About

Welcome everyone to the Zoology web site!

Please explore our Department website to learn more about the exciting research and teaching initiatives and training opportunities in our Department. Zoology is housed on the main campus of the University of British Columbia and located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) People.

Zoology as an official department started in 1924 and has expanded to become one of the strongest and most broadly-based life science departments in the country, with a scope that spans from molecules to cells, whole organisms, populations, and communities. The Department’s research and educational program is highly productive and influential. Our faculty have received numerous awards for their research and teaching. Our ~40 research professors include: Fellows of the Royal Society of London, Members of the US National Academy of Sciences, Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada, Canada Research Chairs and a Canada 150 chair. Our educational leadership faculty have also been awarded numerous teaching prizes. Please take some time to explore our faculty websites where you can learn about many of the recent advances our faculty have made.

Our graduate program supports 150 graduate students, and the department also includes 34 postdoctoral fellows and 9 research associates. We share the teaching of the Biology undergraduate program with our colleagues in the Department of Botany and have an extensive curriculum covering all aspects of Biology including a range of undergraduate research experiences. Our alumni extend around the world in a wide range of highly successful careers from academia to industry to non-profit organizations. I would like to invite and encourage our alumni to continue to connect with the Department and contribute to our continued successes in both research and teaching.

The Department of Zoology aims to foster a community in which diversity is integral and people from all different backgrounds are acknowledged and respected. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment that welcomes diversity. It is clear that strength and innovation comes from a diversity of voices and backgrounds and we strive to ensure that current students, faculty members and staff from different backgrounds and with diverse perspectives are welcomed and well-served in the department.

I welcome the opportunity to tell you about our future goals and aspirations and can always be contacted at head@zoology.ubc.ca.

Sincerely,
Vanessa Auld (Professor and Head)