鈥淚t could be the opportunity of a generation.鈥�
That鈥檚 the phrase Aldo Chircop chooses to describe the Dal-led and, in particular, its financial support from the Government of Canada. A faculty member in the Schulich School of Law and the Canada Research Chair in Maritime Law and Policy, Prof. Chircop is passionate about the need for a more robust 21st-century framework for studying the ocean.
鈥淥cean problems are so complex; we can鈥檛 do research the way we did in the past and think we are making a dent,鈥� he explains. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to deal with complex problems through new structures and processes that meet that complexity.鈥�
At the other end of campus, Biologist Boris Worm knows as well as anyone that great science often comes from great teams. But he also knows the sort of teamwork required to address the challenges of a rapidly-changing ocean 鈥斅爄ssues like climate change, global food production and access to the Arctic 鈥斅爊eeds to be more collaborative, more interdisciplinary than ever before.
鈥淲e need to be able to talk more fluidly about problems and solutions at the same time, on the same teams,鈥� says Dr. Worm, whose marine conservation research has generated headlines around the globe. 鈥淲hat matters most in ocean research right now is how we can turn our relationship with the ocean into a more productive and sustainable one. And that鈥檚 really the core mission, as I see it, of the Ocean Frontier Institute.鈥�
Transformative commitment, global scale
So what exactly is the ?
In dollars and cents, the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) is an unprecedented investment in Canadian ocean research. On Tuesday, September 6, through its 鈥斅爐he largest research grant in AV俱乐部鈥檚 history. To that, OFI adds an additional $125 million in funds committed from its various partners, including a $25 million gift from philanthropist John Risley to support OFI operations. That makes it a $220-million project,聽a scale of ocean research the likes of which Canada has never seen before.
鈥淭his is a historic and transformative financial investment in Canadian ocean research,鈥� says AV俱乐部 President Richard Florizone. 鈥淚t positions AV俱乐部 鈥� and Canada 鈥斅燼s world leaders in ocean science, sustainability, management and innovation.鈥�
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As a collaboration, OFI is transformative in its scope. At its heart is a new partnership between AV俱乐部, Memorial University of Newfoundland and the University of Prince Edward Island. It then links this Atlantic Canadian ocean expertise with . OFI includes eight international ocean research institutes (including four of the top five in the world), three Canadian federal departments, the Royal Canadian Navy, the National Film Board, the Nova Scotia Community College and 19 industry partners ranging from local small businesses to international corporations like IBM.
But understanding what OFI represents 鈥斅爓hy it鈥檚 set to become one of the world鈥檚 most significant ocean science collaborations 鈥斅爎equires an appreciation for the importance of its area of focus: the Northwest Atlantic and Canadian Arctic gateway.
鈥淚n terms of its absolute area, the Northwest Atlantic is really rather small, 鈥渆xplains Marlon Lewis, professor emeritus in Dal鈥檚 Department of Oceanography and the launch scientific director for OFI. 鈥淏ut it has unique characteristics that make it inordinately important for a whole wide range of physical, chemical and biological problems.鈥�
The Northwest Atlantic is a place where ocean changes are happening first and fastest. It鈥檚 home to highly productive marine ecosystems and one of the most active carbon sinks on the planet, helping mitigate and respond to climate change yet also causing chemical changes to the water, the consequences of which are not fully understood. The Northwest Atlantic also produces 72 per cent of Canada鈥檚 fish and seafood exports, hosts major international shipping routes and is Canada鈥檚 gateway to the Arctic, critical for global security.
鈥淥FI will help us better understand the changes happening in the Northwest Atlantic 鈥斅爁rom the complex interactions between the atmosphere and the upper ocean, to the shifting dynamics within its ecosystems,鈥� explains Martha Crago, AV俱乐部鈥檚 vice-president research and chair of OFI鈥檚 executive council. 鈥淏ut, just as importantly, it will connect that knowledge with policy experts, governments, industry 鈥斅爐he partners needed to ensure safe and sustainable ocean development.鈥�
鈥淲e all recognize that the ocean is changing, but we can鈥檛 just stop there 鈥斅爓e need to come up with solutions for how to use the ocean responsibly in the face of those changes,鈥� explains Paul Hill, current chair of Dal鈥檚 Department of Oceanography and who played a key role helping coordinate the OFI proposal. 鈥淎nd that requires partnerships: with academics to understand the complexity of ocean change; with governments mandated to deal with the ocean in a safe and sustainable way; and with industry to take economic advantage of the opportunities that are out there.鈥�
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A rising tide
OFI is a key milestone in Dal鈥檚 long and impressive history of ocean research. Its core foundation was built over 50-plus years, but during the past decade a number of new initiatives have served to strengthen Dal鈥檚 ocean research capacity and enhance its international connections鈥�: the Dal-led , launched in 2007; the 2011 awarding of a , held by Doug Wallace; the 2012 launch of , a Network of Centres of Excellence focused on ocean hazards; that same year, where she signed an agreement between Halifax and Germany in ocean research and technology.
