carried forward.”

“We’re never going into the past, but we’re carrying over knowledge that has relevance and application now, and . . . what these stories do is they connect us to place [and] they connect us to all of the natural biodiversity specific places,” said Cohen. He added that the legends talk about “cultural and ecological diversity” and make us more aware of our responsibilities towards the environment and the future generations to come.

The theme of this year’s BC Culture Days Event is RE:IMAGINE, imagining “a post-pandemic world brightened through creative exploration and artistic expression.” Thomas spoke about how humans have always considered themselves as belonging at the top of the food chain and being in a superior position over all other life on planet Earth. He referred to the phrase ‘X7’engst,’ meaning that the land will turn on you. He views all the natural disasters, and even the

COVID-19 pandemic, as nature’s way of giving back thousands of years of mistreatment. He says that now, we all must “[look] beyond our human selves [and] . . . [see] ourselves as part of the circle.”

Through “Legends that Teach,” he aims to urge everyone to REIMAGINE their positions with respect to other life on Earth and strive towards coexisting and tackling the problems that we are facing together. Cohen added that things do not have to always remain the way they are and together we can “imagine something better . . . [and] more balanced.”

When asked about Cohen and his mentorship with him, Thomas mentioned how he has found a kindred spirit in Cohen. He said, “It’s just awesome to know that Billy is down South . . . and feeling and expressing the same passion that I have for the . . . legends and the words of the ancestors.” Cohen was very appreciative of Thomas and his work as a storyteller and performer and also reminisced about how he had once attended workshops conducted by Thomas’s grandmother.

Thomas encourages all “artistic souls” to apply for the ambassador program as it is “a great way to learn how to market and promote yourself and how to find the words to describe what you’re doing.”

“As a performing artist, a few years ago I had a hard time describing myself . . . [and had] trouble finding [the] verbs to encompass that. [The ambassador program] helped me find more tools to speak to things like that,” said Thomas. U

science editor Sophia Russo

cover by Isabella Falsetti and Mahin E Alam

8 | SCIENCE AND TECH | TUESDAY OCTOBER 5, 2021

FAST & CURIOUS UBC will soon be home to a $23-million renewable energy hub

by VIK SANGAR A block-sized space on the corner of Wesbrook Mall and Thunderbird Boulevard will soon be transformed into a smart energy district and home to BC’s “first hydrogen refuelling station for light- and heavy-duty vehicles.”

The project is spearheaded by Mérida Labs and led by Dr. Walter Mérida, after receiving $23 million in both public and private funding to subsidize the project.

According to Mérida, the energy hub may come to life as early as 2022.

HELLO, HYDROGEN In an interview with The Ubyssey, Mérida explained that the project will consist of three primary targets: an electric vehicle recharging station which has already been installed; a hydrogen refuelling station for which a hydrogen refuelling station that is predicted to be completed around fall 2022; and a solar array that is planned to be installed by October 2022.

The hub will utilize energy from the solar array to split water molecules using a process called electrolysis and a device called a water electrolyzer to produce hydrogen and oxygen. The resulting “green hydrogen” — dubbed the “ultimate goal” of hy-

drogen technology — is completely renewable and its creation is zero-emission.

The transportation sector has become a focus for the application of hydrogen technology, as 41 per cent of BC’s emissions result from this industry. According to a Nature Climate Change article, most experts don’t expect private or light-duty cars to run on hydrogen as electric cars dominate the market — instead trucks or heavy-duty vehicles are predicted to have the greatest likelihood of making the move toward hydrogen technology. The hub’s accommodation of both light- and heavy-duty vehicles could therefore be a significant benefit.

Currently, BC is embracing vehicle-powered hydrogen technology with Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation Bruce Ralston, saying the province is “well positioned to become a world leader in clean energy” in a May 2021 press release. He also emphasized the hub’s “excellent potential” as BC moves toward a greener future.

DEALING WITH SPEEDBUMPS The idea for this clean energy hub was coined around five years ago when the initial concepts were drawn out and the proposal was written. According to Mérida, this five-year process has not gone without challenges.

The development of this massive project was spearheaded without any internal funding from UBC and, according to Mérida, he “really wanted to make a point of making the project happen with external funding only.” This posed a few challenges.

“It does require a lot of

creative thinking in terms of the way you fund this project … because the proposals and the funding programs take a while, it took [several years] to get the funding secured.”

Mérida added that the team faced other difficulties like the communication of this newer and potentially unfamiliar technology. The impact of this project on student spaces also had to be considered.

“It has taken a while to familiarize the different audiences we have [at UBC]. We’ve had long discussions,” he said. “[Another] issue was that there is a basketball court where the refuelling station is going to be built, so we needed to build a new basketball court before we could proceed.”

There are other cost-centred challenges inherent to the technology. According to a report from the UBC Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC), the application of hydrogen technology to the transportation sector must be done alongside long-term commitments and “significant capital investment,” with the group emphasizing that moves to optimize cost are a “necessity.”

Mérida echoed this sentiment, saying that clean energy techonology is still very expensive. However, he hopes that new business models can be developed to subsidize the high costs, particularly for electric vehicles which will also be supported by the hub.

“Parking is quite expensive, especially in a city like Vancouver. One of the ideas is to use the parked electric vehicles in the parking garage as energy storage devices, so you use a portion of the battery capacity in the cars as just a battery to store electricity which can then be sent back to the grid to service other parts of the campus.”

According to Mérida, car owners could then receive a subsidy for their parking fees in exchange for the small amount of battery capacity used.

DRIFTING AHEAD Though hydrogen technology might seem like an exciting development, there are issues regarding its global application.

Some experts have criticized the focus of hydrogen technology on the transport sector, with Phillip Niessen, director for industry and innovation at the European Climate Foundation, saying in the Nature article that it makes more sense to focus renewable energy innovation on industries with no alternatives, like steel production.

“There is a push from heavy industry to get green hydrogen into road transport so private car owners bear some of the early costs,” he said. “But we believe it will be a scarce resource and it makes more sense to grow demand in sectors such as heavy industry where there is no decarbonization alternative.”

A 2021 Frontiers article highlighted additional challenges of a hydrogen economy, emphasizing that transporting hydrogen is an energy-intensive process — though it can be converted into alternate forms, this can result in a loss of yield. Investments in hydrogen tech would also need to be scaled up to compensate for the high cost, among other challenges. The authors called for “multi-sector hydrogen supply chain mapping” to optimize plans for a hydrogen-based future.

And CERC is doing just that. Currently, it is developing a “methodological framework for the sustainable development of the hydrogen supply chain” that will model how different incentive plans, rollout policies, constraints and motivators can optimize the application of hydrogen technology in BC over a 30-year span, opening avenues for the growth of hydrogen technology beyond the renewable energy hub.

