Key takeaways
Key takeaways from lecture
2024 Peter A. Larkin Laureate, Dr. Malin Pinsky
2024 Peter A. Larkin Laureate, Dr. Malin Pinsky
OCF student awarded High Level Scientific Fellowship
Congratulations to Isabella Morgante (PhD, OCF), who has been awarded the High Level Scientific Fellowship from the Embassy of France in Canada with Campus France. She will be leaving shortly to do a two-month Fellowship in Paris, France.
Tags: awards, Europe, France, honours, IOF students
William Cheung wins A.G. Huntsman Award
The A.G. Huntsman Foundation announces that the 2024 A.G. Huntsman Medal will be awarded to Dr. William Cheung in recognition of his outstanding achievements in research focused on climate change, biodiversity and ocean sustainability as well as his efforts to connect marine sciences to the social sciences. Dr. Cheung’s work recognizes the interdependence of ocean systems and human systems and that the scale of climate change impacts range from local to global, as do the needs for solutions.
Dr. Cheung is a Professor, Canada Research Chair in Ocean Sustainability and Global Change, and the Director of the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, at the University of British Columbia. He is the Principal Investigator of the Changing Ocean Research Unit at UBC. He serves as Director for a 6-year partnership with Canada’s Social Science funding agency focused on “Solving the Sustainability Challenges at the Food-Climate-Biodiversity Nexus”. Dr. Cheung is actively involved in international and regional initiatives that bridge science and policy and has served as the Coordinating Lead Author for the Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Dr. Cheung obtained his BSc and M.Phil. from the University of Hong Kong. He completed his PhD in Resource Management and Environmental Studies at UBC. From 2009 to 2011, he was Lecturer in Marine Ecosystem Services in the University of East Anglia before returning to UBC.
The A.G. Huntsman Award was established by the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in 1980 to recognize excellence of research in, and outstanding contribution to, the marine sciences. The award honours those persons, of any nationality, who have had, and continue to have, a significant influence on the course of marine scientific thought. The award was created to honour the memory of Archibald Gowanlock Huntsman (1883–1972), pioneer Canadian oceanographer and fishery biologist.
Dr. Cheung received the A. G. Huntsman Medal, and gave a Distinguished Lecture, on December 3, 2024 in Halifax Nova Scotia.
Photos from the Medal ceremony
All photo credits to Dr. Vicky Lam
 Dr. William Cheung receives Huntsman Medal from Lt. Governor of Nova Scotia, The Honourable Arthur J. LeBlanc |
 Dr. William Cheung gives remarks at Huntsman Medal ceremony |
 Dr. William Cheung |
OCF student named as a UBC’s Climate Solutions Research Collective 2024/2025 Solution Scholar
Congratulations to Isabella Morgante (PhD, OCF), who was named as one of UBC’s Climate Solutions Research Collective 2024/2025 Solution Scholars.
The Solutions Scholars will work on one of four collaborative projects over the 2024/2025 year with an interdisciplinary group of faculty and community members.
In Isabella’s case, she will be working on the “Carbon Offsets: Climate Action or Sustainability Illusion?” project. This project will examine the current state of offset programs and the potential future use of offsets in Canada (with a particular focus on British Columbia, though potentially drawing on offsets purchased from abroad).
New FCRR: Marine and Freshwater Miscellanea V
This report presents a valuable collection of studies that contribute to both foundational research and impactful discussion in fisheries science and marine ecology. The first set of papers is centred around fish biology, which may seem routine at first glance. However, these foundational studies are critical for advancing our understanding of marine ecosystems and fisheries science. Many new ideas and ground-breaking findings in marine ecology are built on this essential biological research, making the accessibility of such studies to a broader audience crucial. An important goal of the Fisheries Centre Research Report is to ensure that these foundational studies, which might otherwise remain stored away in individual researchers’ desks or computers, are made available for the benefit of the scientific community and policymakers alike.
The second half of the report revisits the concept of “Fishing Down Marine Food Webs” and the related metric of the mean trophic level of catches, both of which remain landmark contributions to the understanding of the impacts of fishing on marine ecosystems. This report not only highlights the lasting influence of these concepts but also offers a point-by-point clarification and rebuttal to counterarguments, strengthening the case for the continued use of these metrics in research and policy. Given their widespread adoption, these clarifications will be invaluable for facilitating ongoing discussions and policy decisions around sustainable fisheries.
Nautilus fish image. Image by sandrine RONGÈRE from Pixabay
- Marine and Freshwater Miscellanea I
- Marine and Freshwater Miscellanea II
- Marine and Freshwater Miscellanea III, and
- Marine and Freshwater Miscellanea IV
All Fisheries Centre Research Reports
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