About this event
This the third webinar in a 3 part series.
Climate change presents urgent challenges for agriculture, but the specific challenges faced can be very different across regions and types of production. Water needs and the impacts of policy needs to be understood at the regional level.
This webinar features Dr. Joanne Taylor, Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, and 3 panelists who are deeply involved in agricultural water issues.
Dr. Joanne Taylor will present initial findings from a Partnership Development Project examining agricultural resilience to climate change in the Cariboo and Okanagan regions of BC with a focus on water. The research included a review of regulations and policies in BC related to water supply and agriculture as well as interviews that explored how the implementation of BC water policies is affecting the resilience of agricultural producers to climate change.
Three guest panelists – Andrew Petersen (BC Ministry of Agriculture), George Powell (consulting agrologist) and Hans Buchler (BC Wine Grape Council and the Canadian Grapevine Certification Network) – will discuss key challenges and opportunities that exist for water supply management in both the Okanagan and Cariboo.
Presenter bios
Dr. Joanne Taylor is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan in the Department of Economics, Political Science, and Philosophy. She is the lead researcher for a Partnership Development Grant project with Dr. John Janmaat investigating agriculture climate resilience in the Okanagan and Cariboo regions of BC. The project examines how the regulatory environment affects resilience to changes in water supply.
Andrew Petersen graduated from UBC with a degree in Agricultural Science in 1986. For the next 20 years he worked in the irrigation industry focusing on agricultural design and sales. In 2006 Andrew joined the province to work for Ministry of Agriculture as a Water management Specialist. He is a Certified Irrigation Designer and a Professional Agrologist.
George Powell is an independent, consulting Professional Agrologist with over 30 years of experience in providing planning, research and development support for sustainable agriculture. Specializing in agroforestry and other integrated production systems and in blending conservation and production practices. George has PhD from the University of Alberta in agroforestry as well as degrees from the University of British Columbia in rangeland ecology and agronomy.
Hans Buchler has been growing grapes in the South Okanagan for close to forty years and has been involved in a number of industry associations: first in the Organic sector through the Similkameen Okanagan Organic Producers Association and the Certified Organic Associations of BC and then with the Grape and Wine sector through the R&D committee of the BC Wine Institute and today with the BC Wine Grape Council and the Canadian Grapevine Certification Network.