Botany Research Field Safety (for Biology/teaching field trips, see below)
Botany has developed a field safety policy and set of forms that department members need to use when planning and seeking approval for field work.
Process for new field work
- Review the Botany Field Safety Policy
- Complete Botany Field Safety Plan Form
- Submit Botany forms to isabel.ferens@botany.ubc.ca no later than two weeks prior to your departure. It will go through an initial screening and then will be forwarded to the Department Head for approval.
Re-submitting previously approved field work
If you are updating a plan for field work that has previously been approved, you may re-use your earlier forms. Please highlight changes to the text by using strikethrough for text you are removing, and identifying new text in red.
Student international travel
Any student who plans to conduct field work abroad is still required to get approval from Student Safety Abroad.
COVID requirements
Most COVID-related field safety requirements have been removed however at this time there may still special requirements for international travel depending upon your location.
Biology Courses — Field Trips
If you are currently planning a field trip, please follow these steps:
- Review the Botany Field Safety Policy
- New trips: Complete the Biology Program Field Trip Safety Form BiologyFieldTripSafetyPlan_vAug2023 and submit forms to Gigi Lau (gigi.lau@ubc.ca) – no later than two weeks prior to your departure. It will go through an initial screening and then will be forwarded to the Associate Head for approval.
- Recurring trips: If you are updating a plan for a field trip that has previously been approved, you may re-use your earlier forms. Please highlight changes to the text by
using strikethrough for text you are removing, and identifying new text in red. - Develop and distribute a Student Participation Consent form (if appropriate). This can be done via a Qualtrics survey and a template of a survey can be shared with you to customize. Gigi can provide details.
Field trips to sites on campus (e.g., UBC Farm or UBC Botanical Garden) are exempted from these requirements, unless the field trips involve potentially hazardous activities (e.g., use of power tools). However, please notify Gigi Lau (gigi.lau@ubc.ca) about your on campus field trips so that the Biology program can maintain a record of all field trips.
If an instructor makes regular trips in the same course to the same location in future terms, the process may be streamlined with a standing approval for ongoing field trips. Standing approvals must be renewed annually by submitting an updated Field Trip Safety Plan, but they will not require re-review unless activities have changed substantially.
Forms and resources