Chapter 6 UBC logistics

6.1 Undergraduate engagement

There are multiple pathways for engaging undergraduate researchers at UBC. Here are some of them:

  • Biology Honours students: Biology students in the Honours track complete independent thesis projects under the supervision of a UBC faculty member, often co-supervised by a postdoc or graduate student. They begin to identify labs in the fall of their third year (and then complete their thesis in their fourth year, although they may start in the summer between their third and fourth years), so start thinking about this early. The process of finding an Honours student begins by contacting the instructors of the third-year Honours seminar. More information here
  • Directed Studies (BIOL448) students: Biology students at any stage of their degree can complete independent research projects for course credit (8-10 hours/week). They must write a 10+ page report at the culmination of their study. More information here
  • Biology Undergraduate Diversity in Research (BUDR): BUDR provides research opportunities to its mentees through the Micro-Experience program (40 hours of work total). In past years, both mentees and mentors have received a small stipend for their participation. More information here
  • Work-Learn Students: The Work-Learn program provides paid opportunities for undergraduates to work on campus, including in labs, up to 10 hours a week during the term. The work does not necessarily have to be research-oriented or educational. The lab pays for the student’s wage, with a subsidy provided by the university. More information here
  • NSERC USRA: The NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards provides an award subsidy to hire Canadian/permanent resident undergraduates during the summer to work on your research projects while allowing students to explore workplace and research skills. Applications are usually early in the year (Jan-March) for summer. More information here
  • Work Learn International Undergraduate Research Awards: An alternative to NSERC USRA for international students. More information here
  • APBI 398 volunteers: Each term 1, students from APBI 398 Research Methods for Applied Biology must complete 20 hours of volunteer work for a lab at UBC. There are usually students inquiring about opportunities in the Gaynor Lab (who contact Kaitlyn by e-mail), and it may also be possible to share any opportunities with the course instructor.
  • Volunteers: There are always many students who are looking to volunteer in the Gaynor Lab. We prefer to give opportunities for either pay or credit, however, to promote equity and ensure that everybody is on the same page regarding expectations.

6.2 Office space

The Gaynor Lab will eventually be based in the Biodiversity Research Centre, after the construction of the new wing.

For the next few years, we will have access to interim space in Ponderosa E (BRC swing space, where Kaitlyn’s office will be located), Lower Mall Research Station (IBioS office), and other Zoology & Botany buildings (Biological Sciences, BRC). These buildings are all within a 5-10 minute walk of each other.

We may be a bit scattered, but all graduate students and postdocs will have a designated desk in an office shared with others in the department and/or IBioS. Kaitlyn and Katie Beall (BRC administrator) will work with everybody to make sure you are happy with your office arrangement.

We will be sure to schedule regular lab gatherings to make sure we see each other until we’re all housed in the same building.

6.3 Computing

The Zoology Computing Unit has a lot of great information on its Wikipedia page, about how to set up your UBC e-mail and use the Zoology computing resources.

6.3.1 Remote Desktop Access

The instructions below describe how to remotely access the lab computer in the theory room:

  1. Download both Cisco AnyConnect and Microsoft Remote Desktop. You can download Microsoft Remote Desktop from your laptop’s respective App Store. Make sure you are connected to ubcsecure when downloading Cisco AnyConnect.

  2. Open Cisco AnyConnect and type myvpn.ubc.ca into the address. This step allows you to connect to UBC’s VPN.

  3. Another window should pop up asking for a username and password. Enter CWLusername.zool@app for your username, and your normal CWL password. Note you will only be able to login once you have been granted access to the Zoology server. Email your CWL username to the Zoology Computing Unit in order to do so.

  4. Open Microsoft Remote Desktop and click on the plus sign on the upper menu -> Add PC. Enter the PC IP address under PC Name which is 10.34.40.76.

  5. Under User account click Add User Account and enter the username (Gaynor Lab Computer) and password (posted on a sticky note on the lab computer) for the lab computer. This ensures you don’t have to enter the username and password each time you want to remotely use the lab computer.

  6. Double click on the now added PC within the Microsoft Remote Desktop hub, and you should be able to remotely access the computer!

