As UNBC’s research week gets into full swing, students may have noticed some extra excitement around the Canfor Winter Garden.

Community vendors, curated speakers, and UNBC students have all gathered to host the institution’s 13th annual “Green Day” event.

“Green is something that really is the fabric of UNBC and this is an opportunity for students, staff, and faculty to showcase their perspectives,” said the school’s Interim President Geoff Payne.

UNBC students near the Canfor Winter Garden (Photo supplied by Justin Madu, MyPGNow.com staff).

Because of the abundance of resource-driven industries throughout the region, UNBC’s location was a topic of conversation.

“The real interesting thing about where UNBC is positioned, being in Northern British Columbia where natural resource extraction really drives the economy, it is an opportunity for UNBC to do research, provide information, and offer students a chance to think about how we can do it better,” Payne explained.

“Being a green university in an industrial town is kind of a crazy paradox, but they marry really well. You can’t have one without the other,” said Teal Randle, Green Day’s student coordinator and environmental science student.

Randle worked to develop this year’s theme: sustainable perspectives.

“I mostly take classes with other environmental science students. I don’t get to interact with the health sciences students or the arts students and hear their perspective very often, and I’m sure they don’t get to hear ours. I think it’s a good opportunity to remind students: this is Canada’s Green University,” she added.

The Interim President reflected on the relationship between UNBC’s research week and Green Day, as numerous environmentally-conscious research projects are currently being developed at the school, such as the oil spill response project that was awarded nearly two million dollars earlier this year.

“There’s so much research related to sustainable and renewable energy, climate change, everything like that.”

More information about the event can be found online.