Undergraduate Student Resources

Your academic and career success are our main priorities. Here, you will find everything you need to help you succeed, including information about academic assistance.

Course Unions

The three course unions related to the Department of Chemistry are networks of enthusiastic students. Though the course unions are unique, they are all committed to fostering a great academic experience through member engagement, events, advocacy, and increasing access to resources.

Biochemistry Course UnionThe Biochemistry Course Union is a student organization on UBC’s Okanagan campus for those interested and/or majoring in biochemistry.

Facebook    Instagram


Olivia Ireland, President

Olivia IrelandOlivia is a third-year student, majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She is excited to be on the BCCU team this year as President.

Some of Olivia’s responsibilities include decision making, facilitating team communication, and connecting with the SUO. She strives to ensure that students are being supported through our programming – accessibility is at the forefront of our decision making as a team, tutoring hours are made available for peer support, and events are led smoothly for networking, professional growth, and career opportunities.

Outside of academics, she enjoys Irish dancing, painting, gardening, reading, and exploring the great outdoors. Olivia looks forward to welcoming new members to the BCCU. She is happy to help students and welcomes the opportunity to talk about anything UBCO.

Suhel Paudel, Vice President

Suhel PaudelSuhel Paudel is a third year student majoring in medical and molecular biology. He was born in Nepal but has lived in Calgary, Canada for the past 8 years of his life. He is vastly interested in gene editing and synthetic biology. He is ambitious about becoming a genetic engineer in the future. Outside of school, he enjoys watching anime and youtube, cooking, and playing video games.

As the Vice President of the BCCU, he will assist with all of BCCU’s external meetings and will help sign all the required forms. He will also be in charge of leading the internal BCCU meetings and will help facilitate the needs of the other executives.

Alissa Taki, VP Internal

Alissa TakiAlissa is a fourth student in the Medical and Molecular Biology program. She will be VP Internal of the BCCU for this year. This is her first year being an executive for the BCCU and she is excited to see what’s in store. You can find her as VP for a couple other clubs on campus as well. Alissa enjoys being an active member of our community through club involvement, volunteering, and research.

As VP Internal, Alissa’s role is to ensure proper communication amongst the BCCU team. This includes organizing meetings, communicating to all executives, and assisting the president whenever needed. Although her tasks are within the executive team, she looks forward to meeting all our members and would love to connect with other biochem majors!

Seamus McRae, VP Academic

Seamus McRaeSeamus is a fourth-year student in the Medical and Molecular Biology Honours program, planning to graduate this spring. Outside of school he jogs leisurely, reads voraciously, and picks up other hobbies as quickly as he drops them.

This will be his second year as a VP Academic, and just like last year Seamus’ goal will be to improve the student experience for undergraduates in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program. If you ever have questions about choosing your major, getting into research, or anything along those lines, don’t hesitate to reach out! He would love to talk with you about it.

Zainab Mohammad, VP External

Zainab MohammadZainab Mohammad is a third year BSc student at UBCO, who is specializing in Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She was born in Pakistan but has spent most of her life here in Canada. She has dreamt of becoming a doctor since she was a little girl, hence she is pursuing a career in medicine. In her free time, some of the activities Zainab enjoys are cooking, going on hikes, nature photography, and logic puzzles like sudoku.

This year, Zainab will be joining BCCU as the VP External. Her role will consist of establishing an online presence for the course union by running various social media and email accounts, and reaching out to students and potential members by regularly updating everyone about upcoming events and activities. She is excited for this year, and looks forward to spending it with you!

Clara Letef, VP Academics

Clara LetefHello everyone! My name is Clara and I am a fourth-year Biochemistry and Medical Molecular Biology major. I will be VP Academics this year for the BCCU, and am pursuing a career in medicine. Outside of school and other extracurriculars, you can find me spending time with friends and family, skiing, biking, hiking, and playing the piano.

As the Vice President of Academics, I will work to plan and execute study sessions for various biochemistry courses. In addition to study sessions, my goal is to help bridge the gap between lecture and learning. If you see me on campus, come say hi!

Mrinaal Tomar, VP Finance

Mrinaal TomarMrinaal is serving as the VP Finance of the BCCU, and it is his second consecutive year in the role. He loves the Leafs, as well as late night hikes. He is a third year Medical and Molecular Biology major, and he intends to apply to medical school. He is great with numbers, and has loved accounting and financing since the 6th grade, which is what makes him love his role as VP Finance. When he is not preparing for the MCAT, he is constantly finding ways to bring the best deals to all BCCU members for things like the BCCU merch, Pub Crawl and other events the BCCU has planned. He looks forward to meeting all the BCCU members in person, and hopes to make this year a memorable one for all of them. P.S. The mink in his photo was named Blaire by him and BCCU’s VP External Zainab, and they’ll forever cherish their memories with Blaire.

Karah Hopgood, VP of Events

Karah HopgoodKarah (she/her) is a fifth-year student majoring in Honours Biochemistry and minoring in Psychology. She is very excited to serve again on the BCCU’s executive team as the VP of Events! Outside of academics, Karah is passionate about connecting with the campus community in her roles as a Peer Mentor, a UBC Student Ambassador, a volunteer research assistant for the CORE lab, and various other campus committees. She also loves exploring the Okanagan by hiking in the mountains or paddleboarding on the lake, and spending time with Beasley, her 17-week old shih tzu puppy.

This year Karah is looking forward to helping plan, organize, and administer events for all members of the BCCU, and all science students at UBC Okanagan. In addition to events that cater towards academic support, she strives to facilitate events that will help students in all avenues of networking, professional growth, engagement opportunities with the university and broader alumni community, as well as events that explore and connect students to diverse career opportunities. She is looking forward to connecting with you all this year and welcomes the opportunity to connect with students and answer any questions around the BCCU or UBCO!

Parker Thibert, Vice President of Academics

Parker ThibertParker is returning for his fifth and final year at UBCO completing his dual major in Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, along with Psychology, Hoping to pursue a career in the field of medicine. Parker likes to spend his free time at Big White skiing and snowboarding, when he isn’t on the mountain you can find him at the hockey rink or in the gym. When the weather is more favourable he will be hiking and exploring BC.

This year Parker will be returning to his role as Vice President of Academics, Where he will work in conjunction with other members. He will provide resources to undergrads through study sessions, exam prep, and informal office hours where you can stop by to say hi and introduce yourself and get help on any questions you have related to course material or just chat. He looks forward to meeting all the new faces and making the workload of being an undergrad a little more manageable.

Chemistry Course UnionThe Chemistry Course Union strives to bridge the gap between new undergraduate chemistry students, upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty.

Facebook    Instagram

Visit the Chemistry Course Union website.

ECU Group PhotoThe Environmental Chemistry Course Union aims to provide students pursuing environmental chemistry with access to a supportive peer group, homework help, and career opportunities.

Facebook    Instagram

Visit the Environmental Chemistry Course Union website.


Logan Pay, President

Logan Pay

Logan is a fourth year in the environmental chemistry program.  He hopes to work in the field of agriculture once after graduating. Currently, he works at BC Tree Fruits as a field technician, collecting data samples and conducting analysis with varying lab instruments. When not in school or working, he enjoys mountain biking, photography, and homebrewing.

While at the ECCU, Logan is trying to encourage first and second years to declare environmental chemistry as their major. As the president, he represents and speaks on behalf of the course union, communicates with the faculty and university, and promotes the interests of students in the major.

Christianne Seifert, Vice President

Christianne Seifert

Christianne is in her fourth year of Environmental Chemistry. Originally from Calgary, she is enjoying the sunny Kelowna weather while in school. When Christianne graduates, she would like to work in the field of land remediation and reclamation. When not in school, she enjoys skiing, hiking, and swimming.

As vice president, her goal is to increase outreach to students and get the word out about the environmental chemistry program major. She is also involved in planning ECCU events to keep students engaged and informed about our projects. Christianne highly recommends this major if you have a passion for nature and how it behaves with the chemicals around it.

Kara Robinson, Treasurer

Kara Robinson

Kara is a fourth year environmental Chemistry student originally from Calgary, AB. She loves skiing, hiking, and wineries!

She is super excited for what is to come this year, including more social events that will help foster new relationships between like-minded people within this unique field.

Alexander Barrett, Secretary

Alexander Barrett

Alex is currently in his fifth year of studies. In that time, he has switched his degree multiple times. Starting in management, switching to economics, then earth science, until finally finding his true home in environmental chemistry.

To Alex, his degree is both extremely interesting and increasingly applicable in today’s world. He hopes to guide other students towards this interesting program.

As secretary, his aim is to facilitate organization and communication among executives to help them achieve their goals. This semester, he will focus on promoting the course union through merchandise and event collaborations with other course unions.

Emily Knudson-Goerner, Director

Emily Knudson Goerner

Emily is a fourth year environmental chemistry major hailing from Kelowna. When she isn’t studying, she likes to explore hiking trails, paddle board, take photos and binge Netflix.

If you’re looking for recommendations for a course to take, or a show to watch feel free to get in touch!

Faculty program advisors

Program advisors are faculty members who can help you with course selection, deciding on a major, ensuring you are meeting degree requirements, and even career advice. They serve as a valuable resource in helping you achieve your educational and career goals.

Go to Program Advisors

Undergraduate Student Forms

The following Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science forms are in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. Most online fillable forms can be saved to your computer.

IRVING K. BARBER FACULTY OF SCIENCE FORMS

Department of Chemistry Online Application Student Forms

Prerequisite and Co-requisite Waiver Request Online Application

CHEMISTRY LAB XMT WAIVER online APPLICATION 

ACADEMIC ADVISING AND LEARNING SUPPORT

Get help with planning your program, study skills, exam preparation, tutoring, career planning, and more. Academic advisors are all about helping you succeed.

GO TO ADVISING

UBC OKANAGAN LIBRARY—WRITING AND RESEARCH

More than just books, the library offers research guides, style guides, tutorials, and workshops on writing and researching, as well as a specific librarian for each subject.

GO TO LIBRARY

CAREERS AND WORK EXPERIENCE

Whether you’re looking to gain some work experience while you study, need to augment your finances, or are looking for a career after you’ve graduated, Career Services can help. Visit their website to get information on the Work Study employment program, Co-op program, labour market stats, resume building and interview skills, career fairs, volunteer opportunities, or to browse the UBC Okanagan job board.

GO TO CAREERS

INTERNATIONAL LEARNING

UBC Okanagan offers a wide range of opportunities to learn and do research abroad through programs like Go Global, exchange and research abroad, and summer study at partner universities. If you’re looking for an opportunity to travel and learn, make sure you take advantage of these programs.

GO TO GO GLOBAL

EVERYTHING ELSE—STUDENT SERVICES

Didn’t find what you were looking for above? Visit the Student Services website, where all of the information about the services offered to students is housed. In addition to the services already mentioned, you will find information on everything from courses, registration and exams to tuition, scholarships, housing and wellness.

GO TO STUDENT SERVICES