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- Work Package 1 | FOCI
IMPROVING SAFETY AND REDUCING THE ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT OF MARINE VEHICLES BY DESIGN AND OPERATION (WP1) Research within Safety Work Package 1, 'Improving Safety and Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Marine Vehicles by Design and Operation', relates to the effectiveness of safety interventions in maritime industries – a field that integrates knowledge from organizational safety research (safety management systems and organizational safety behavior), safety engineering (safety intervention techniques) and marine policy (legal safety interventions requirements). Methodologically, it combines hazard exposure assessment work with engineering design approaches and quantitative and qualitative social science methods. MEET THE TEAM Lorenzo Moro Lead Shameem Islam Co-Investigator Desai Shan Co-Investigator Aldo Chircop Collaborator David Molyneux Co-Investigator Dan Walker Co-Investigator Kimberley Cullen Co-Investigator Heather Peng Co-Investigator Floris Goerlandt Co-Investigator Wei Qiu Co-Investigator HIGHLY QUALIFIED PERSONNEL (HQP) Yousra Abdelhady Master's Student Current Jacopo Fragasso Postdoctoral Fellow Current Alexandria Major Research Assistant 2024-25 Giovanni Rognoni Visiting Doctoral Candidate 2023 Shahrokh Bairami-Khankandi Master's Student Alumni Fatima Hodroj Master's Student Alumni Sarah McGuire Master's Student Current Paige Bodnar Co-op Student 2024 Khaled Helal Doctoral Candidate Alumni Muhammad Sabah Ud Din Ersum Master's Student Alumni Emre Cilkaya Doctoral Candidate 2021-24 Md Saiful Islam Doctoral Candidate Current Om Prakash Yadav Master's Student Alumni OUR PARTNERS
- Work Package 3 | FOCI
SEARCH AND RESCUE IN REMOTE REGIONS (WP3) The Search and Rescue (SAR) system in Canada is both complex and effective, saving thousands of lives each year. FOCI’s Work Package on ‘Search and Rescue in Remote Regions’ informs on the effectiveness of SAR infrastructure in a context of change. Coastal regions of eastern Canada and the Arctic gateway are seeing increases in ship traffic every year—a trend that is expected to continue. This region is also known for its harsh and unpredictable conditions, which increase the risk to vessels and their passengers and crew. When SAR is required to assist with maritime emergencies, a range of decisions have to be made regarding deployment of assets and operational plans. Different tactical SAR planning models are used but to date, strategic planning models for examining overall system performance and the factors which most affect system performance have been limited in scope. Using mixed methods of analyzing and modelling existing data and integrating community-based research and engagement methods, the objective of this work package is to advance the state-of-the-art in strategic SAR modelling through an infrastructure lens. MEET THE TEAM Robert Brown Lead David Molyneux Co-Investigator Floris Goerlandt Co-Investigator Ronald Pelot Co-Investigator Peter Kikkert Co-Investigator P. Whitney Lackenbauer Co-Investigator HIGHLY QUALIFIED PERSONNEL (HQP) Mohannad AlRefai Co-op Student (Undergraduate) 2024 Evan Lane Master's Student Current Mohammad Awad Co-op Student (Undergraduate) 2025 (Position Complete) Mohammad Zarrin Mehr Master's Student Alumni Aya Khaled Ibrahim Co-op Student (Undergraduate) 2020 Samia Nusrat Co-op Student (Undergraduate) 2024 Yang Ji Master's Student Current OUR PARTNERS
- FOCI Workshops & Webinars | FOCI
