The Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science offers a flexible and student-focused learning environment where research is fully integrated into the student experience.

Graduate Students consulting with

Undergraduate STUDIES

The Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science strives to deliver programs that are nationally and internationally recognized and to build a community that nurtures the next generation of knowledge creators and societal leaders.

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

Graduate studies

The Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science welcomes students from across the world who are interested in pursuing an advanced degree.

GRADUATE PROGRAMS

Students studying in Nechako Building at UBC Okanagan

NON-DEGREE PROGRAMS

Learn more about how to develop skills essential for employment and career advancement.

NON-DEGREE PROGRAMS

Interdisciplinary Learning

The Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science provides many paths to an elevated learning experience. Interdisciplinary learning allows students to make connections with other areas of study.

Sustainability Students at UBCO

Sustainability

The Bachelor of Sustainability (BSust) is interdisciplinary to the core because no one academic discipline can address issues like climate change and biodiversity loss in their entirety.

At the same time, it asks students to learn within select concentrations that develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable them to take action and solve problems at local to global scales. Learn more.

Freshwater Science student and professor in the field

Freshwater Science

Water is projected to become Canada’s foremost ecological crisis early in this century, and the availability and management of freshwater is becoming one of the most significant environmental, social, and political challenges of the 21st century.

The Freshwater Science program integrates aquatic aspects of biology, chemistry, geography, and earth and environmental sciences. Students in the program will study water quality and quantity, aquatic organisms, and the health of aquatic ecosystems. Learn more.

Earth and Environmental Sciences Student Studying a Tree

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Learn how our planet works, and use that knowledge to benefit both people and the environment. The program emphasizes the interactions between humans and the environment and is highly flexible.

Students can focus on the environment or the solid earth in their studies as well as enhance their program with related courses in biochemistry, biology, chemistry, geography, plus mathematics and statistics. Learn more.

Academic Departments

The Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science is organized into four departments that are responsible for the programs offered by our faculty.

Biology
Biochemistry | Biology | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | Microbiology | Zoology

Chemistry 
Biochemistry | Chemistry | Environmental Chemistry

Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Statistics
Computer Science | Data Science | Mathematical Sciences | Mathematics | Medical Physics | Physics | Statistics

Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences 
Earth & Environmental Sciences | Freshwater Science | Geography | Bachelor of Sustainability