As UBC becomes home to the renewable energy hub, Mérida hopes that it will change the way people think about clean energy and the world we live in.

“I really hope that the site becomes a public space for people to come, gather and think very deeply about the way we want to live,” he said.

“Climate change is really here. It is not a concept anymore, it’s our reality. And hopefully this will provide a space for people to really understand how some solutions can use technology. But most of the solutions require societal change.” U

courtesy DIALOG

OCTOBER 5, 2020 TUESDAY | SCIENCE AND TECH | 9

HEATED DEBATES A student’s guide to communicating climate research

illustration by ANDRA CHITAN

by JASMINE MANANGO Discussions around the climate crisis can turn into heated debates, making accurate information essential — along with the skills to communicate it.

Though the climate crisis has become an issue of great political, social and environmental relevance, research about climate science can be difficult to understand. The Ubyssey sat down with Yu Luo, a PhD candidate in cognitive science, and Professor Fernanda Tomaselli, a lecturer in the department of forest resources management, to talk about the best strategies for effective evidence-based climate change communications.

EMBRACE STORYTELLING AND EMOTION You can’t argue with science, right? Turns out, a lot of people do — though the academic community is in consensus that human activities have contributed to the climate crisis, 36 per cent of Canadians disagree, according to Canadian Climate Opinion Maps 2018.

Scientific data, especially when presented alongside dense scientific jargon, can be challenging to understand. This is why Tomaselli encourages using “the power of stories, like storytelling and narrative.”

“We are hearing a lot more about developing this appealing story that can connect to people rather than just giving people the scientific facts like carbon concentrations,” she said.

“That’s extremely abstract for most people.”

In a 2014 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, Dr. Michael F. Dahlstrom found that using narrative to communicate scientific concepts increased the general audience’s understanding, interest and engagement with the subject matter. He also argued that storytelling is intrinsically more persuasive, which offers science communicators another tactic to make information more accessible to doubtful audiences.

Luo and Tomaselli both commented on the appeal to emotion during conversations surrounding the climate crisis.

A 2017 article published in Nature Climate Change argued that appeals to emotion in climate discourse tends to oversimplify how our brains and behaviours interact with our emotions.

The authors stress that emotional targeting is not a “magic bullet” that can be used to initiate a certain reaction from an audience

— it represents one layer of what should be a multidimensional communication strategy.

Emotions are complex as they are shaped by the context in which they are felt, as well as other factors. What’s more, little is known about their long-term impact on behaviours relevant to climate action over time. Certain emotions may also trigger unique behavioural outcomes from different people. For example, fear may be motivating for some and demotivating to others.

TAILOR THE MESSAGE Both Tomaselli and Luo stressed the importance of tailoring climate communications to specific audiences.

“Different audiences are different people [who] have different values [and] different worldviews,” said Tomaselli.

She highlighted message framing — the process of modifying how you present information according to your audience — as a communication strategy to more efficiently convey messaging about the importance of climate action.

She explained, for example, if addressing an audience who prioritize public health and the economy, it may be more effective to frame climate change initiatives in terms of their benefits to these sectors — or the potential detriment should action not be taken — as opposed to the emphasis being placed on the environment.

A 2017 research article supports Tomaselli’s recommendation. Its authors found that conservative audiences (who generally value a free-market economy) were more receptive when free-market — an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are regulated and negotiated by buyers and sellers with little to no government interference — solutions to climate change were emphasized.

Luo, alongside associate professor in psychology Dr. Jiaying Zhao, reported in a recent review that “people tend to pay attention to information consistent with their pre-existing beliefs, motivations, and values.”

In their 2019 research study, Luo and Zhao found that liberal audiences were more likely to make donations and sign petitions when the rising part of a global temperature graph — the part of the plot most consistent with their socio-political motivations or biases — was highlighted.

In contrast, people with conservative views were less willing to engage when focused on the rising part of the temperature plot — theoretically, because it counters their biases.

Thus, conservatives were more likely to make donations when the flat part of the graph was emphasized. They concluded that focusing on information that is consistent with one’s socio-political motivations may be more effective at encouraging climate action.

Another strategy, suggested by Tomaselli, was the emphasis of equal, if not greater, consideration on the impacts of the climate crisis in local environments and present times. “[Climate communicators] have tended to frame climate change as something distant, something that will affect polar bears far away from us ... So these images really do not connect with most people,” she said.

“Making it relevant to people’s own [lives] and their community … is something much more effective.”

A 2021 Frontiers article echoed Tomaselli’s message — it found that individuals were more likely to take action against climate change when they were directly affected by climate disasters. Even the framing of climate discourses relative to the past or the future can have an effect on how well it is received depending on the political affiliations of the audience.

PARTNER WITH TRUSTED AUTHORITIES Luo and Tomaselli agreed that one way to combat misinformation about climate change is to have trusted authority figures deliver information. Luo explained that, for example, having a conservative representative accurately explain climate research may make conservatives more willing to accept it.

Luo also generally recommended presenting people with the correct scientific information. Tomaselli addressed the limitations to this approach, highlighting that many research papers on climate research can be difficult to understand for non-experts.

Although she agreed with the idea of improving “climate literacy” among the general public, she encouraged other members of the academic community to make their research easier to understand.

Tomaselli noted progress is being made, citing the use of easy-to-understand visuals

in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPPC) sixth climate change report as an example. The IPCC has also published a handbook describing effective strategies for climate change communication.

“I think that we are on the right track, for sure. It has improved. But of course, there’s still a long way to go,” she said.

USE SIMPLE VISUALS Tomaselli and Luo both gave examples demonstrating the effectiveness of simple visualizations to improve public understanding of climate research. They explained that simpler visuals that don’t require much cognitive effort to understand, such as infographics and icons, can be a useful tool for communicating to non-experts.

“We live in a time where people are bombarded all the time with social media, different messages, different news and most people have actually very little time,” she said.

“So developing simple messages that are very easy to understand ... is also effective.”

As an example of effective simple visuals, Luo referred to UBC Vancouver’s Climate-Friendly Food System Label initiative where he acts as a co-investigator. In this project, they use a colour-coded system to represent the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that were produced to make campus meals. In this system, green labels are the most climate-friendly option, yellow is a somewhat climate-friendly option and red is the least. This system has been implemented at Mercante.

Tomaselli mentioned a study co-authored by department of forest resources management Professor Stephan Sheppard which demonstrated that after engaging with an interactive education game featuring 3D visualizations and simulations of what the future could look like with climate change, participants were more willing to indicate support for local climate action.