Then came news of the federal government鈥檚 competition: a total of $1.5 billion in available funding targeting university-led projects that would help propel Canada to global prominence in particular fields of expertise. Starting in 2014, Dr. Crago and a team of researchers across AV俱乐部 began discussing how this funding opportunity could propel Dal鈥檚 ocean research momentum into overdrive.
鈥淲e had been able to work with and see these big European projects and how valuable it was to be able to draw from and share resources with all the different institutes,鈥� says Julie LaRoche, Canada Research Chair in Marine Biogeochemistry and Microbial Genomics, speaking about organizations like Germany鈥檚 GEOMAR. 鈥淲hen you collaborate on an international scale, you just have so many more opportunities to understand what鈥檚 going on in the ocean.鈥�
and Germany鈥檚 would become two of the eight international institutes involved in OFI; together with the in Massachusetts and Columbia University鈥檚 , they represent four of the top five highest-ranked ocean research institutes in the world.
But OFI would also need to leverage Canadian expertise. As the project took shape, it began to build the framework for a new institutional collaboration with Memorial University of Newfoundland and the University of Prince Edward Island. Each brought something important to the table. In UPEI鈥檚 case, it was the team of Ian Gardiner, , and its research on aquaculture and marine disease control and prevention. Memorial offered scientific and applied strength in offshore fisheries, aquaculture and coastal community engagement.
鈥淭here are a lot of great researchers at both Dal and Memorial who are collaborating, but there are many projects where we could better draw on each other鈥檚 work,鈥� says Paul Snelgrove, Memorial professor and director of the NSERC-funded . 鈥淥FI provides an opportunity to wrap these pieces together in a much more effective way, so the sum is more effective than the individual parts.鈥�
Understanding and addressing ocean change
The core of OFI is built around 17 interlinked research modules, each tackling a different ocean topic or challenge from an interdisciplinary perspective. Through these, OFI will provide funding to support research and deliver data science and technology tools to policy-makers, scientists and industry. Some of the areas where OFI hopes to make an impact include: improving prediction and mitigation of major storms; better management of the ocean鈥檚 living resources; more sustainable approaches to aquaculture; marine transportation policy and risk reduction; and new data capture and IT tools to monitor the ocean.
At the same time, OFI will offer to enhance Canada鈥檚 ocean expertise and help educate future ocean scientists, leaders and innovators. These include a training program for PhD students and postdocs, a visiting fellows initiative and , an education partnership between AV俱乐部 and the National Film Board.
Overseeing all of this activity will be OFI鈥檚 CEO, Wendy Watson-Wright. A three-time Dal alum, Dr. Watson-Wright comes to OFI from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) where she served for a number of years as DFO鈥檚 assistant deputy minister of science, and聽most recently worked as regional director-general for the Gulf Region. She has significant international experience, having led UNESCO鈥檚 Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission as executive secretary and assistant director general from 2010 to 2015.
鈥淲e have the best in the world in this collaboration at OFI,鈥� says Dr. Watson-Wright. 鈥淚 know we can be a global leader in the many facets of ocean research and education, and we are thrilled to have been given this opportunity."
Assisting her in guiding OFI through its initial months will be Marlon Lewis, set to lead OFI鈥檚 research program until a permanent scientific director can be recruited. A veteran of Dal鈥檚 Department of Oceanography for more than three decades, he is also the founder of Halifax ocean technology company .
鈥淚鈥檓 excited for the opportunity to help shape the integration, the initial interactions between the different groups involved, and to help bring people together,鈥� says Dr. Lewis. 鈥淎nd not just within OFI but more broadly 鈥斅爓orking to integrate better with industry, through organizations like COVE [Halifax鈥檚 Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship] and others.鈥�
Meeting a global challenge
It鈥檚 this broad network of connections 鈥斅燽etween universities, international institutes, government labs, industry 鈥斅爐hat has so many in Dal鈥檚 research community excited by OFI鈥檚 potential.
鈥淭here will be an equal opportunity for really terrific research to better understand the ocean, as well as to expand the benefits that we will be able to derive from the ocean while still sustaining it,鈥� explains Sara Iverson, Dal biology professor and scientific director of the Ocean Tracking Network. 鈥淭hat combined focus is so important to what OFI is looking to achieve.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to just exponentially explode the ocean research capacity at AV俱乐部, and with such strong national and international partnerships, it will be one of the most significant international institutional efforts ever put forward for the ocean.
"It鈥檚 a very big deal.鈥�
More on OFI
- Event coverage: "From world-class to world leading": Federal gov't announces $94M investment in Dal-led Ocean Frontier Institute
- Meet the researchers: Dal profs and partners on OFI's impact
- Social media highlights: Community members share why #OceansMatter to them
- OFI website: