The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia
UBC Strategic Plan
  • Core Areas and Strategies
    • People and Places
      • Strategy 1: Great People
      • Strategy 2: Inspiring Spaces
      • Strategy 3: Thriving Communities
      • Strategy 4: Inclusive Excellence
      • Strategy 5: Systems Renewal
    • Research Excellence
      • Strategy 6: Collaborative Clusters
      • Strategy 7: Research Support
      • Strategy 8: Student Research
      • Strategy 9: Knowledge Exchange
      • Strategy 10: Research Culture
    • Transformative Learning
      • Strategy 11: Education Renewal
      • Strategy 12: Program Redesign
      • Strategy 13: Practical Learning
      • Strategy 14: Interdisciplinary Education
      • Strategy 15: Student Experience
    • Local and Global Engagement
      • Strategy 16: Public Relevance
      • Strategy 17: Indigenous Engagement
      • Strategy 18: Alumni Engagement
      • Strategy 19: Global Networks
      • Strategy 20: Co-ordinated Engagement
  • Our Plan in Action
  • Foundations of the Plan
    • Vision, Purpose & Values
    • Ten Goals
    • Themes
  • About
    • Development of the Plan
    • Plans and Frameworks across UBC
    • Strategic Plan Funding Calls
    • Frequently Asked Questions
Local and Global Engagement > Strategy 16: Public Relevance > Protecting BC fruit orchards from climate change with AI
Local and Global Engagement
  • Strategy 16: Public Relevance
  • Strategy 17: Indigenous Engagement
  • Strategy 18: Alumni Engagement
  • Strategy 19: Global Networks
  • Strategy 20: Co-ordinated Engagement
Story

Protecting BC fruit orchards from climate change with AI

June 23, 2022
Local and Global Engagement | Strategy 16: Public Relevance
Theme: Innovation
Apples at the UBC Farm | Photo credit: Martin Dee / UBC Brand & Marketing

A group of enterprising students from the UBC Sauder School of Business and the UBC Faculty of Applied Science are tackling the harmful effects of climate change in B.C.’s fruit orchards with the creative use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

In B.C.’s fruit-growing regions, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, grapes and apples typically thrive under sunny skies and warm temperatures, but last summer’s extreme heat resulted in scorched fruit and lost revenue for hundreds of farmers.

A team of students decided to explore this problem in New Venture Design (NVD), a course jointly offered by UBC Sauder and the UBC Faculty of Applied Science. Matt Bagley, a UBC Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) student specializing in marketing, participated in the market research. “After interviewing farmers in both B.C. and Washington State, we learned that an average orchard typically loses around 10 per cent of their yield in a regular year due to heat damage, causing a financial loss of almost $1,000 per acre,” says Bagley. “However, after losing up to 25 per cent of their yield last year because of record high temperatures, these farmers are bracing for things to get worse.”

The New Venture Design students (left to right): Mitch Zimmerman, Huzaifa Wahla, Madiha Thaver, Sophie Varabioff, Arpan Grover, and Matt Bagley.

The team began looking at the opportunity of using AI technology to monitor the surface temperature of tree fruit. They reached out to experts in the agricultural technology industry and refined their idea until they were ready to present it to their professors and peers. They called their business venture, Coolares.

Please visit the Sauder School of Business website to read the full story.

Through dialogue and knowledge exchange, UBC is working to align our efforts more closely with priority issues in British Columbia and beyond, through Strategy 16: Public Relevance.

Explore More: Strategy 16: Public Relevance

June 14, 2022

Rebalancing act: Fall prevention and mobility in older adults

Previous

July 6, 2022

Building a future in cybersecurity with a UBC MBA

Next

Download the Plan (PDF 5.9 MB)

Visit Overview and Facts for more about UBC.

Unit Name
1234 Street
Vancouver, BC Canada V0V 0V0
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility