Lubna Alam
Dr. Lubna Alam is a dedicated interdisciplinary ocean and fisheries scientist working to advance ocean sustainability, fisheries resilience, seafood safety, and marine governance. Inspired by the belief that nature is not just a backdrop but a lifeline, her work is grounded in a commitment to protect the ocean and the communities who depend on it. Through her research, she promotes science-informed solutions that recognize both the value and vulnerability of marine ecosystems, calling for greater responsibility to listen, protect, and act for a more sustainable ocean future.
Miguel Correia
Dr. Correia has studied several aspects of European seahorse biology, ecology and conservation. He has worked closely with stakeholders to implement mitigation tools for seahorse conservation and was actively involved in the creation of new marine protected areas (MPAs). He also acts as Focal Point for Europe in the IUCN Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group. Read More
Sarah Foster
Dr. Foster is a conservation scientist dedicated to finding pragmatic solutions for the many problems facing the oceans and the animals that call them home – solutions that work for both fish and the people that depend on them. She is the Program Lead for Project Seahorse. Read More
Ibrahim Issifu
Ibrahim Issifu
Research Associate; Fisheries Economics Research Unit
Email: i.issifu@oceans.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-649-6335
Ibrahim Issifu is a Senior Research Fellow in interdisciplinary oceans and fisheries economics at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Canada. His research explores the intersections of climate change, sustainable blue food systems, AI in aquaculture, marine plastic pollution, fisheries conservation, and the blue economy. In addition to his academic work, he actively collaborates with policymakers and practitioners through high-level workshops, policy briefs, and international conferences that inform both national and global policy agendas. Dr. Issifu earned his PhD and master’s degrees from Nagoya University, Japan. He also holds a Master of Business Administration and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Ghana Read More
Research Area
Regenerative Blue Economy, Marine Plastic Pollution, Natural Resource Economics, Mangrove Ecology and Ecosystem Services, Blue Carbon and Nature-based Solutions, Climate Change Adaptation and Coastal Resilience, Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, Marine Spatial Planning and Ocean Governance, Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis, Food Security and Sustainable Blue Foods
Vicky Lam
Dr. Vicky Wing Yee Lam is a fisheries economist and Research Associate at the Sea Around Us, University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on the economic impacts of climate change on global fisheries, with expertise in fisheries data reconstruction, spatial analysis, and sustainable marine conservation. Read More
Anna McLaskey
Dr. McLaskey is a zooplankton ecologist and biological oceanographer who researches the lower trophic levels of marine food webs — from phytoplankton, through zooplankton, to fish. Much of their work focuses on how nutritional quality intersects with food web structure, and how that can impact higher trophic levels.
Carol Meirelles
Dr. Meirelles is a conservation biologist focusing on manatee and dolphin spatial ecology, behaviour, extinction risk assessment, and conservation planning. She was actively involved in the elaboration and monitoring of conservation plans in Brazil and is a member of the IUCN Sirenia Specialist Group. Read More
Gideon Mordecai
Dr. Mordecai’s research explores the diversity of viruses which infect Pacific salmon, and applies genetic sequencing to study their transmission dynamics. He is part of a collaboration with Dr Kristi Miller (Fisheries & Oceans Canada) and the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Salmon Health Program, which researches the combined impacts of disease and environmental stress. Read More
Research Area
Pacific salmon, viruses, viral ecology, conservation biology, genomics, molecular epidemiology
Maria Lourdes Palomares
Maria Lourdes ‘Deng’ Palomares
Senior Scientist and Project Manager
Email: m.palomares@oceans.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-822-0218
Dr. Palomares has been the Sea Around Us Project Manager since June 2017. Her research focus has been on the application of well-known theories in fish and fisheries biology as tools to test hypotheses and/or generate knowledge from ‘big data’ repositories. Read More
Oriana Smy
Oriana Smy is a social scientist with a Master of Arts Degree in Socio-cultural Anthropology from the University of British Columbia, where she specialized in marine plastic pollution and “ghost gear” in Baja California Sur, Mexico. She is skilled in qualitative and quantitative methods, community-based research, project management, environmental policy, and ethnographic mapping. Oriana is leading the development of a marine monitoring metadata tool, “MONITR: Marine Observation Network Inventory TRacker,” with the Coastal Habitats Learning and Knowledge Hub, a collaborative project with the Hakai Institute and WWF-Canada. She is also working with Dr. Rashid Sumaila and Dr. Margot Hessing-Lewis, facilitating a Coastwide Pyropia group via the International Bioeconomy Macroalgae Center.