These steps should allow remote access to the computer at any time. Make sure you are connected to the VPN each time you use the computer. Note you do not have to have Microsoft Remote Desktop open the entire time you are running code. If you have code that you know will take a long time to run, you can quit (Command/Ctrl + Q) out of Microsoft Remote Desktop and come back to it later. Do not sign out of the remote desktop as this will stop whatever code you are running.

6.4 Finance and Purchasing

We will use the Workday platform for procurement and reimbursement.

We have a lab credit card for research-related purposes. Please discuss use of the credit card with Kaitlyn before making a purchase, and check to make sure the intended expense falls under one of our grants. Be sure to get an itemized receipt and send it immediately to the lab member handling expense reports, with the applicable grant speedchart. Consult the Grants spreadsheet for grant/speedchart codes.

6.4.1 General notices for purchasing

  • DO NOT under any circumstance share the lab credit card information with anyone outside of the lab. Please also do not auto-save the credit card information on any web browser.
  • When making a purchase with the lab credit card in another currency, please do not convert it. UBC credit cards can make non-CAD purchases with favourable rates and no fees, while vendors such as PayPal use different exchange rates and may charge extra fees.
  • Please ship orders to the Zoology Shipping and Receiving room (Biological Sciences 1015) rather than personal addresses.
  • For orders involving importing from international vendors, please request the seller to add the following broker information to facilitate shipping and customs clearance: > BROKER: Thomson Ahern – and UBC dept WORKTAG: (speedchart code here) Please send the export documents to ; to facilitate pre-clearance prior to shipment arrival. Broker contact: Thompson Ahern | 6299 Airport Rd Ste 506 | Mississauga, ON – Canada L4V 1A2 Contact : Mary Brooks | Direct: 905-677-3471 [Sarah will ask for the Ext. code and direct number…]

6.4.2 Creating purchase orders

For purchases that we receive quotes for, we often have to file a purchase order (PO) on WorkDay with the exact amount and items from the quote. Suppliers who provide quotes will then be issued an invoice so they can ship our requested items to us. We will also receive quotes from our colleagues and collaborators for field and research equipment of which we have to report to UBC. This section describes the necessary steps and tips in order to create and file POs via WorkDay.

To file a PO follow the “Create Purchase Requisition – Non-Catalogue” steps.

Listed below are some tips to help while filing POs:

  • We will most often file a Purchase Requisition for any quotes that we receive. You would only fill out a Bill Only (Retroactive) requisition if a purchase has already been made and shipped to us.

  • If a supplier is not listed in WorkDay, follow the “Create Supplier Request” steps. Do this before you file a PO, as you won’t be able to file a PO otherwise. Make sure the supplier sends all necessary contact and banking information in order to properly fill out the supplier request form.

  • Consult the Grants spreadsheet for grant/speedchart codes and always consult with Kaitlyn to make sure the right grant is applied to the PO.

  • For items shipped to UBC, change the Deliver-to address to Biological Sciences Building –> BIOL-Floor 1-Room 1015. You can search “Biological Sciences Building” in the deliver-to search bar and scroll down until you see Room 1015. This is the Zoology/Botany shipping and receiving office, and where we will pick up any placed orders. Keep the Ship-to address as 6270 University Blvd…

  • Make sure all expense lines in the PO add to the same amount in the received quote from the supplier.

  • The tax section can be confusing, and all of the options are frankly not very informative on their own. Thankfully a member of the UBC Financial team will take care of any tax issues so leave the default options when filling out the PO.

  • Once the items from the PO have been received, create a receipt for the PO by following the “Create Receipt of Goods & Services” steps.

  • Generally, filing a PO is required for invoices over $3500. However, some goods and services are exempt from POs; they are listed in the “PO Exemption Matrix”. This notably includes journal publications (#2) and conference registration (#7)

  • For some supplemental context behind procurement processes and policies, there are “notes” in the Lab Logistics folder from UBC Finance’s PO Process Workshop.

  • If you need any help or run into any issues while filing a PO, email Rafael Passos (rafael.passos[at]ubc.ca). He is responsible for any Faculty of Science POs, and is a surprisingly passionate expert on anything and everything POs. He is a very valuable resource, and will probably also give many tips of his own during the PO process.

