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Shifting ocean conditions can influence the species forming both the oyster’s external ecosystem and internal community of microorganisms. 

By Sarah Anderson, PhD, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, UBC

Although they don’t produce the shiny, precious pearls of some of their mollusk family members, Pacific oysters remain a critically valuable resource. The Pacific oyster acts a natural water filter as it feeds, sucking algae and phytoplankton from up to 50 gallons of water per day. The oyster reef also provides a key aquatic habitat that supports a range of fish and invertebrate organisms. And as the most widely farmed species of oyster, the Pacific oyster industry forms the financial backbone of coastal communities spanning Vancouver Island to Vietnam. 

Recently, Pacific oysters have undergone a series of mass mortality events, leading to devastating ecological and economic consequences. In the past few years, death rates have regularly exceeded 50 percent in Pacific oysters farmed in Baynes Sound, British Columbia during July and August. Given the seasonal trend, scientists have hypothesized that ocean warming and acidification due to climate change may be at play. 

Curtis Suttle, a professor of microbiology and immunology, earth, ocean, and atmospheric sciences, and botany, wondered if shifting environmental parameters may affect the Pacific oyster via its microbiome. As the Pacific oyster filter feeds and interacts with its marine ecosystem, it builds up a microscopic ecosystem of its own — a complex community of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms inhabiting its gut and gills. As these microorganisms have evolved to perform important biological functions under specific conditions, increasing water temperature and acidity could disrupt the oyster’s microbiome and impact its health. 

To explore these connections, Suttle’s team took part in a collaborative, multi-institutional study, acquiring Pacific oyster spat (the juvenile life stage) grown at the Deep Bay Marine Field Station of Vancouver Island University and conducting experiments at the Hakai Institute Marna Lab on Quadra Island, British Columbia. The researchers placed the oysters in tanks filled with water from their natural environment in the Strait of Georgia, sampling from both surface water and deep-ocean water where sunken organic matter is decomposed in order to expose the oysters to a diverse array of microorganisms. They then adjusted the temperature or acidity of the water in each tank and, after three weeks, analyzed the composition of the oyster’s microbiomes. 

To get a complete picture of the microbiome, the researchers extracted genetic information to identify both prokaryotic microbes and more elaborate eukaryotic microorganisms. Obtaining eukaryotic microbiome data has been challenging because the genetic profile of the host organism is included within — and typically dominates — the eukaryotic genome. To address this problem, research associate Kevin Zhong used CRISPR-Cas gene editing technology to cut the oyster’s DNA, removing it from the analysis and leaving behind the eukaryotic microbiome genes of interest. “We measured the relative abundance of each microbial species, and then performed bioinformatic and statistical analysis to determine how factors such as water temperature and acidity affected the oyster microbiome,” Zhong said. 

Curtis Suttle (left) and Kevin Zhong (right)

The team observed that the composition of the oyster microbiome stayed the same even as the surrounding water became more acidic. The makeup of the microbiome did shift in response to increased water temperature, but these changes did not yield any negative health effects. “One of the most surprising parts was that we pushed the oyster spat much harder than they would ever be pushed in the natural environment, and they were incredibly resilient and never showed any signs of mortality or catastrophic collapse,” Suttle said.

While rising water temperature and acidity don’t appear to be directly responsible for Pacific oyster die-off events, the effects of shifting environmental parameters can intersect to wreak havoc in the uncontrolled ocean. As certain bacteria thrive at higher temperatures, warming oceans can introduce new pathogens into Pacific oyster habitats. And if increased temperature disturbs the oyster microbiome as it did in the researchers’ experiments, the oysters may be more susceptible to infection and disease. “The Anna Karenina hypothesis is the idea that once you start to lose your stable microbiome, then it becomes chaotic and unpredictable and you don't know what pathogens will invade,” Suttle said.

The team is now focused on identifying marine pathogens that are being driven north by climate change and mapping the relationships between pathogen distribution, ocean conditions, and the Pacific oyster microbiome and mortality. “The saying is that everything is everywhere, and the environment selects,” Suttle said. Whether within an underwater ecosystem or inside the oyster itself, “If you change the environment, you change the organisms that are present.” 

Less than a week ago, on May 16, scientists with the Canadian Flagship project reached bedrock while drilling deep ice cores through the Müller Ice Cap on Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut. After a month of hard work under harsh Arctic conditions, they obtained a 613-metre ice core—the longest ever recovered in Canada or anywhere in the Americas.

