Honours Bachelor of Science, Major in Biology, Minor in Earth & Environmental Science • University of British Columbia
Bio
Emily Payne holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Earth and Environmental Sciences and Co-op distinction from the University of British Columbia Okanagan. Her academic and research background spans soil ecology, landscape ecology, virology, biogeochemistry, food systems, geographic information systems, and energy resource management. Across these fields, she found herself drawn less to the lab techniques themselves and more to how research is translated, adapted, and implemented to create meaningful, long-term impact beyond academia. Through the MScSM program, Emily hopes to deepen her understanding of corporate sustainability strategy and circular resource systems, particularly in relation to sustainable agriculture management and innovative packaging and textile materials.
Emily’s interest in sustainability began during her Co-op terms with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, where she worked as a research assistant in labs spanning tree fruit physiology to molecular plant viruses. While she enjoyed the problem-solving and contributing to tangible outcomes, she often wondered how research moved beyond publication into real-world change. That question followed her to Germany, where she worked at the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) on SoilRob, a project examining how autonomous field robots influence soil health in agricultural systems. There, she saw innovation unfolding in context and realized she was most energized by the space between science and implementation, the middle ground where ideas become usable and meaningful, and increasingly, she saw herself as the person who could bridge that gap.
Aside from professional aspirations, Emily enjoys traveling, having spent the last year working and traveling across Spain and enjoys developing recipes inspired by her travels (cookbook coming soon). In addition, she loves biking, sewing and is also quite the film junkie, going to the movie theater enough that she must allocate the expense in her monthly budget.