On September 14th, UBC launched its 2021 Indigenous Strategic Plan. On this episode of Blue & Goldcast, Santa Ono sits down with Dr. Sheryl Lightfoot. She was one of the driving forces behind the strategic plan, and is Santa’s senior advisor on Indigenous Affairs. They discuss UBC’s commitment to decolonizing its campuses, pedagogy and structures.

In the fourth episode of The Blue and Goldcast, Jen and Santa talk about women in STEM, the importance of mentorship, and ways for institutions like UBC to encourage diversity. They hear a story from UBC Mathematics Professor, Stephanie van Willigenburg, about her struggle to find a place in a disproportionately-male field.

As the NHL and NFL struggle with an epidemic of concussions, we talk about brain science and sports policy. Santa, Jen and their guest, Dr. Naznin Virji-Babul, discuss mysteries of the brain, the social impact of concussions, and the role that Universities like UBC should play in making sports safer.

Will artificial intelligence usher in the next industrial revolution? In this episode, we look at the social, political, and economic consequences of AI. We profile UBC professor’s quest to make a ‘smart wheelchair’ for patients in long-term care.

In the first episode of Blue and Goldcast, we focus on indigenous research methodologies: how can we include traditional ways of knowing into the university?

The Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences was hosted at UBC from June 1st to the 7th, 2019. It’s the largest academic conference in Canada. As delegates shared big ideas, Santa and Margot discuss the future of higher education with Jessica Riddell of Bishop’s University.

Emily Jenkins still remembers the basketball coach that changed her life. Now, she’s an assistant professor at UBC’s School of Nursing, and works in youth mental health. Emily joins Santa and Margot to discuss how she wound up in this career, her collaborative work with young people, and how universities can help students and faculty experiencing mental illness.

Can parking garages help us tackle climate change? On this episode, we look at how UBC has turned itself into a Living Lab. UBC Mechanical Engineering Professor Walter Merida explains to Santa Ono how UBC experiments with itself -- with its buildings, its operations, and its surroundings -- to develop innovative green technologies.

Why are younger Canadians feeling more squeezed than ever before? In this episode, UBC Associate Professor and founder of Generation Squeeze, Paul Kershaw, discusses the barriers between advocacy and academia. And we meet the new co-host of the Blue & Goldcast, Allard School of Law professor Margot Young.

On the fifth episode of The Blue and Goldcast, Santa and Jen meet two professors who are charting a new path for higher education in Canada. Dave Ng, a biologist and associate director of the Michael Smith Laboratories and Allen Sens, a Professor of Teaching in UBC's political science department teach ASIC 200, a class that explores global issues from both a science and humanities lens.