Staff

Janelle is passionate about professional development and is keen on helping MFRE students transition into professional roles as they graduate. She has worked for the BC Ministry of Agriculture, and spent over 7 years working for a multinational bakery products company, starting as an individual contributor and then as a manager for 5 years, before joining the MFRE team in 2020. She graduated from UBC with a B.A. in Economics, followed by her MFRE degree in 2012; she also holds a PMP certification.

janelle.tan@ubc.ca

Olivier Ntwali is the primary academic resource person for the MFRE program. His role is to support students and instructors and enhance the student experience. Olivier completed his BSc. Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness from the National University of Rwanda, followed by a MFRE degree (2018) where he was a UBC Master Card Scholar. Olivier has worked for the MFRE Program back in 2019 and most recently as an Inventory Lead at Ballard Power Systems.

olivier.ntwali@ubc.ca

Estefanny Felix is the Project Manager/ Business Development for the Environmental Metrics for Sustainability Reporting Micro-Certificate. She is originally from Ecuador and holds a bachelor's degree in Economics. She has professional experience in the supply chain in the food and retail industries, and in 2022 she obtained her MFRE degree. Estefanny is passionate about food security, blue carbon, and finding ways to live more sustainably.

estefanny.felix@ubc.ca

Harry Izatt is MFRE's Data Analytics Coordinator, and instructs workshops in Python and R. He completed his Masters and Bachelors of Arts in Economics at UBC's Vancouver School of Economics. His academic interests are applied econometrics, history, and political economy. During his undergraduate studies he completed a thesis on how taking extreme stances impacts political candidates' electoral outcomes, and he wrote his graduate thesis on the effects of nuclear power plant construction on the values of nearby real estate property. When he's not knee-deep in a Jupyter Notebook, he goes for long runs and plays boardgames

harry.izatt@ubc.ca

Juan is originally from Chile. He received his bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering and his masters degree in Agricultural Economics at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He graduated from the MFRE program in 2014. Juan’s research interests are in environmental economics, particularly in water resources, greenhouse gas emissions and the economics of climate change. Juan also has a strong passion for rock climbing, and on his days off can be found on the face of the Stawamus Chief in Squamish, B.C.

juan.fercovic@ubc.ca

Xiao graduated from University of California, Berkeley in the United States with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Economics and Policy and University of British Columbia with a Master’s degree in Food and Resource Economics. Xiao has worked as a researcher in the field of Agricultural and Resource Economics in China for several years. She is now an educational researcher of the MFRE program to provide academic support.

xiao.han@ubc.ca

Vivek graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Commerce specializing in Finance, Operations & Logistics (2020), followed by a MFRE degree in 2021. His work experience includes being a UBC Research Assistant and Procurement & Sustainability Analyst with Horizon Grocery + Wellness. Vivek is passionate about poultry research and is involved in evaluating the financial impact of antibiotic substitutes on the Canadian poultry industry. He joined the MFRE team in 2022 to provide students with academic support.

vivek.jairambobb@ubc.ca