Community Engagement Perspectives, by Susan Mide Kiss, Vice-President, UFV Community Engagement Over the past several weeks, I have had the opportunity to participate in a number of conversations across British Columbia, including UFV's Grounded Innovation 3.0 Summit, the RBC Community Partner Event in Vancouver, and the Surrey & White Rock Board of Trade's Education for…

Tempted by the promise of a trade in which he’d always be inside and dry, UFV alumnus Martin Mwariga (Cert ’16) set his sights on being an electrician after high school. While that promise didn’t always hold true (he’s found himself working outside in the rain more than once), he found a rewarding career path.…

Cranberry sauce is a staple on Canadian tables during the holiday season, enjoyed by millions of people.   But what if this delicious seasonal favourite became a rarity? Cranberry crops will be impacted by climate change in the years to come, according to new research by the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), funded by the B.C. Cranberry Growers…

  Five researchers from the University of the Fraser Valley have been recognized on the 2025 Stanford/Elsevier Top 2% Scientists list, a global ranking of the world’s most influential researchers.   Honourees include Drs. Lauren Erland, Javad Hadian, Michael Hitch, Faisal Naeem, and Christophe Schinckus — recognized for their outstanding citation impact and contributions in their…

Jay Jensen, Annalise Engelbrecht and Breyanna Maisey have loved cars since they were old enough to sit on an engine bay and hold a flashlight; for them, a trades career is a well-worn family tradition. “My family owns a body shop in Chilliwack,” says Annalise. “My grandfather bought it originally; my father took over as…

A decade ago, B.C.’s hazelnut industry was in crisis. Stricken by Eastern Filbert Blight, orchard after orchard in the Fraser Valley was wiped out. A once-thriving hazelnut farm in Agassiz had 8,000 trees, all destroyed by the deadly fungus.  Many farmers moved on to other things. At a tremendous cost, others stayed, planting blight-resistant trees,…

This summer, while most of us are tending gardens or soaking up the sun, UFV’s Dr. Lauren Erland will be heading to a colder climate — the Arctic.  The director of UFV’s Berry Environmental Resilience Research & Innovation (BERRI) Lab is taking a cruise with Adventure Canada. Serving as the ship’s botanist, she’ll help travelers…

For humans, melatonin is useful for getting to sleep. For strawberry plants, it may be a tool for survival in a warming world.  UFV student researcher Emily Foster recently finished a study that found melatonin reduces heat stress in alpine strawberries, increasing the resilience of a native crop. Melatonin is a hormone produced by humans…

In the right hands, a welding torch is just as useful as a paint brush in creating beautiful art, and proof of that now sits just inside the front door of the UFV Trades and Technology Centre on the Chilliwack campus.  A group of Grade 11-12 students from the Chilliwack School District enrolled in a…

On the surface, TYCROP is a manufacturing company located on the outskirts of Chilliwack in the small farming community of Rosedale. But in the eyes of founder Gary Teichrob, one of UFV’s 2025 honorary degree recipients, it’s so much more. “We’re passionate innovators, designers, engineers, and creators, but we pride ourselves in being more than…

  How do you make an unremarkable space interesting? How do you bring life to something people pass by every day without thought?  Those are questions Jesse Reimer posed to UFV’s Architectural Drafting Technician students when he presented Activating Spaces, a concept created by Jesse and his fellow instructor Wes Macaulay. The competition challenged students…

Thousands of kilometres away from her home in Brazil, Stefhane Brachmann is getting an accelerated introduction to research working at the University of the Fraser Valley’s Berry Environmental Resilience Research & Innovation Lab (BERRI) Lab.  Stefhane (pronounced Stephanie) was inspired to come to Chilliwack after finding the BERRI Lab website. The site lists many of…