Both of these studies showcased how effective visualization strategies can be in making climate research feel more concrete, a goal that Tomaselli emphasized.

“For many people, climate change is still a little bit abstract, a little bit something of the future. So these visualizations help us to bring that abstract reality to a more concrete experience,” she said. U

10 | SCIENCE AND TECH | TUESDAY OCTOBER 5, 2021

WET-ASS PLANET What climate change could mean for a wetter campus

by SOPHIA RUSSO By now you’ve probably realized that a big part of being a student at UBC is learning to co-exist with rain.

As the climate crisis looms, could it be that Vancouver — by all that is holy — might actually see more rain? According to climate experts, the extreme weather patterns that we have seen manifest across the province this summer could also lead to some wetter seasons.

IT’S RAINING RESEARCH This summer’s heat wave has brought extreme weather patterns to the forefront of discussions about the climate crisis. And according to several studies, it appears that it won’t just get hotter — it will get wetter too.

Precipitation trends have suggested that North America has seen an increase in rain in recent years. One 2020 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS) study asserted that human influence has made extreme precipitation more frequent and intense, with the authors calling for moves to reduce human-caused emissions to help mitigate this trend.

Studies by Nature and Nature Climate Change have also supported that climate change may impact rain patterns, with distinct regions being impacted differently — for example, certain dry regions may see more extreme rain but less annual rainfall overall.

However, in a CBC interview, Dr. Francis Zwiers, director of the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium at the University of Victoria, cautioned against applying the PNAS study to the city scale.

Zwiers explained that rain tends to be “localized and highly variable,” meaning that these precipitation trends are less likely to be observed on smaller scales compared to cross-continental studies. Still, CBC wrote

that Zwiers highlighted this North American trend as being significant.

RAINDROP IT LIKE IT’S HOT Vancouver is infamous for its rainy climate, so much so that UBC has encouraged new grad students to invest in some “warm waterproof clothing” when they come study here.

This advice is more than just a plug for The North Face — it rains an average of 169 days a year in Vancouver, with the winter season receiving nearly twice as many rainy days compared to the summer months, according to World Weather & Climate Information.

Projections suggest the Vancouver area will see even more rain. According to General Climate Projections for Metro Vancouver, the region is projected to experience a “modest” rise in total annual rainfall of five per cent by the 2050s.

The document noted that this increase will be biased toward the fall season, with Metro Vancouver inhabitants predicted to pair an 11-per-cent increase in rainfall with their future pumpkin spice lattes. In contrast, summer rainfall is projected to decrease by 19 per cent within the same time period.

Beyond Metro Vancouver, one Nature Communications study led by UBC PhD candidate Colin Mahony suggested that certain regions will see wetter and warmer summers. Mahony explained in a 2018 press release that this could lead to a host of issues, including disease outbreaks.

With the effects of climate change shaping our climate, experts suggest that students can expect to see more extreme weather like heatwaves and extreme precipitation. For now, students can hope to educate themselves more about climate change — blasting some “Heat Waves” and “Rain on Me” while they are at it. U

illustration by KATHRYN ISEMINGER

THE BRIGHT SIDE How fire benefits ecosystems

by ARVEEN GOGOANI Not only do wildfires lead to smoky summers; they also have the power to change ecosystems.

This past summer, BC’s heat wave ignited a wildfire season that swept across the province. While mass fire activity can prove deadly, it can also give ecosystems opportunities to highlight their resiliency. The Ubyssey sat down with expert ecologists to discuss the ways that wildfires impact BC’s unique ecosystems.

PINING FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES When it comes to research on wildfire-ravaged forests, microbial interactions below ground are of great interest.

For her thesis, UBC Okanagan masters in biology student Naomi Yamaoka investigated how ectomycorrhizal fungi — fungi that form mutually beneficial ecological relationships with roots of different plant species — colonize ponderosa and lodgepole pine seedlings germinating the year after severe wildfires occurred in and around the Okanagan Valley in 2018. Her project examined the type of colonizing species, the time of colonization and the corresponding impact on seedling health and nutrient take-up.

She explained in an interview that by the end of summer 2019 all of the seedlings showed signs of colonization. According to Yamaoka, this indicated that the seeds of naturally regenerating seedlings and fungal spores were able to survive the wildfires and grow afterwards.

Yamaoka also stated that studying interactions in post-wildfire zones is highly relevant, as wildfires continue to impact BC ecosystems every year.

Simultaneously, post-wildfire zones broaden avenues for research by serving as sites of ecological relevance and often perfect breeding grounds for seedlings.

“These seedlings really only germinate after wildfires,” said Yamaoka, highlighting that certain pine seedling species are intolerant to shade, whereas wildfires provide a fresh ecosystem which is perfect for them to thrive.

“You don’t get seedlings popping up in oldgrowth forests very often,” she said. “Looking at these disturbed sites I think is the best indication of early germination and colonization, just because it’s the most ecologically relevant place to study it.”

BURNING WITH A PURPOSE

file JULIAN YU

The intricate relationship between ecosystems and wildfires is accentuated by the re-

search of Dr. Kira Hoffman, a jointly-appointed postdoctoral fellow at UBC and The Bulkley Valley Research Centre. Hoffman’s research connects the practice of Indigenous-led cultural burning — a type of fire stewardship involving low severity and frequent fire — to improved biodiversity worldwide.

“Cultural burning is a type of prescribed burning, so it’s really just a planned ignition.

The difference between prescribed burning and cultural burning is that it’s really tied to community values,” said Hoffman to The Ubyssey.

These values are distinct for different Indigenous communities and specific to the surrounding environments, she explained.

“The big thing is who does the burning and when the burning is done and for what reason,” she said. “There’s a whole different suite of practices that are embedded in cultural burning ... It’s never a single purpose.”

In a Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States research article from summer 2021, Hoffman conducted a review of over 800 papers dating from 1900 to present day — 53 of which fulfilled the necessary criteria to be included in her analyses.

By searching for different terms describing Indigenous fire stewardship, Hoffman aimed to explore the “pattern or a relationship between biodiversity metrics and Indigenous fire stewardship around the world and across different biomes.”

Her research revealed strong patterns suggesting areas subject to cultural burning displayed higher biodiversity. Hoffman stated that the benefits of cultural burning are far-reaching, from decreasing the risk of uncontrollable wildfires to — echoing Yamoaka’s research — clearing and cleaning landscapes to encourage plant growth.

She stressed that as some areas begin to revitalize Indigenous fire stewardship, the next step should be grounded in educating, communicating and understanding different ways of living with fire. According to Hoffman, an important element of this includes “having a more positive relationship with fire … really seeing it not as kind of this devastating and frightening event, but more of a healthy component of forest.”

On the same note, Yamaoka emphasized the resilience of ecosystems as they bounce back amidst a devastating aftermath.

“Going out to these severely burned areas and seeing … the ecosystem rebounding after the fire … after such an extreme event,” she said. “Seeing that happen before my own eyes is definitely very interesting, very exciting.” U

OCTOBER 5, 2020 TUESDAY | SCIENCE AND TECH | 11

COOL IT DOWN The making of a climate-ready campus

by JACKSON DAGGER After a record-setting heat wave in June left many at UBC sweating it out, experts warn that the climate crisis will only make things worse.

During the heat wave, campus temperatures peaked at 36.6ºC while the national record was broken in Lytton, BC at 49.6ºC. Shortly thereafter, a study concluded that heat waves were 150 times more likely due to the 1.2ºC average global temperature increase since pre-industrial times, with the authors claiming that the temperature spike was “virtually impossible without human-caused climate change.” The Ubyssey sat down with experts at UBC to learn more about how the university and its students can be ready for future ‘hot grad summers.’

SOME (DON’T) LIKE IT HOT In an interview with The Ubyssey, Michael Brauer, professor in the School of Population and Public Health, said that one of the most immediate health impacts of extreme heat is dehydration. The worsening of certain health issues, like chronic kidney disease and stroke, have also been linked to extreme heat.

However, it is the older demographic that we need to worry about more. “So for UBC, that may be sort of less important in terms of students, but certainly staff and faculty,” he said.

The heat did prove to be deadly for older groups — most of the heat wave-related deaths from June 20 to July 29 were people over the age of 60.

Brauer emphasized the role students can play in supporting those at-risk.

“There’s something perhaps UBC students could do in terms of mobilizing in the broader community — checking in on especially older people, people living alone, people with mental illnesses that are alone, out in the community.”

But the risk of a heat wave is not limited to

our biology. Brauer also highlighted that heat can increase the risk of death from other heat-stricken individuals due to “things like motor vehicle collisions, suicides [and] homicides.”

“We see these sorts of behavioral impacts, when we look at all the data we see increases in deaths from those causes as well,” he said.

There is one Nature study backing the “behavioural impacts” that Brauer described.

According to the study, the rate of violent crime in Finland increased by 1.7 per cent for every degree increase in average temperature.

AN ABSOLUTE (A/C) UNIT As the heat creates some detrimental impacts, building infrastructure can play a role in reducing some of the risks.

In an interview with The Ubyssey, Sarah Henderson, scientific director in environmental health services at the BC Centre for Disease Control and associate professor in the UBC School of Population and Public Health, emphasized that “air conditioning is sort of the number one protective factor” in minimizing exposure to heat.

“When you have a big institution like UBC, one of the best things they can do is provide those safer, cooler spaces for people,” she said.

“We’re facing a climate scenario now where we need to be very careful about building buildings so that they can stay as passively cool as possible.”

However, Henderson cautioned that air conditioning uses a significant amount of energy. One study suggested that heating, ventilation and air conditioning represent nearly half of the energy used in buildings. What’s more, hydrofluorocarbons — a type of refrigerant used in many air conditioning units — are a type of “super greenhouse gas,” having a global warming potential far greater than carbon dioxide per mass unit.

On the alternatives to air conditioning, Henderson explained that in Canada, it’s best to employ technology that can serve our needs year-round.

“In Canada, where we have potentially severe winters and potentially hot summers, you need the built environment to serve all of those purposes,” she said.

“One of the technologies that is probably going to be very helpful in this region is heat pumps, rather than air conditioners, that can serve both heating needs in the winter and cooling needs in the summer through fairly simple technology that runs fairly efficiently compared with air conditioning.”

A CLIMATE-READY CAMPUS Along with heat waves, the climate crisis is projected to increase the intensity of wildfires.

Historically, wildfire smoke has impacted the UBC campus, bringing its share of health implications.

“Wildfire smoke, we know very clearly, will lead to increased severity of symptoms for people that have respiratory disease, so asthma and [COPD],” said Brauer.

However, he said that little is known on the long-term effects of wildfire exposure and “that’s really the question that we’re grappling with right now.”

Referring to a 2014 study based on Russian data, Brauer said that “there appears to be sort of an interaction” between the health effects of smoke and heat and that dual exposure “led to more severe impacts than one or the other.”

On protecting members of the community from the smoke and the heat, Brauer highlighted the importance of long-term planning and the creation of clean air and cooling areas.

“UBC is actually quite well set up to do that,

because we have a lot of buildings that are mechanically ventilated [and] are able to handle large numbers of people,” he said.

In June, UBC set up multiple air-conditioned cooling centres on campus.

Henderson echoed Brauer’s sentiment, noting that the creation of these cooler spaces is an essential step in building a campus more resilient to the change crisis so that “UBC as an institution can be a leader in good building design for the climate future.”

In light of the climate crises, UBC has released its “climate ready requirements” — a set of infrastructure practices that the university aims to implement. “Thermal comfort” is one of the prescribed goals of the project, with passive cooling measures being prioritized and active cooling practices being used “if needed to reach performance requirements.”

Some of the passive cooling strategies that it lists include applying high-efficiency lights and equipment, outdoor shading, a “climate responsive landscape design” to reduce the heat transferred to buildings and a more favourable building-to-wall ratio.

In tackling the public health threat of the climate crisis, Henderson acknowledged the value of having individual students do their part, drawing parallels to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One of the things I’ve been thinking about recently is … throughout COVID, we’ve just had these posters up everywhere, telling people to wash your hands and maintain your distance,” she said.

“Maybe when we have [extreme weather] events like this, we need to put posters up reminding people to wet down your T-shirt if you’re too hot or take a cold shower, or those other kinds of ways to protect yourself from a public health threat.” U

illustration by KYLLA CASTILLO

12 | SCIENCE AND TECH | TUESDAY OCTOBER 5, 2021

CONCRETE IDEAS UBC engineering student optimizes ‘greener’ graphene-enhanced concrete

by DANNY LIU

Zhang has developed a formula for this “shiny” concrete that could cut the time needed for polishing final concrete products.

Photo: Kevin Zhang

Graphene-enhanced concrete can help reduce emissions from cement manufacturing, while being ideal for coastal cities.

Photo: Kevin Zhang

Zeyang (Kevin) Zhang is one of the first people in the world to work with graphene-enhanced concrete.

Photo: Kevin Zhang

The slump test is one of the assessments that Zhang performs on concrete.

Photo: bjtrump/Flickr

Third-year chemical engineering student Zeyang (Kevin) Zhang is one of the first people in the world to work with graphene-enhanced concrete — a material with the potential to reduce carbon emissions and revolutionize the building industry.