Sustainability Safety Inclusion Integration FOCI WORKSHOPS, PUBLIC TALKS & WEBINARS FOCI Synthesis Workshops (2024-25) Workshop 1, November 13, 2024 – St. John’s Campus, Memorial University Workshop 2, February 27-28, 2025 – Grenfell Campus, Memorial University These hybrid Synthesis workshops brought together researchers and project team members representing FOCI’s (13) work packages to share research findings, project outputs and experiences; support the development of research synthesis products; facilitate opportunities for knowledge exchange and translation; and promote continued research collaboration. Sustainable Coastal Atlantic Canada Dialogues (2020 & 2024) The goals of FOCI Integration Work Package 3 (IWP3) were to promote the interdisciplinary co-construction of knowledge across Work Package researchers and partners; and to help successfully translate FOCI research findings into policy and practice for sustainability. Two workshops were organized by the IWP3 team in collaboration with partners to achieve these goals: Sustainable Coastal Atlantic Canada Dialogues 2 (2024, November 12) Hosted at Memorial University’s Signal Hill Campus, St. John’s, NL, this hybrid synthesis workshop focused on translation of findings from the FOCI project for uptake into policy and practice. The workshop provided researchers, students, collaborators, and partners an opportunity to deliberate on the findings, strategies, and methods for effective policy and practice engagement, the challenges involved, and potential solutions. Read the workshop Summary Report . Sustainable Coastal Atlantic Canada Dialogues 1 (2020, October 29-30) This workshop included several virtual sessions organized over a two-day period; creating a space for FOCI partners and researchers to engage. Throughout the dialogue sessions, panelists and other attendees from a wide variety of sectors and research perspectives shared their thoughts and past experiences in collaborative research. These sessions set a foundation for sharing best practices for effective partner engagement, as well as advice for communicating research concepts and results. Read the workshop Summary Report . Session Recordings: https://www.youtube.com/@FOCIresearch/videos “Let’s Talk Future Ocean and Coastal Infrastructures” Webinar Workshop Series (2022-24) The Let's Talk Infrastructures webinar workshop series was created to enhance the reach and impact of FOCI research through knowledge mobilization presentations, discussion and activities. Researchers shared key findings of their research and reflected on how their work can enhance efforts to better understand, design, develop and manage diverse infrastructures in ways that are more sustainable, safe and inclusive for coastal communities and ocean industries challenged by ocean, climate and social change. Let’s Talk Infrastructures - Webinar Workshop 8 Understanding Multilevel Climate Governance in Atlantic Canada: A Social Network Approach Presenters: Mark Stoddart Host/moderator: Sheridan Thompson Date: February 23, 2024 Location: Webex Webinar recording Let’s Talk Infrastructures - Webinar Workshop 7 FOCI WP7 Book Launch! Revitalizing PLACE through Social Enterprise Presenters: Natalie Slawinski and the authors of Revitalizing PLACE through Social Enterprise Host/moderators: Natalie Slawinski & Mark Stoddart Date: January 26, 2024 Location: Online (Zoom) Let’s Talk Infrastructures - Webinar Workshop 6 Artistic Infrastructure for Navigating Ocean and Coastal Community Change Presenters: Nancy Dahn, Timothy Steeves, Cameron Forbes, David Lane & Jamie Skidmore Host/moderator: Barbara Neis Date: October 16, 2023 Location: Online (Zoom) Webinar recording Let’s Talk Infrastructures - Webinar Workshop 5 HQP Seminar: Alternative Ways of Presenting Research Presenters: Moses Adjei, Khaled Helal, Fatima Hassan Hodroj, Md Saiful Islam, Sharon King-Campbell, Christine Knott, Umme Kulsum, Cindy Marven, Ali McGill, Rachel McLay, Giovanni Rognoni, Matthew Stackhouse & Sheridan Thompson Host(s): Cindy Marven and Sheridan Thompson Date & Time: Tuesday, May 30, 2023 Location: Online (Kumospace) Let’s Talk Infrastructures - Webinar Workshop 4 Building, Sustaining, and Navigating Community - University Partnerships: Reflections from FOCI WP7 Presenters: Natalie Slawinski (Moderator), Joan Cranston, Pedram Pourasgari, Bruna