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OUR SPEAKERS
UBC DEAN OF SCIENCE
Dr. Mark MacLachlan
Dr. MacLachlan grew up in Quesnel, BC and completed his undergraduate degree at UBC in Honours Chemistry (1995). He completed his PhD studies at the University of Toronto in 1999 then was an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT for 2 years. He returned to UBC as an Assistant Professor in 2001, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2007 and Professor in 2011. Dr. MacLachlan’s research group works on diverse topics in organic, inorganic and materials chemistry, ranging from constructing molecular rings and knots to developing new materials that mimic the structures and iridescence of beetle shells. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Supramolecular Materials and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Dr. MacLachlan served as Dean pro tem for the Faculty of Science since January 2024, and began a 5-year term as the Dean for the Faculty of Science in April 2025. In his spare time, Dr. MacLachlan creates crossword puzzles, and has published several in the New York Times, LA Times, and Wall Street Journal.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
Dr. Vincent Ziffle
Dr. Vincent Ziffle is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv), in Regina, Saskatchewan. He has been teaching there since 2010. His research interests include Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Science, uses and chemistry of Medicinal Plants of the prairies of southern Saskatchewan, organic chemistry of plant secondary metabolites, and food chemistry. He works toward the elucidation of medicinal plant compounds, which have noteworthy medicinal properties, and their elaboration into important privileged structures. Dr. Ziffle has also developed CHEM 101: Chemistry of Food and Cooking, which incorporates food chemistry, plant medicine and Indigenous Food Traditions, and unique food labs where students learn from Traditional Knowledge Keepers about Indigenous Food pathways, sovereignty, and sustainability. He is a promoter of all things STEM and is a proponent of STEAM – capital “A” for arts, design, and Indigenous Culture – via Let’s Talk Science and FNUniv’s Indigenous Outreach team of student mentors and educators.
SCIENTIST @ NANAIMO FOREST PRODUCTS
Honey Nampak, P.Eng.
Honey is a Chemical Engineer with a Master’s degree specialized in Pulp and Paper Engineering and more than 20 years of experience advancing process optimization, environmental performance, and product quality within the forest products sector. Since joining NFPL in 2010, she has led major operational and sustainability initiatives and currently serves as Technical Services Superintendent.
In her role, Honey leads a multidisciplinary team of environmental specialists, chemists, and chemical engineers, integrating scientific rigor with operational execution.
Raised in a multicultural environment and awarded scholarships to study at leading institutions, Honey attributes much of her professional growth to the strength of her academic preparation. She believes that solid scientific fundamentals, combined with a pragmatic understanding of industrial realities, are essential to building capable and forward-thinking professionals.
Honey has chaired multiple North American technical associations and conferences, contributing to dialogue and knowledge exchange across the chemical sciences community.​
SCIENTIST @ ACUITAS THERAPEUTICS
Dr. Polina Blagojevic
Dr. Polina Blagojevic began her academic career at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Niš, Serbia, where she served as Assistant Professor (2010–2015) and Associate Professor (2015–2019). Her early research focused on natural product chemistry, particularly on bioactive compounds found in higher plants. Curiosity led her across borders and disciplines, with research visits to the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (Germany, 2012), the Institut de Chimie de Nice (France, 2016), and the University of British Columbia (2017). These experiences inspired her to shift from analysis to synthesis, and from Europe to Canada to pursue the total synthesis of analogs of the sponge sesterterpenoid Alotaketal C in the Raymond Andersen group at UBC. In 2022, she moved from academia to industry and is now a Research Scientist at Acuitas Therapeutics (Vancouver, BC), where she designs and synthesizes novel ionizable lipids for lipid nanoparticle delivery systems. Working with students in Acuitas’ Co-op program helps her stay connected to teaching, which she still greatly enjoys.​​​