Over the past three months, Zhang dedicated his time in a co-op with the start-up material company UberCrete. Most of his day is spent creating various graphene-concrete mixtures and assessing their properties through a variety of tests.

HARDER, NEWER, GREENER, STRONGER Unlike regular concrete, graphene-enhanced concrete has increased durability, saline resistance and water resistance. This makes it ideal for building along ocean coastlines which can normally wear away regular concrete in the long term, according to Zhang.

The inclusion of graphene can also reduce the amount of cement per required concrete material, meaning that this technology could significantly reduce carbon emissions from cement manufacturers, according to a 2018 study. As cement manufacturing is a leading source of global emissions — accounting for

five per cent of the global “man-made” carbon dioxide emissions in 2012 — this technology could have wide implications for tackling the environmental impacts of this industry.

The increased water resistance of graphene-enhanced concrete would also make it an “even better” fit for Vancouver’s rainy climate than regular concrete, said Zhang in an emailed statement to The Ubyssey.

While the basic science behind graphene-enhanced concrete has already been developed, Zhang’s work at UberCrete aims to bridge the gap between scientific theory and commercial applications.

While some researchers only consider the traits of the hardened concrete such as compressive strength or water permeability, Zhang explained that his work also assesses the traits of the wet concrete mixture such as workability or viscosity (how much a substance resists flowing).

To assess viscosity, Zhang has conducted an experiment called the slump test. The test involves pouring the wet concrete mixture inside a mold called a slump cone. The mold is then removed, leaving the concrete in a cone shape which will naturally slump.

The distance from the top of the slumped concrete to the level of the top of the slump

cone is then measured, providing information about the viscosity of the mixture. A less viscous concrete mixture is more workable, making it easier to be pumped up when constructing a high rise.

CEMENTED AS AN INNOVATOR Zhang runs and coordinates tests with both academic and industry partners to ensure the graphene-enhanced concrete fits the requirements of Canadian and international building standards.

“I run the testing. I run the arranging logistics, I run the enhanc[ing] and improv[ing of] the formulas, I run the developing formulas and I run the making [of the actual concrete],” he said.

In one of his ventures, after experimenting with different ratios of cement and water, Zhang created a concrete mixture with a lustrous sheen. According to Zhang, this feature is notable as it saves time and money that would have been spent polishing the final concrete products.

As of now, only Zhang and another member of UberCrete know the specific ratios of water and cement needed for making the shiny concrete. He also stated that this discovery

has garnered interest from investors.

OVERCOMING BARRIERS Looking back at all his accomplishments, Zhang recognized the challenges he has faced.

In an email, Zhang noted that he secured this job despite “COVID-19 as well as the rise [in] anti-Asian hate crime disturbing the employment opportunity for Asian Minorities.”

When asked if there were any specific barriers he overcame, he mentioned racist encounters in the community where he was called racial slurs. Zhang also mentioned the increased difficulty in finding a job as an international student due to citizenship requirements.

Currently, Zhang is working on the side as UberCrete’s technical management officer, while finishing his schooling. In an emailed statement to The Ubyssey, Zhang said that after graduation he hopes to work at a chemical engineering plant or a chemical and materials manufacturing plant in a management position, with the goal of starting his own company one day.

“I aspire to change the chemical/material industry, and to help people and children with the money I make,” he wrote. U

OPINIONS

OCTOBER 5, 2021 TUESDAY

EDITOR THOMAS MCLEOD

13

COVID-19 //

Letter: Response to Dr. Steven Pelech’s open letter on mask and vaccine mandates Jackson Dagger Senior Staff Writer

As a student, it is incredibly disappointing to see a professor from the UBC faculty of medicine and member of UBC’s Vancouver Senate spreading misinformation about COVID-19. Dr. Steven Pelech made several misleading and false claims in his September 3 open letter to Dr. Alan Richardson, the head of UBC’s Faculty Association.

While Pelech is free to speak his mind, there is a degree of trust placed in professors, especially those involved in high-level university governance.

It is irresponsible to use that public trust to spread misleading information, especially during a pandemic.

Pelech’s evidence of a “20fold higher rate of risk of hospitalization in 12 to 17 years old from administration of the Pfizer RNA vaccine than due to the virus that it is supposed to offer protection from” appears to be a case of cherry-picking. To arrive at that number, the weekly rate of COVID-related hospitalizations from one study is likely being compared with the cumulative rate of vaccine-related hospitalizations in another. If one is comparing weekly hospitalization rates over the course of two months with cumulative ones resulting from the entire vaccination effort, the risk of COVID-19 is gravely understated.

Furthermore, the numbers are for adolescents rather than universityaged students.

The assertion in the letter that

While Pelech is free to speak his mind, there is a degree of trust placed in professors, especially those involved in high-level university governance.

“more than half of the population in B.C. already has natural immunity, which is superior to that obtained by vaccination” is not in line with the current body of scientific evidence. A recent study co-authored by Pelech does indicate that more than 90 per cent of BC adults studied showed antibody reactivity to the spike protein from SARSCoV-2. For most subjects, this is likely from previous exposure to other coronaviruses. However, evidence from a study conducted

in Kentucky (as cited by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention) suggests that even those who have already contracted COVID-19 and have developed antibodies benefit from the vaccine. One must wonder why the claim of natural immunity’s superiority to vaccines wasn’t made in the peerreviewed article.

Furthermore, the assertion that “there is no clear evidence that SARS-CoV-2 supports the spread from unvaccinated people

to vaccinated people any more than vaccinated to vaccinated people” is misleading without context.

While it is true that vaccinated individuals infected with the Delta variant (the predominant variant in BC) do exhibit similar viral loads to their unvaccinated counterparts, the vaccine significantly reduces their risk of contracting and thus being able to spread the virus in the months after receiving both doses.

We are living in a pandemic that has already claimed the

FILE ISABELLA FALSETTI

lives of 27,000 Canadians and it is irresponsible to publish such a deceptive letter on our crucial response to this disease. The misleading claims in Pelech’s letter reflect poorly on both him and UBC as a whole. UBC students, staff and faculty deserve better from our Senate representatives.

Jackson Dagger is a fifth-year computer engineering student and senior staff writer at The Ubyssey. U

BLACK VOICES AT UBC //

Finding your Black community at UBC non-Black city as much as other Black people.

Being a part of a Black community at UBC is important for a number of reasons:

LONELINESS

It’s nice to feel like you’re not the ONLY Black person in Vancouver.

Kady Toure Yeo Columnist

It’s no secret that the Black population in Vancouver and at UBC is quite small, and for a Black student moving to the city, it can be extremely intimidating. When I first moved to Vancouver, I was shocked at how small the Black population was here.