Brito, Jennifer Brenton, Ario Seto & Marie Louise Aastrup Host: Sheridan Thompson Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2023 Location: Online (Webex) Webinar recording Let’s Talk Infrastructures - Webinar Workshop 3 Coastal Risk Communication and Community Resilience: Exchanging Knowledge and Building Connections through Existing Communities of Practice Presenters: Joel Finnis, Cindy Marven & Shaieree Cottar Host/Moderator: Sheridan Thompson Date: March 15, 2023 Location: Online (Webex) Webinar recording Let's Talk Infrastructures FOCI Webinar Workshop 2 Thinking Futures: How Can We Contribute to Improved Ocean and Coastal Infrastructures? Presenter: Robert Stephenson Discussants: Umme Kulsum & Marloes Kraan Host/Moderator: Sheridan Thompson Date: January 18, 2023 Location: Online (Webex) Let’s Talk Infrastructures - FOCI Webinar Workshop 1 Identifying Human-Built, Environmental and Societal Infrastructures for Ocean Futures Presenter: Paul Foley Panelists: Ajith Raj & Christine Knott Host/Moderator: Sheridan Thompson Date: November 30, 2022 Location: Hybrid – online (Zoom)/in-person Webinar recording PLACE Dialogues (2020-2024) The PLACE Framework is based on five principles for community development that emerged from a SSHRC-funded research project on Shorefast's place-based approach to social enterprise on Fogo Island, NL. Building on this project, research to deepen our understanding of community revitalization in NL was carried out by FOCI’s Work Package 7 (WP7) team . The PLACE Dialogues bring together community leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers and academics to build a supportive network, as well as discuss challenges and opportunities for rural development. The following Dialogues were organized by FOCI WP7 in collaboration with community partners and Memorial University’s Centre for Social Enterprise : 2024 PLACE Dialogues, Fogo Island, NL – “Building Economic Momentum for Resilient Communities” (2024, October 24-26) Hosted in partnership with Shorefast and Memorial University’s Centre for Social Enterprise Read the workshop Summary Slide Deck . 2024 PLACE Dialogues Video 2023 PLACE Dialogues, St. Anthony, NL – “Co-creating Community Entrepreneurship” (2023, October 26-28) Hosted in partnership with the St. Anthony Basin Resources Inc . and Memorial University’s Centre for Social Enterprise. The event also included the launch of WP7’s (Open Access) book: Revitalizing PLACE through Social Enterprise. Read the workshop Summary Summary Slide Deck . 2023 PLACE Dialogues Video 2022 PLACE Dialogues, Norris Point, NL – “PLACE-based solutions in a challenged world: The role of social enterprises and communities” (2022, October 13-15) Hosted in partnership with the Old Cottage Hospital and Memorial University’s Centre for Social Enterprise Read the workshop Summary Slide Deck . 2022 PLACE Dialogues Video 2021 PLACE Check-In Virtual Workshop – “Reimagining Place in a Post-COVID World: The Role of Social Enterprise for Strengthening Communities” (2021, November 19) Read the workshop Summary Report . 2020 PLACE Check-In Virtual Workshop – “Rural Resilience as Best Practice: Newfoundland and Labrador's Social Enterprises' Reaction to the Covid-19 Pandemic” (2020, November 20) Read the workshop Summary Report . Engagement Sessions for HQP Cultural Awareness Workshop (2024, October 2025). A virtual workshop focused on cultural awareness, safety, sensitivity, competence and humility in research. This workshop was presented online for FOCI Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP). HQP Coffeehouse (2020, October). Virtual session organized by IWP3 for HQP Caucus to promote engagement, share information about research and encourage team building across the project. HQP Learning Session 1 (2021, February 10). Virtual session organized by IWP3 for HQP Caucus. Learning and engagement session with FOCI Core team to discuss project background and objectives.
