Tap into UVic expertise for World Ocean’s Day

What is the warm water “Blob” off the West Coast and how might it affect marine ecosystems and the coastal communities that depend on them? What are the ocean forces that control the planet’s climate, and how are they changing?

How is world-leading ocean monitoring technology at UVic’s Ocean Networks Canada being used to learn more about the Arctic? What is being done on the BC coast to monitor radiation levels from the 2011 Japanese nuclear disaster? How are new mapping technologies being used to assess the impact of shipping noise off the BC coast?

In advance of World Oceans Day on June 8, the following experts from the University of Victoria are available to offer their insights on various ocean-related topics:

• Fisheries oceanographer John Dower (Biology/Earth and Ocean Sciences) is studying the effects that an anomalous body of warm water off the West Coast known as “the Blob” may be having on local marine ecosystems, including juvenile salmon heading to sea from BC waters this spring. He’s available to speak from a Canadian Coast Guard research vessel that’s currently measuring oceanographic and plankton conditions off the west coast of Vancouver Island. Contact John Dower on the ship via email at dower@uvic.ca to arrange an interview via satellite phone.

• Adrian Round is director of observatory operations at Ocean Networks Canada. He can talk about plans for ONC to develop, install and maintain the cabled observatory component of a new marine observatory in Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba. It builds on the success of ONC’s world-leading NEPTUNE and VENUS observatories and a community observatory in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. Contact: Adrian Round at 250-661-7368 or around@uvic.ca

• Tom Okey (Environmental Studies) is an expert on the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems, oil spill impacts and fisheries ecology, especially in the Pacific Ocean. He can also comment on “the Blob” and its potential implications for marine life and dependent human communities. Contact: Tom Okey at 250-208-0677 or thomas.okey@gmail.com

• Jody Klymak (Physics/Earth and Ocean Sciences) studies how water moves and mixes through the ocean. He co-authored an article recently published in Nature which explores how huge under-surface waves in the South China Sea help to regulate heat on our planet. Contact: Jody Klymak at 250-472-5969 or jklymak@uvic.ca

• Oceanographer Diana Varela (Biology/Earth and Ocean Sciences) studies the sensitivity of phytoplankton to changing environmental conditions in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. She can comment on phytoplankton productivity and nutrient cycles in these regions, and the potential shifts due to global warming. Contact: Diana Varela at cell 250-813-0306 or dvarela@uvic.ca

• Chemical oceanographer Jay Cullen (Earth and Ocean Sciences) studies marine contaminants. He also leads the InFORM network, which engages citizen scientists in collecting water samples to monitor low-level radioactivity from Japan’s 2011 nuclear disaster. Contact: Jay Cullen at 250-812-0469 or jcullen@uvic.ca

• Rosaline Canessa (Geography) uses spatial technologies to help decision-makers manage marine resources, resolve user conflicts and protect key ecosystems. She’s currently leading a study that uses advanced 3D mapping to assess the impact of shipping noise in the Salish Sea, Haida Gwaii, and Amundsen Gulf in the Arctic. Contact: Rosaline Canessa at 250-853-3938 or soscasdn@uvic.ca

• Phil Dearden (Geography) is an expert in marine conservation and marine protected areas in Canada and Southeast Asia. Developing conservation initiatives such as ecotourism for coastal communities has been a long-time focus of his work. He’s co-author of Parks and Protected Areas in Canada: Planning and Management, commonly used as a textbook on marine conservation in Canada. Contact: Phil Dearden at 250-514-7325 or profdearden@gmail.com

• Maia Hoeberechts leads educational outreach activities at UVic’s Ocean Networks Canada. She can comment on Ocean Sense, a unique educational program for K-12 based on ONC’s ocean observatory data, visuals and sounds, and Digital Fishers, a crowd-sourcing video observation game that explores life in the ocean while helping real scientists advance their research. Contact: Maia Hoeberechts at 250-721-8296 or maiah@uvic.ca

• Ian Walker (Geography) is an expert in beach and dune systems, restoration, coastal erosion and sea level trends. His research takes him all along the BC coast from Haida Gwaii to Pacific Rim National Park to the southern Gulf Islands.
Contact: Ian Walker at 250-721-7347 or ijwalker@uvic.ca

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