Having moved from Nigeria — where everybody is Black — it felt unsettling being, at most times, the only Black person on the bus, in the classroom and in many other settings. Nonetheless, I became friends with students from all over. What I loved — and still

THOMAS MCLEOD

love — about UBC is the fact that it attracts students from all over the world and in turn has given me the ability to learn about so many cultures and religions through the connections I make.

However, no matter how much I immersed myself in the UBC community, I still struggled with the lack of a Black community.

From the despair of my firstyear experience, I learned how important it is for a Black student to be part of a Black community at UBC and ultimately in Vancouver.

Regardless of who you surround yourself with, no one will truly understand your experiences as a Black person in a predominantly

Vancouver is undoubtedly one of the loneliest cities in the world. I’ve heard so many experiences of people struggling to make friends in Vancouver and feeling extremely isolated and depressed. As a Black person in Vancouver, your loneliness can be amplified by the lack of a Black community — especially if you’re not originally from Vancouver or Canada. Joining a Black community allows you to connect with your fellow Black peers and develop open communication and support over similar struggles and experiences. Also, it’s nice to feel like you’re not the ONLY Black person in Vancouver.

BEING SEEN As a Black person in Vancouver, it is very easy to feel like an outsider due to the low Black population.

It’s hard to ignore the stares and subtle acts people take to avoid you in any setting. This can have awful effects on your confidence and sense of being. Immersing

yourself in a Black community provides you with that sense of family and being that you may lack in your environment. Personally, partaking in activities with my Black friends momentarily makes me forget about the daily microaggressions I face.

BLACK HOTSPOTS If you’re a Black international student, you’ll need to discover Vancouver. Joining a Black community will hook you up with the best and most affordable salons, beauty supply stores, African and Caribbean food markets and African restaurants.

FINDING A BLACK COMMUNITY Now that we’ve established the importance of a Black community at UBC, your next question may be “How do I find my Black community at UBC?” Well, the easiest way to find a Black community at UBC is to join clubs. UBC contains an evergrowing variety of Black student clubs — the most popular one being the Black Student Union (BSU)!

Joining the BSU allows you to meet other Black and biracial UBC students from all over the

world. The BSU facilitates an environment where connections and friendships can be built; it also provides support for those who may be struggling to adjust to Vancouver and are in need of a community to link them to their country of origin.

The BSU holds meetings and events in which all members are able to attend and participate in activities that establish familiarity and friendship amongst members.

In addition, the BSU helps showcase Black, African and Caribbean culture, art and talent at UBC. If you’re interested in getting involved, attending a BSU meeting or even messaging the BSU Instagram page (@ubcbsu) can provide you with information about their upcoming events for the term.

Honourable mentions of UBC Black student clubs include: • The Black Caucus • Young Black Professionals • UBC Black Law Student Association • UBC Africa Awareness Initiative • UBC African Business Club Black Voices at UBC is a new column written by Black members of UBC’s student community. U

FROM THE BLOG

OCTOBER 5, 2021 TUESDAY

EDITOR THOMAS MCLEOD

LOVE //

RETURN TO CAMPUS //

The Dingbat: I married one of the campus squirrels. Here’s why

The Dingbat: Getting back into the swing of on-campus classes

Teagan Pettit Contributor

I remember the day I met him like it was yesterday. September 11, 2021. Perhaps I should note that at the time of my writing this, it actually was yesterday. I was squelching down Main Mall through sheets of vengeful rain, eyes stuck to the ground in a search for worms to rescue from the downpour — just like any other lonely Friday in Raincouver. So focused was I on the task at hand that I didn’t even see him on the path ahead.

It was your classic rom-com meet-cute between a human university student and a literal squirrel. We crashed into each other with a soft, fleshy thud that sent all my rescued worms flying through the air. Their little pink bodies mirrored the flush in my cheeks as I caught his chestnut brown eye through the deluge.

I apologized profusely for my clumsiness, blaming the clunky soles of my Blundstone’s while wondering whether this was what love-at-first-sight felt like.

Was he my soulmate?

Ever the gentleman, he helped me gather my worms before introducing himself.

“Hi,” he said. “I am a campus squirrel.”

“Hi... ” I said. “I don’t usually say this to people I’ve just met, but do you want to marry me at the University Chapel right now?”

“Uh… I am a squirrel,” he said.

“I know,” I said.

“Hi,” he said. “I am a campus squirrel.”

“I guess I have nothing better to do,” he smiled.

And that was the beginning of our happily ever after. Here’s why I did it:

THE VANCOUVER HOUSING MARKET My husband lives in a comfortable three-bedroom, two-bathroom hollowed-out tree with a view of Neville Scarfe. Can you say the same for your snotty-nosed boyf with the permanently sticky, pubebespeckled toilet seat? My husband has a bidet and 800 thread count sheets. A BIDET. IN A TREE. He is also childhood friends with the seagull who lives at the UBC fountain.

FILE JASMINE FOONG

I didn’t know this until after I married him, but it’s definitely one of the unexpected perks that keeps me in it for the long haul.

THE CLIMATE CRISIS What better way to demonstrate your love and commitment to nature than to marry it?

HE IS A WONDERFUL CHEF AND CARING FATHER We don’t have any of our own children, but after getting married at the chapel in front of all the worms I had saved, they felt like family. We couldn’t just leave them in the dirt outside the Nest. We brought 103 worms home with

us that day, and we have been treating them like our children ever since.

HE HAS A STOMACH TATTOO THAT SAYS ‘TUUM-EST’ And it’s hot.

This is a work of satire meant to underscore the desperation of the Vancouver housing market. The events and people it represents are entirely fictional. No writer at The Dingbat or The Ubyssey at large have ever entered into a matrimonial relationship with an animal anywhere on- or offcampus, except for the time we found out that Tristan Wheeler’s ex-wife was part lizard. U

Tianne Jensen-DesJardins Culture Editor

The Ubyssey’s dictionary entry for what ‘hybrid’ classes really are of your peers are not and therefore, Zooming in.

8. All classes in person, but all office hours online.

9. Classes in person for the first two weeks of class, but then online for the next two weeks due to your prof’s COVID-19 exposure.

10. Classes in person, but at any time, they could become remote.

11. Classes in person, but your parttime work is remote.

12. Classes online, but your parttime work is in person.

13. Classes in person, but your club is remote.

Here is The Ubyssey’s attempt at a comprehensive guide to all the definitions of ‘hybrid’ learning.

During our “return to campus,” the “campus” part has been made complicated by hybrid learning.

At first glance, this involves some mixture of online and in-person classes — until you examine what that really looks like in practice. Here is The Ubyssey’s attempt at a comprehensive guide to all the definitions of ‘hybrid’ learning.

Hybrid | hahy-brid

FILE JASMINE FOONG

AS A NOUN

Wednesdays, online Fridays.

1. The offspring of two plants or animals of different species or varieties, such as a liger (the offspring of a male lion and a female tiger).

2. Class in person on Mondays, online Wednesdays and Fridays.

2. A word composed of elements originally drawn from different languages, as “dysfunction,” from the Greek (dys-) meaning “bad” and the Latin function (“execution”).

4. Class in person on Tuesdays, online Thursdays.

AS A STATE OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

6. Class online for your three-hour lecture every other week.

1. Class in person on Mondays and

7. Class that’s in person but some

3. Class in person on Mondays and Fridays, online Wednesdays.

5. Class online Tuesdays, in person on Thursdays.

FILE ISABELLA FALSETTI

God, it feels good to be back on campus.

ZOOM SCHOOL //

Tait Gamble Contributor

14

14. Classes online, but your club is in person.

15. Classes online, but you watch the lecture in the classroom your lecture would have been in.

16. Class in person on Monday, middle names A-K in person on Wednesday and L-Z in person on Friday 17. Your prof teaches in a hybrid, most likely a Prius.

ORIGIN Latin; Highly popularized circa 2020 among discussions of return to work and education mid-/postCOVID-19 pandemic. U

After over a year of taking classes in pyjamas or sweats, this year’s return to campus was a welcome change. Sure, it meant spending far more time commuting, but getting to see classmates face-to-face would surely make up for it, right?

As I excitedly got ready for my first class, I thought back to those long Zoom calls, staring at little black boxes briefly illuminated in yellow as microphones were turned on to complete the minimum participation remarks. It was hard to pay attention to lectures when every time a new voice spoke, images of hypothetical faces sprang to mind.

But now, all of that was behind me. I re-checked my timetable three times as I made my way across campus to the West Mall Swing Space.

Room 407. Climbing those four flights of stairs felt like my long-awaited reward for social distancing and wearing my mask all those times throughout the past year.

Ever the eager student, I was the first to arrive. After fumbling to find which light switch illuminated the room — I’m still not sure what the other switches do — I claimed my seat near the front of the room.

Slowly, a few more students trickled in as the clock crept closer to 11 a.m.

10:58.

10:59.

11:00.

Finally, the moment had arrived.

With a smile on my face, I joined the Zoom call and turned on my camera. All the students around me did the same.

Everyone was there — everyone but the professor. He showed up on screen and waved to us, and we all waved at him from the comfort of SWNG 407.

God, it feels good to be back on campus. U

SPORTS+REC

OCTOBER 5, 2021 TUESDAY

EDITOR DIANA HONG

15

BACK FROM TOKYO //

Former T-Bird Mark Pearson’s journey to the Tokyo Olympics

Pearson represented Canada at Tokyo Olympics.

Mike Liu Staff Writer

When Canadians are asked about hockey at the Olympics, they picture ice rinks and tons of gear. For Mark Pearson, he thinks of a turf pitch with a wooden stick and shin pads.

However, they have one in common: wearing the red-and-white for Canada proudly on the world stage.

Pearson represented Canada in this past Summer Olympics in Tokyo, playing on the Canadian Men’s National field hockey team. For the former Thunderbird, it has been a long journey, with experiences and hurdles that he could never have seen coming.

A BEGINNING LIKE MANY OTHERS

His story began like many other Canadian boys. “I was first and foremost a Vancouver Canucks fan and had skates on as a youngster,” Pearson laughed as he recounted the very beginning of his sporting career. Instead of continuing on with ice hockey though, Pearson found himself gravitating towards field hockey.

“My parents, they both emigrated, one from Ireland — my mom — and my dad from England, and they played the sport growing up and the sport is semi-popular in Vancouver — most of the national team members come from the West Coast,” he said. “So when they came to Canada, they’re thinking ... how are they going to meet people and make friends, and sports is such a great vehicle to do that, so they both joined a local field hockey club.”

“I guess you could kind of say it’s a little bit in my blood.”

Growing up in Vancouver, where its climate and surroundings allow for sports year-round, Pearson found himself exposed to a bit of everything. “[I] grew up playing ice hockey and soccer in the fall. And then it was a choice between field hockey and baseball in the spring, and didn’t really have a choice in the matter,” he joked.

Perhaps playing field hockey, where 11 men stand on a pitch with sticks, represented the best of both worlds for Pearson.

COLLEGE DAYS AT HOME Staying in Vancouver and attending

COURTESY MARK PEARSON

UBC was a relatively easy choice for Pearson. “UBC was an amazing, and still is an amazing vehicle for aspiring field hockey players,” Pearson said with a smile. “The sport has a West Coast bias, so many of us are from from the area.”

The UBC men’s field hockey team has a long and storied history in the area. They have been a dominant force in the past, claiming 10 titles in 12 years from 1955-67. It was also the work of former UBC athlete and geology professor Victor Warren that helped make field hockey an official Olympic sport.

Even to this day, the Thunderbirds send many of their T-birds to the Canadian national team, with 13 alumni on the Tokyo 2020 roster.

The field hockey team at UBC, while a varsity team, does not compete in U Sports. Instead, they participate in the Vancouver Men’s Field Hockey League. For Pearson, he felt that this league helped with his development. “It just kind of got me from that age group hockey that I played growing up ... to that next level of playing against men ... but competing in the Vancouver men’s league against some of the top clubs like West Vancouver, Vancouver Hawks, India Club and United Brothers.”

It wasn’t all just about the sports though. “For me, just from a personal level … getting out of your parents’ house and just, maturing a little bit exploring who you are and figuring out who you are, like UBC was amazing for that,” Pearson grinned.

With the varsity schedule keeping the team together for long periods of time, it was no wonder that many bonds were created. “As a newcomer to UBC, [field hockey] helped me make friends. And suddenly, I’ve got 16-18 buddies that I can go to the Pit with on a Wednesday night.”

“I only look back fondly on my on my time at UBC.” THE MAPLE LEAF COMES CALLING

As a 19-year-old still attending UBC, Pearson earned his first cap at a major international tournament, playing for Team Canada at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. It marked the start of a long-tenured career with the Red Caribou.

“It’s taken me to some amazing places and some amazing countries,”

Pearson said. The local boy hadn’t really left the Vancouver area when it came to his hockey career. It is amusing for him to look back on that now, 15 years later after having spent extensive time traveling the world with Team Canada as well as a long professional career in Belgium, Germany and India.

