On March 11, 2025, Dr. William Cheung, director and professor of the University of British Columbia’s Institute for Oceans and Fisheries, gave the Ronald O. Ball Lecture at the University of Alberta.
His presentation was titled:
Making Waves: Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Face of Extreme Events and Irreversible Climate Impacts
Climate-driven phenomena have a profound impact on global fisheries and aquaculture systems. Disruptions such as marine heatwaves, hypoxia and compound events are reshaping aquatic ecosystems with drastic ecological and socioeconomic implications – for both marine life and humankind. Are Earth’s oceans reaching a tipping point? Could this lead to a global food production collapse?
William Cheung, director and professor of the University of British Columbia’s Institute for Oceans and Fisheries will address these impacts including shifts in species distributions, social-ecological impacts and tipping points, threats to food and nutritional security, as well as the challenges they pose to resource management and conservation policies. He will explore low-probability, high-impact events and irreversible changes in marine ecosystems and highlight adaptation strategies and policy responses necessary to build resilience in aquatic food systems as they face increasing risks and uncertainties.
William Cheung is a Professor and Director of the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, the University of British Columbia. He is a Canada Research Chair in Ocean Sustainability and Global Change. He studies the nexus of food-climate-biodiversity in the ocean. He is the Principal Investigator of the Changing Ocean Research Unit at UBC. He serves as Director for a 6-year SSHRC Partnership “Solving the Sustainability Challenges at the Food-Climate-Biodiversity Nexus”. He is an international leader in developing and using scenarios and models to explore solution options and pathways to desirable and sustainable ocean futures. His work addresses policy-relevant research questions and cuts across multiple disciplines, from oceanography to ecology, economics and social sciences. His research ranges from local to global scales.
William has published over 260 peer-reviewed papers and more than 50 book chapters and reports. He is actively involved in international and regional initiatives that bridge science and policy. For instance, he was a Coordinating Lead Author in the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in the Changing Climate and core author of the Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment. He has received multiple international and national awards and recognitions, including the Prix d’Excellence Award of the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas. The E.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship, the A. G. Huntsman Award for Excellence in the Marine Sciences, and named by Reuter as the top 20 world’s most influential climate scientists. William obtained his BSc and M.Phil. from the University of Hong Kong and completed his PhD in Resource Management and Environmental Studies at the University of British Columbia.