NSERC grants extend ocean researchers’ reach

Memorial researcher says ocean management more important than ever

By Chelsea Howard

Federal funding has recently been released to aid oceans-based research at universities around Canada. The funding will provide opportunities for Canadian students to conduct more comprehensive studies in terms of developing tools to better manage the world’s oceans.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) has awarded $581,500 for this incentive. The grant will, among other things, enhance international collaboration on ocean science studies.

NSERC is the main federal funding agency for scientific research at universities in Canada. One of the goals of the recently awarded funding is to unite global oceans researchers all over the world in order to process new research and hopefully influence ocean policy. Memorial is the leading university on the NSERC Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (CHONe), an organization involved in bringing together ocean researchers from across Canada. Paul Snelgrove, of Memorial University, is the national director of CHONe. “The funding is not for new research, but rather to enhance the ongoing research projects in the CHONe Network. Students can learn new techniques and new strategies for bringing together ocean research and policy,” said Snelgrove.

With the current geopolitical climate, Snelgrove feels that it is important now, more than ever, for students to become involved in working alongside some of the world’s most renowned oceans-based researchers.

“The Newfoundland government is a major partner in CHONe, also working with Parks Canada and the Museum of Nature. The network is working with Fisheries and Oceans to develop a suite of science research tools that will help us bring a closer link between science and ocean policy in Canada,” said Snelgrove.

Snelgrove says that the funding is coming now because the federal government has recognized the benefit of uniting ocean researchers around the world in order to work together on issues that concern oceans on a global scale. “We can learn from each other and develop better approaches if we see what doesn’t work and more importantly what does. On the question of ocean research I think relevance is greater than ever,” he said.

Snelgrove says the science community now recognizes that the complexity of oceanic ecosystems means that conducting research species by species is no longer feasible. According to him, agencies around the world are working toward a system called Ecosystem Based Management.

Fisheries and Oceans has an ambitious mandate to fulfill with Canada’s Oceans Act and the move toward Ecosystem Based Management, according to Snelgrove. The only way they can get closer to these objectives is to work with scientists at universities and other labs. “It is a very interesting time to do research here in Newfoundland: Just about everybody recognizes the importance of ocean research.”

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