Led by the University of Manitoba, the project brings together ice and climate researchers from across Canada, along with scientists from Denmark and Australia. This ice core provides a window into the climate dating back more than 10,000 years. Researchers will also examine whether it contains ice from the vast ice sheet that covered North America during the last ice age. The project will advance drilling technology in Canada, use novel methods to analyze the ice, and educate a new generation of climate scientists. Insights into past climate and sea ice extent gained from this project will contribute to better projections of future changes, benefiting Inuit communities in Nunavut and northern Canada.

Dr. Anaïs Orsi, Assistant Professor and polar climate scientist in the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia, studies greenhouse gases and mercury by pumping air out of the snow and firn to a depth of 60 m as part of this project. 

“This is the first time such measurements have been done on the Canadian ice caps and the results are looking very exciting,” said Dr. Orsi.

Read more about this achievement in The Globe and Mail: Scientists on remote island in Nunavut drill out the longest ice core in Canadian history

Dr. Orsi is also documenting their field exploration on her blog: Air and Ice: Firn air sampling and ice core drilling on Müller ice cap, Axel Heiberg Island. Check it out!

Anais Orsi sampling gas

Team 1 after Easter Egg hunt in the drill tent (Left to right: Emma, Grant, Dave, Sofia, Dorthe, Jaime, Shari, Ali, Etienne and Kevin)

Basal ice core with sand and pebbles

Ice core in the drill tent

Drone picture of the camp

Dr. Louise Longridge is one of the recipients of the AMS UBC Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Champion Award, presented at the AMS UBC Teaching and Learning Champions Gala on April 1, 2025. Newly established this year, the UDL Champions Award recognizes faculty who integrate UDL—approaches that embrace learner diversity and aim to reduce barriers to education—into their teaching to promote accessible and equitable learning experiences. 

Dr. Longridge was awarded for her dedication to improving inclusiveness and accessibility in EOSC 116 Mesozoic Earth: Time of the Dinosaurs (Hybrid). We are pleased to feature her perspective on receiving the award and the innovations behind EOSC 116 in the Q&A below.

Q: Could you introduce EOSC 116 (Hybrid) to us?

LL: The Hybrid Version of EOSC 116 (Mesozoic Earth: Time of the Dinosaurs) is an asynchronous course that runs in all three terms, with about 600 students a year taking the class from different faculties across UBC. The course focuses on Earth and Life during the time of the dinosaurs. The first part includes sections on geology, fossils, plate tectonics, climate, oceanography and mass extinctions. The second part is a study of life, including a special capstone project centered on the biology, evolution and biogeography of terrestrial dinosaurs.

Q: What changes did you make in this course that apply the UDL approach to improve accessibility?

LL: EOSC 116 has no textbook. Instead, the course content is hosted directly on Canvas. As an asynchronous course, it is especially important that the course material and figures be clear, as reaching out for help may interrupt a student's learning. Before this project started, the 800 figures that make-up part of the course content were not accessible from ‘Immersive Reader’ and only had short captions that lacked detail. 

This Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Project addressed these shortcomings. Firstly, we created alternative text for each figure. This means that the ‘Immersive Reader’ feature on Canvas now says a description of what is actually showing in each figure aloud. For example, it might say ‘This is a picture of a rock cliff,’ or ‘This figure shows a table of values’. This benefits visually impaired learners. Secondly, we created optional extended captions for all the complex figures, about 200 in total. These captions are nested in an optional dropdown box that students can click if they want more information. These extended captions describe the key elements of each figure in much more detail, specifically guiding the student around what to focus on. 

Q: What motivated you to make these changes?

LL: I believe offering choice as well as reducing barriers to learning produces the best outcomes for students. The main focus of this UDL project was to clarify the course figures in order to improve accessibility and provide options for those with different learning styles. Also, as this course is open to students from all faculties, many of them are grappling with complex concepts in Geology, Earth System Science, and the History of Life for the first time. Correct interpretation of the figures is often fundamental to their understanding. 

Another experience that drove me to push on with this project was when I had a fully visually impaired student take the compressed seven-week summer course in 2023. This student had to delay beginning the course by three weeks, as it took this long for an expert in Earth Sciences to be found who could sit with the student and interpret the figures one-by-one. After many struggles and much frustration this student did get through the course, but it was very difficult for them and their final exam had to be delayed by six weeks.

Q: Have you seen any impacts, such as student feedback or engagement?

LL: We are just completing the last part of the project this term, so I have not sought direct feedback from the students yet. I do know students are using the optional extended captions though, as I sometimes get questions from them on the Discussion Board or at the Help Sessions. I plan to run a specific survey to get direct feedback from the students at the end of the upcoming summer term. 

Q: Is there anything you’d like to see others in EOAS adopt when implementing UDL?

LL: UDL is a moving target for all of us and I know lots of folks are already learning about this to improve their teaching. With that in mind, if anyone wants to use the Canvas HTML code to paste in a dropdown box that works in Canvas, I think we have all the bugs worked out, and it should now function smoothly across platforms and devices. Just let me know if you want the code by email at ‘llongridge@eoas.ubc.ca’ and I’ll send it to you. 

Q: This project is amazing! Would you like to introduce the team behind it?

LL: This project was begun in the fall of 2023, but we struggled with the technology. This delayed the main thrust of the work until the summer of 2024, when I was part of the Summer UDL Fellows Cohort, along with my partner, Sarah Bean Sherman (EOAS Science Education Specialist). This project is finally wrapping-up this term. 

I would like to thank lots of people who helped in various ways over the last two years, including folks from CTLT and Skylight, who helped me learn more about UDL Principles and who helped me work out the bugs in Canvas (Afsaneh Sharif, Erika Delorme, Jeff Miller, AC Dager, Marie Krbavac, Ashley Welsh, and David Loti). I would also like to thank Teagan (Peri) Shepherd and Serena Formenti (EOAS Teaching Assistants) who spent many hours helping to create the new captions.

Congrats, Dr. Longridge!

The Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS) at the University of British Columbia is proud to congratulate PhD candidate Alexis Bahl on receiving a prestigious Killam Teaching Assistant Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to undergraduate education.

Alexis brings passion, clarity, and creativity to the classroom in her work as a Teaching Assistant for a wide range of EOAS courses, including:

• EOSC 315 · The Ocean Ecosystem
• EOSC 314 · The Ocean Environment 
• EOSC 442 · Climate Measurement and Analysis
• EOSC 315 · The Ocean Ecosystem
• EOSC 114 · The Catastrophic Earth: Natural Disasters

Her dedication not only enriches students' academic experiences, but also exemplifies the high standards of excellence that define the EOAS teaching community. We are thrilled to celebrate Alexis’s achievement and proud to have her as a part of our EOAS community. Her commitment to teaching, research, and equity in science represents the best of what our department strives to achieve.

Congratulations, Alexis, on this well-deserved honour!

The Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences is proud to congratulate PhD student Emma Betz on receiving the Outstanding Student Poster Award at the 2024 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Meeting. Her poster, titled "Novel Hominin Evolution Lab Activities for Upper-Level Paleontology Courses," was recognized for its innovative approach to paleontology education.

Her poster addresses challenges paleontology instructors face in finding well-designed, accessible, and up-to-date hominin evolution lab activities. Emma's research sought to fill these gaps by designing new lab activities that align with the Equitable and Effective Teaching in Undergraduate STEM Education principles.

The lab activities she developed incorporate key teaching strategies, such as Active Learning methods that engage students by relating lessons to real-world problems and reflecting on their experiences, encouraging collaboration through group work, and using inclusive language to help students envision themselves as scientists. Emma’s lab activities were implemented in EOSC 425 Paleontology courses in two lab sections of about 10 students each, but could be scaled for larger groups. Emma’s work provides instructors with adaptable, engaging tools to enhance student learning in hominin evolution courses.

The 2024 AGU Meeting, held this past December in Washington, DC, brought together thousands of scientists from around the world to share groundbreaking research in earth and space sciences. Emma’s recognition at such a high-profile event highlights both the significance of her work and the strength of UBC’s research community.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Emma Betz on this well-deserved achievement and look forward to seeing the continued impact of her research in geoscience education.

The Department of Earth Oceans and Atmospheric Sciences is delighted to congratulate our very own Geological Engineering student, Ryan Mitchell, on being named a Wesbrook Scholar. In addition to being named a Wesbrook Scholar, Ryan has received the Carl Bradford Robertson Scholarship, totaling $17,600, in recognition of his outstanding academic standing and commitments to leadership and community involvement. This is the highest award sum offered to Wesbrook Scholars and is only made available to four students each year. Please join us in celebrating Ryan Mitchell on this well-earned honor. 

Ryan is currently in his fourth year of the EOAS Geological Engineering program. Outside of his studies he serves as the president for the UBC Geological Engineering Undergraduate Club, GeoRox. When he is not studying or spending time in the GeoRox clubroom, Ryan enjoys spending his time outdoors, hiking, skiing, playing beach volleyball, or competing in intramural sports. 

Ryan’s success exemplifies the values of our department and the broader UBC community, inspiring current and future students to strive for excellence in their academic and extracurricular pursuits.

Congratulations, Ryan!