6.4.2.1 Gorongosa purchase orders

Many of us are purchasing field equipment for our Gorongosa field seasons. All the steps outlined above apply for any Gorongosa-specific purchases, but there are a few more specifics that will make filing any Gorongosa purchase order much easier:

  • Our supplier for any Gorongosa-specific purchases is Gorongosa Project Inc.

  • The items we purchase for the Gorongosa project will be sent to Gorongosa itself, not to UBC. To ensure items are not sent to UBC, write in the Memo space that the purchased items are being sent to Gorongosa OR are being purchased by Gorongosa for field work at our field site. Alternatively, you can also email Rafael (rafael.passos[at]ubc.ca) to let him know. Be sure to attach the PO# (issued after PO is confirmed) or REQ# (generated upon creation of PO) to the email so Rafael knows where to look.

6.4.3 Filing expense reports

Any purchases on the lab credit card will show as “Expense Transactions” within WorkDay. For any lab member that has the responsibility for reconciling these charges as a delegate (acting on behalf of Kaitlyn in WorkDay), first follow the “Complete Tasks as a Delegate” steps and click on My Expense Transactions on the resulting page.

Then follow steps 2-5 on the “Reconcile UBC Corporate Credit Card Transactions on an Expense Report” post.

Listed below are some tips to help while filing expense reports:

  • Credit card charges will often appear a couple of days after the original purchase date. Make sure you only file expense reports for charges that appear on the My Expense Transactions page and that you have receipts for. If you do not have a receipt for a charge, email Kaitlyn or the lab member responsible for the charge.

  • Consult the Grants spreadsheet for grant/speedchart codes and always consult with Kaitlyn to make sure the right grant is applied to the expense report.

  • When creating a memo, write the message as if Kaitlyn was filing the expense report. For example, if there is a charge for a conference fee for a PhD student, let’s say Mark Apple, write “Conference fees for PhD Student (Mark Apple)” in the memo space, not “Conference fees for Mark Apple”.

  • If there are any purchases that require names, fill out the Attendees section with the full names (as listed in WorkDay/UBC) of all participants.

6.4.4 Filing reimbursement

If it so happens that an expense is charged to your own credit card rather than the lab credit card, please google “reimbursement ubc workday” and follow the steps from the first link.

Be sure to check with Kaitlyn which grant the expense falls under. The cost center will autofill upon entering the grant code.

Also make sure to check the enable tax option, as the reimbursement will not go through otherwise.

6.5 E-mail

We have a lab e-mail address: . We can use this as needed to set up lab accounts. Please contact Kaitlyn for the password.

6.6 Zoom

UBC offers grad students zoom accounts with premium features, including no time limits on meetings. To get one create a zoom account with your UBC email and then send an email to asking them to license the account for research and TA’ing purposes.

6.7 Poster Printing

To print posters through the zoology department send a PDF of the poster and a speedchart for billing to Jenny Kao (). Expect up to 3 days between emailing and picking up the poster.

6.8 Life in Vancouver

We can use this space to share resources on housing, transportation, etc. in Vancouver.

6.8.1 Housing

Off-campus housing: Facebook, Craigslist, PadMapper, RentCafe and more exist to find off-campus housing. The Facebook groups “UBC students looking for roommates, housing rental/sublet,” “UBC Room Rentals - Room Exchange” and “UBC Graduate Student Housing Group” are especially popular and useful for finding roommates.

On-campus housing: You can find an overview of on-campus housing here. UBC has two graduate student housing options as well that include meal plans. On-campus housing tends to have a long wait list, so if you are interested, apply as soon as you can.

6.8.2 Transportation

Public transportation: As apart of your student fees at UBC, you will be enrolled in the U-Pass program. After you link your U-Pass account to a Compass card, you will have unlimited access to buses, Skytrains and the Seabus.

You can find more information on transportation around Vancouver here

6.9 Job boards and resources

Looking for jobs or opportunities in ecology/conservation? Here are some suggested resources.

Aerin Jacob’s website has an extremely helpful page with advice and resources for careers in conservation.