The new perspective he gained with these experiences also helped with playing with different teammates from different backgrounds. “On our team of 20 players [in India], there was 12 from India, and then eight from other countries. So, it was an Aussie, an Austrian, Canadian, a Kiwi, a German,” Pearson laughed. “You can imagine trying to bring that group of athletes together.”

But for Pearson, that was the magic of sports. “I think that’s just what sport does is you have to educate yourselves on the other cultures, and then come together and try and win some hockey games.”

AN INJURT AND THE END OF THE WORLD

During the 2019 Pan-American Games in Lima, six minutes into the Gold Medal match, Pearson cut inside for a scoring chance, before collapsing to the turf in a heap.

He had just ruptured his Achilles tendon. With months to go before the Games, and Pearson thinking this cycle may be his last, he was understandably emotional. He didn’t know if he’d ever put the Maple Leaf on again.

He returned home and went under the knife immediately. Pearson knew that he was in good hands.

“The surgeon, Dr. Boyer in New Westminster, I mean, in his words, he’s operated on more Olympians than anyone else in Canada,” Pearson smiled. Though the physiotherapists and doctors said that he would be ready for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the timeline was going to be tight.

Standing on the sidelines on October 27 of 2019, Pearson was still in a walking boot as Canada beat Ireland to clinch their qualification to the Games in North Vancouver.

And then the world came to a standstill as COVID-19 rapidly evolved into a global pandemic.

Team Canada announced that they would not be sending a team if the Games were to be held in 2020, and shortly after the Games were officially postponed.

For Pearson, it was a mixed blessing. “I’ll be honest, the pandemic did take the pressure off a little bit,” he said, giving him more time to get back into competition form. However, with that came drawbacks to how he was recovering. “You weren’t going into physio clinics for a few months there, so I was sort of cut off from my medical staff.”

“I wasn’t really able to rehab in the same way.”

The most frustrating part though was the waiting just to get back to his feet. “With an Achilles, because it’s such an important tendon in the body, and there’s very limited blood flow down there, you really need to not put any weight on it for three months,” Pearson described,

comparing it to an ACL injury where the rehab process began immediately. “That was maybe the toughest phase that first three months where you’re just kind of waiting for things to heal.”

But, as the pandemic stretched from one month to one year, so did the time Pearson’s Achillies had to regain its strength. It wasn’t long before he was back on the pitch training for the Olympic Games once more.

THE OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE With the Tokyo Games being held amid case counts high and low vaccine rates in Japan, many parts of the usual international festival of sport were changed. For one, international fans and volunteers were barred from attending, and athletes were forced to leave the Olympic Village two days after their competition.

Still, in the face of a pandemic, it was some semblance of normalcy and a target that Pearson could work toward. “We were very lucky that we’d already qualified,” he said, with the International Hockey Federation holding the spots as they were before the pandemic. “So for our team, it was more about narrowing in from 24-26 guys at training down to the 16 athletes that are going to go to Tokyo.”

The Red Caribou made it to Europe for some much-needed preparation games prior to the Olympics, with most of the team having not played in a year. But even as they arrived in Japan for the pre-Olympic training camp, it was much, much different than Pearson remembered.

“I’m in Okayama Japan in the staging before Tokyo … and, you know, we were essentially prisoners in the hotel, we were not allowed to leave,” he recounted. “It sucks as an athlete. When you go to the field, normally, you’re allowed to go for a walk or something around the hotel, just to stretch the legs, but we were literally just confined to our hotel bedrooms.”

Pearson did maintain perspective though. “Again, [things] could be much worse, you’re still going to the Olympics.”

Canada had a rough go at things during the Games. They finished bottom of the pool, losing four and drawing one. Pearson tallied three goals, against the Netherlands, Belgium and South Africa.

“This one was the sort of the pandemic games, totally different.

No friends, no family, no fans,” he said. “Our results were frustrating, were disappointing, we had patches and phases of every game where we’re playing with and better than some of the best teams in the world.

But then, our problem for years has been consistency. And when you take 10 or 15 minutes off in a game, good teams are going to punish you.”

However, it wasn’t just the results on the pitch that mattered the most. Pearson drew on his first Games to show just what these Olympics meant to him.

“My first games in 2008, I was a young guy, still at UBC, 19-20 years

old. [I was] so excited to be there.

Beijing, the sights, the sounds, Yao Ming, you know, it was pretty overwhelming,” he laughed. “And, you know, I played well, the team underperformed, but it was just sort of that first case when I was still a little bit immature, didn’t really necessarily know exactly who I was.”

In the years following, Pearson has become a fixture of the Red Caribou. It was the longevity that allowed him a different experience in Rio, his second Olympics. “We missed out on going to London, we had a few guys retire so that, we had a new kind of core group of guys, myself, Scott Tupper, [Antoni] Kindler, [David] Carter, guys that all went to UBC as well,” he said.

“For us, it was just sort of the culmination of years of hard work.”

And it’s not to say Canada didn’t have a lot to be proud of. “I mean, we have aspirations beyond just qualification, but it’s really hard,” Pearson said. “There’s lots of great countries out there, and we’re by no means a world power.”

“You’re never sure if you’re going to get back to those Olympics.”

PARTING WISDOM Having completed his Bachelor’s of Arts degree at UBC, Pearson has also wrapped up a Masters of Sports Management from the Johan Cruyff Institute in Barcelona. He currently works as a business development specialist for the Canadian Olympic Committee.

He’s been around the block and then some with the Red Caribou, and his main advice is to “embrace every opportunity,” he replied instantly. “I think that’s first and foremost, you know, follow your passion, for sure.”

Pearson again references his time in Beijing, where he, in his own words, “put horse blinders” on himself and focused solely on the sport. “I think it’s important to know who you are as an individual or to take the time to sort of think about who you are as an individual, and what makes you tick,” he said.

“For me, stopping to smell the roses a little bit, embracing the experience is something that I think makes me enjoy the experience more, but also just to feel more comfortable.”

Pearson did have a good story about the last bit of that. “One of the skills that I have, probably better than most, would be the backhand shot,” he said. “When I was 16 years old, I went to my first junior training, and I didn’t know how to do [a backhand shot], I’d never been shown how to do it, and I was really embarrassed,” Pearson laughed.

“I was like, I’m never gonna let this happen to me, so I just worked on it constantly.” The results were clear. “Suddenly, it’s like an important tool in my arsenal that’s been a deadly weapon for the last 10 years,” he chuckles.

“If you have deficiencies, don’t be shy to work on them because it’s amazing how quickly you can turn around with a bit of hard work and perseverance.” U

16 | CULTURE | TUESDAY OCTOBER 5, 2021