Academic Appetizer Hour with Green College Leading Scholars

Bite-sized research presentations by recently appointed UBC Faculty Members across disciplines. Faculty presentations in this session by the 2023-25 Leading Scholars Program cohort include:

Retailers and Imports: Evidence from US Dollar Stores
Torsten Jaccard, Economics

My research is in international trade, which I approach from an empirical perspective. I make use of detailed micro-data to understand demand for imported goods and the various economic forces that shape consumer gains from trade, such as: local retail markets and the expansion of dollar stores to rural communities, the role of immigrant communities in shaping consumption of goods from their origin country by non-immigrant households, and the role of multinationals and off-shored production.

Enzyme Revolution: To Reduce, to Recreate and to Recycle
Jaya Joshi, Wood Science

I am a synthetic biologist, and my research program is focused on making sustainable carbon farming within a circular economy a reality by 2050. My research delves into the design space of enzymes and involves harnessing microbes and plants as green factories by using designer catalysts. We reconfigure metabolism through the utilization of genomics, enzyme evolution, metabolic engineering and machine learning approaches. Our objective is to engineer microbes with tailor-made catalysts, aiming to convert biomass-derived feedstocks (waste) into fuels, valuable commodities or pharmaceutical products, thereby paving the way for sustainable chemistry.