Meet the
Team
The Sustainable Ocean Conference is a free event that brings together a wide audience—from academics to practitioners to the general public. The goal is to create opportunities for collaboration and education that address the range of issues affecting our ocean. The conference is supported by the Sobey Fund for Ocean and is organized by Master of Marine Management Candidates of the Marine Affairs Program at Dalhousie University. It is the only student-led conference of its kind in Atlantic Canada and is being held for the 12th consecutive year.
Abigael Kim
Co-Chair
Graduate Research
Exploring the social implications of Blue Economic development in the form of Marine Ecotourism in underserviced communities in Bocas del Toro, Panama.
Favourite Ocean Fact
There are hidden waterfalls in the ocean!
Aimee Hopton
Co-Chair
Graduate Research
Pursuing research that would evaluate the potential benefits/ consequences of eco-branding in Indigenous fisheries as an approach to improve the benefits Indigenous harvesters can obtain from their Treaty rights.
Favourite Ocean Fact
Canada has the longest coastline of any country, at around 15 percent of the world's coastline
Alexandra Friedman
Co-Chair
Graduate Research
Evaluating the impacts of management measures to protect North Atlantic right whales on other species of whales such as blue whales, fin whales, and humpback whales. With the intent to understanding of management measures for whale entanglements on the East coast.
Favourite Ocean Fact
One of the vocalizations that humpback whales make is called a 'trumpet'.
Katrina Cote-King
Logistics Lead
Graduate Research
Investigating the conservation burden undertaken by small-scale fisheries, with a case study of the Maldives.
Favourite Ocean Fact
Chemicals and pressure in the deep sea allowed a bologna sandwich to resurface after 10 months without a single speck of mold (check out the 1968 Alvin vessel)
Jumanah Khan
Logisitics lead
Graduate Research
Investigating how place-based knowledge supports comprehensive spatial planning in the marine environment.
Favourite Ocean Fact
That pyrosomes exist!
Brianna Crosby
Logistics Team
Graduate Research
Investigating how green crab fisheries in the Atlantic Provinces could contribute to the management of the invasive green crab population..
Favourite Ocean Fact
Blobfish normally don't look that blobby! They live deep in the ocean and the pressure difference between their home and the surface makes them mushy on land.
Ben Fillier
Logisitics Team
Graduate Research
A comparison on implementation of offshore wind in the Scotian Shelf to existing cases (Europe), via policy and economic analysis
Favourite Ocean Fact
Mantis shrimps punches emit bubbles that are 5000 kelvin, the same temperature as the surface of the sun
Claire Kleinknecht
Logisitics Team
Graduate Research
exploring the future of renewable energy and conservation management in Nova Scotia.
Favourite Ocean Fact
Half of the oxygen we breath comes from plankton in our oceans!
Joy Rivers
Marketing Lead
Graduate Research
Investigating Atlantic salmon in Nova Scotia to better suit management strategies to their life history.
Favourite Ocean Fact
Some Species of salmon have been recorded jumping 12ft out of the water.
Lyle Porter
Marketing Team
Graduate Research
Assessing international norms of cumulative affects assessment to best inform Canadian practice for offshore regional assessments around offshore wind in Atlantic Canada.
Favourite Ocean Fact
Shrimp are the most ubiquitous sound producer in the ocean. Temperature affects the overall soundscape they produce, with studies describing a rough 2 dB increase with every degree their environment warms.
Quinna Laver
Marketing Team
Graduate Research
Explore how culturally and locally informed marine stewardship information can be incorporated into K-12 provincial science curriculum.
Favourite Ocean Fact
Udibranch's store stinging cells from jellyfish and anemones they prey on for later defensive use!
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Adam Williamson
Marketing Team
Graduate Research
Determining fair solutions to providing government water quality testing at shellfish growing sites in Nova Scotia. This work will help to prioritize strategies for expanding shellfish aquaculture sites and food, social and ceremonial harvesting opportunities in the province.
Favourite Ocean Fact
The Greenland shark is the longest-lived vertebrate in the world; the oldest specimen ever found may have been as old as 512 years.
Reid Sutherland
Submissions Team
Graduate Research
Exploring the integration of vertical distribution data into regional fisheries management strategies and facilitate a comparison between the conservation potential of single species fisheries management (SSFM) and ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) frameworks.
Favourite Ocean Fact
Nearly 94% of the world's wildlife is found in the ocean
Grace AKinrinola
Submissions Team
Graduate Research
Evaluating of the DFO (Maritimes Region) Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) Framework applied to Treaty fisheries implementation (particularly lobster) to assess gaps in what the EBM Framework offers and what the Sipekne’katik First Nation community may need.
Favourite Ocean Fact
Our blue planet's life support system, the ocean, covering over 70% of its surface, is endangered by human activities causing global warming.
Therese Wilson
Submissions Team
Graduate Research
Exploring societal values and cultural ecosystem services can be integrated into sustainable marine planning, development, and management. Specifically, exploring the influence of marine development on the perceived aesthetic qualities and values of coastal and ocean seascapes in Nova Scotia.
Favourite Ocean Fact
The ocean is the largest ecosystem on Earth: it is home to 94% of wildlife on earth.
Megan Shin
Fundraising lead
Graduate Research
Using climate change vulnerability assessments to guide management around re-stocking efforts and habitat restoration for freshwater and diadromous fish in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and PEI.
Favourite Ocean Fact
One whale fall can sustain abyssal and benthic communities for years to decades!
Julie Gaal
Fundraising Team
Graduate Research
Improving the effectiveness of current and future Atlantic Canadian protected areas in pelagic shark conservation.
Favourite Ocean Fact
We have only explored about 5% of the world's ocean
Kayla Silver
Fundraising Team
Graduate Research
I am doing a risk assessment on the sea cucumber fishery to determine the risk of overfishing in different fishing zones.
Favourite Ocean Fact
The Bay of Fundy, part of the Atlantic ocean, has the highest tidal range in the world!
Taylor Watts
Fundraising Team
Graduate Research
Investigating how climate change adaptation and resiliency are integrated into the design and management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) here in Atlantic Canada.
Favourite Ocean Fact
The energy released from the whip of a Thresher shark's tail is enough to split water molecules into gas.