- Theses & Dissertations | FOCI
Sustainability Safety Inclusion Integration THESES & DISSERTATIONS Addison, M. (2024). Examining the Presence of Full-Spectrum Sustainability Objective Elements in Management Policy for the Atlantic Canadian Lobster Fishery: A Literature Survey Analysis [Master’s Major Research Paper, Memorial University of Newfoundland]. Bairami-Khankandi, Shahrokh. (2023). A comprehensive analysis of major maritime accidents in Canada: Identifying causal factors through systems-theoretic accident models [Master’s thesis, Dalhousie University]. http://hdl.handle.net/10222/82822 Brenton, J. (2022). Organizing in, through, and for place: the role of place in cross-sector partnerships, social enterprise, and community-based enterprise [Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland]. https://doi.org/10.48336/H81D-TJ13 Ersum, M.S.U.D. (2023). Investigating work processes to manage noise exposure for crew members on-board fishing vessels . [Master’s thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland]. https://doi.org/10.48336/4PC0-3S11 Foroutan, M. (2024). Studying in a New Home; Geographies of International Student Housing at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. [Master’s thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland]. https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14783/12481 Fracassi, J. (2023). Groundwater governance in Newfoundland: using the functional resource analysis method to understand groundwater resource management at the municipal level [Master’s thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland]. https://doi.org/10.48336/HMWJ-XT36 Helal, K.M. (2025). Evaluating the performance of ocean gliders’ technology to characterize ship-radiated underwater noise [Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland]. https://doi.org/10.48336/y31j-0v94 Hodroj, F. (2025). Seafarers' perceptions and attitudes toward occupational noise exposure and its health impacts in Canada: a mixed methods study [Master’s thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland]. https://doi.org/10.48336/cczt-z842 McGill, A. (2023). The functional resonance analysis method: assessing, advancing, and applying a novel systems thinking methodology in healthcare research [Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland]. https://doi.org/10.48336/GFGA-W748 Pearson, E. (2023). Searching for climate change solutions in Newfoundland’s urban forests. [Master’s thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland]. https://doi.org/10.48336/W093-8K23 Rognoni, G. (2025). Improving Ship-Acoustic Footprint Through Acoustic Black Hole Metastructure Hull [Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Università degli Studi di Trieste]. Yadav, O.P. (2021). Risk perceptions of occupational noise exposure and its impacts on fish harvesters' health in Newfoundland and Labrador: a mixed-methods study [Master’s thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland]. https://doi.org/10.48336/stfm-h956 Zarrin Mehr, M. (2023). Search and rescue (SAR) modeling for the coastal regions of Eastern Canada and the Arctic Gateway [Master’s thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland]. https://doi.org/10.48336/Y585-J798
- Garret Richards
Garret Richards Co-investigator (IWP1) Garrett Richards is an assistant professor with the Environmental Policy Institute at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Grenfell Campus. His research interests cover renewable energy, climate change (especially local-level adaptation planning), renewable energy, evidence-based policy, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity, science-policy interfaces, knowledge mobilization, and deliberative democracy. Current projects include launching an Innovation Lab for the Environmental Policy Institute, investigating the differences in science outreach between university and government scientists, membership in the SSHRC-funded PhiLab (i.e. Philanthropy Lab) Atlantic Hub, and an emerging initiative that will engage stakeholders to identify research needs for energy planning and development in Newfoundland and Labrador.
- Int. Work Package 1 | FOCI
FORESIGHTING SUSTAINABLE COASTAL COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURES (IWP1) FOCI’s Integration Work Package on ‘Foresighting Sustainable Coastal Community Infrastructures’ carries out activities to help FOCI and OFI achieve the objective of designing infrastructures to enhance the capacity of ocean industries and coastal communities in Atlantic Canada to safely, sustainably, and inclusively respond to change. Human response to change can be inactive, reactive or proactive. This Integration Work Package explores and extends techniques of i) full spectrum sustainability evaluation, ii) strategic foresighting, and iii) process mapping/monitoring and performance measurement (PMPM) to help regenerate/redesign/adapt infrastructures across the spectrum from ecological through built to economic, cultural and institutional/governance infrastructures. MEET THE TEAM Paul Foley Co-Lead Gerald Singh Co-Investigator Robert Stephenson Co-Lead Doug Smith Co-Investigator Barbara Neis Co-Investigator Brian Veitch Co-Investigator Garrett Richards Co-Investigator HIGHLY QUALIFIED PERSONNEL (HQP) Pratyusha Akunuri Research Assistant 2022-23 Alexis McGill Doctoral Candidate Alumni Julia Fracassi Master's Student Alumni Natasha Olekshy Research Assistant 2020-22 Rachel Kelly Postdoctoral Fellow 2020-21 Ajith Raj Doctoral Candidate Current Umme Kulsum Postdoctoral Fellow 2022-25 OUR PARTNERS
- Amber Silver
Amber Silver Co-investigator (IWP2) Dr. Amber Silver is an Assistant Professor for the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY-Albany). She received her Ph.D. in Geography and Environmental Management from the University of Waterloo. Her primary research interests focus on how individuals and groups make decisions before, during, and after high impact weather. More specifically, she is interested in the roles that public attention, risk perception, and communication play in protective action decision making during extreme events. Her most recent research has focused on the ways that new technologies, including social media, influence how individuals obtain, interpret, and respond to official and unofficial warning information. Dr. Silver has recently joined the communications task force of the High Impact Weather (HIWx) working group of the World Weather Research Programme of the World Meteorological Organization. This ten-year project aims to understand and improve the communication of weather information to different end-users in order to promote appropriate protective actions. With Ron Pelot and Joel Finnis, Dr. Silver is co-lead of the Coast & Ocean Risk Communication Community of Practice (CORC-CoP).
- Sanaz Labbaf
Memorial University Sanaz Labbaf Research Assistant (WP9) More to come.
- MacKenzie Young
2020-25 MacKenzie Young Project Manager MacKenzie is based at the St. John’s Campus of Memorial University. Her career in the tertiary education environment spans the management of research and technical assistance projects, international mobility programs, business development, and community engagement. MacKenzie’s work has largely been focused on the development and implementation of projects, consultancies and partnerships in the oceans and education sectors. These initiatives have ranged from short consultancies to multi-year, multi-stakeholder global initiatives, supported by a wide range of funders – including government agencies, foundations, multilateral development banks, and private sector partners. MacKenzie has worked extensively with partners and clients throughout Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Americas, cultivating high-impact collaborations and contributing to the achievement of shared goals through innovative, inclusive approaches.
- Nicole Power | FOCI
Nicole Power Lead (WP9) Nicole Power is a Professor in the Department of Sociology, Memorial University. She has been doing feminist research focusing on NL fisheries for 25 years. Her research has examined the gendered and health and safety impacts of industrial, economic and environmental restructuring on workers and young people in fisheries communities, and the labour mobility among young workers in rural and coastal communities. Recently she has turned her attention to human-fish relations, focusing particularly on the political economy of the human-fish relations of wild and aquacultured salmon.
- Int. Work Package 3 | FOCI
SUSTAINABLE COASTAL ATLANTIC CANADA DIALOGUES (IWP3) FOCI’s Integration Work Package, ‘Sustainable Coastal Atlantic Canada Dialogues,’ leads the development of two FOCI-wide ‘Sustainable Coastal Atlantic Canada Dialogues’ (end of Year 1 and Year 3-4). The goals of the IWP are to promote the interdisciplinary co-construction of knowledge across FOCI Work Package researchers and partners; and to help successfully translate FOCI research findings into policy and practice for sustainability. IWP team members build on prior involvement in Sustainable Canada Dialogues, which is a pan-Canadian network of environmental and social scientists, which is supported by the UNESCO-McGill Research Chair: Dialogues in Sustainability. The SCD translates research into collaboration with policy makers and community leaders to mobilize support for a more sustainable Canada. MEET THE TEAM Mark Stoddart Lead Catherine Potvin Co-Investigator Howard Ramos Co-Investigator Natalie Slawinski Co-Investigator HIGHLY QUALIFIED PERSONNEL (HQP) Finbar Hefferon Research Assistant 2020 Obasanjo Joseph Oyedele Research Assistant 2024-25 OUR PARTNERS
- Shahrokh Bairami-Khankandi
Dalhousie University Shahrokh Bairami-Khankandi Master's Student (WP1) More to come.




