Search Results
185 results found with an empty search
- Mirella de Oliveira Leis
Memorial University Mirella de Oliveira Leis Knowledge Mobilization (Core); Research Assistant (WP9) Mirella Leis is Knowledge Mobilization Coordinator with the Ocean Frontier Institute at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador in St. John’s, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Oceanography from the Federal University of Paraná in Brazil and a Master of Science degree in Geography from Memorial University. Her research interests include marine conservation and fisheries sustainability, topics on which she has published peer-reviewed articles and public outreach material. She has previously worked as a Research Fellow with the Too Big To Ignore Global Partnership for Small-Scale Fisheries Research, as Project Coordinator with the Ocean Frontier Institute and volunteered as Ocean Bridge Youth Ambassador with Ocean Wise. Mirella is currently a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs (NLOWE) and the Board of Directors of the Coastal and Ocean Information Network - Atlantic (COINAtlantic). She received the distinction of Fellow of the School of Graduate Studies and Staff Volunteer of the Year Award from Memorial University, won the Community Choice Award from Genesis Centre and ranked 1st at the St. John's Food System Kickstarter in recognition of the contribution of her social enterprise The Fish Market in re-connecting fishers to consumers.
- What's New | FOCI
Photo by Ritche Perez WHAT'S NEW In this section you will find information about the research, training and engagement initiatives of FOCI, aimed at facilitating opportunities to exchange knowledge and explore how core themes of sustainability, safety, and inclusion can support the development of better future ocean and coastal infrastructures. To stay up to date on what’s new in FOCI, please visit the pages below regularly and subscribe to our mailing list: Newsletters – access FOCI’s Future Ocean News archive Podcasts and Interviews – learn more about FOCI’s researchers and partners through podcast interviews Events – find out about upcoming in-person and virtual webinars, workshops, conferences, forums and other events
- Anne Graham
Anne Graham Co-investigator (IWP4) Dr. Anne Graham is Associate Professor, jointly, in the Departments of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures and Religious Studies at Memorial University. She is a specialist of early modern French theatre and religious theatre of the medieval and early modern periods. She has written numerous scholarly journal articles on early modern theatre and has undertaken the translation of an early modern play: Abraham sacrifiant, by Theodore de Bèze. She received a SSHRC Insight Development Grant to support this translation work and the workshopping of the play with a group of actors and a dramaturge, Dr. Jamie Skidmore, who was a co-applicant on this project. The workshopping took place over several weekends and culminated in a staged reading in February 2018 at a premiere theatre venue in St. John’s Newfoundland. Dr. Graham worked closely with both the dramaturge and the director, Ian Campbell, on this presentation and acquired practical theatre skills as a result. Dr. Graham’s translation will be published in an annotated edition by ACMRS Press. Dr. Graham is co-investigator on the FOCI research package, IWP4.3 Dramatizing Gender and Fisheries, of which Dr. Skidmore is principal investigator.
- Tarah Wright
Tarah Wright Collaborator (WP6) I have been a faculty member at Dalhousie University since 2001 and am currently a Full Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and the Director of the Education for Sustainability Research Group. My research program over the past two decades has been highly collaborative and multidisciplinary. It has incorporated an interdisciplinary range of fields related to environmental education, nature exposure, sustainability science, the role of the Arts in creating a sustainable future, all with a focus on the emerging field of education for sustainable development (ESD). My research is guided by critical theory, which focuses on critique and transformation in inquiry, allows values and ethics to guide the development and execution of research, and sees researchers in the role of advocates or activists. I situate all of my work within a constructivist paradigm, meaning that my research findings are seen as a snapshot of one of several truths within a particular timeframe. Methodologically, the majority of my work employs a grounded-theory approach where theoretical insights come from the inductive analysis of data rather than in hypotheses. My research also relies on a number of theoretical approaches. First, my research is guided by community based social marketing (CBSM) from within the field of environmental psychology. CBSM is an approach to change management that maintains that in order to understand how to increase environmentally-positive behaviours, we must first understand the demographic we are studying, including the perceived barriers and benefits specific to the population. Further, cultures and structures are shaped by complex, often contrasting belief systems. Understanding a population or community’s nature is essential to developing contextually appropriate change strategies. As such, my research requires a working knowledge of change management and organizational behavior theory. Although I have held major administrative positions at the university since 2001 (Director of Environmental Programs, and Associate Director in the College of Sustainability), my research program has remained active and continues to expand.
- Matthew Stackhouse
Dalhousie University / Western University Matthew Stackhouse Research Assistant (WP6) Matthew Stackhouse is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Western Ontario. His research expertise includes quantitative methods, longitudinal data analysis, data reduction techniques, health inequality, and behaviour and lifestyle research. He is currently working in collaboration with researchers from the University of Western Ontario and Dalhousie University on the FOCI Work Package Perceptions of Climate Change and Social Futures. Using survey data from this project, he is lead author on a project titled “Perceptions of Local Environment Change and Ecological Habitus” (currently under revisions with Environmental Sociology ) and is lead author on a new study exploring perceptions of local environment change and ecologically supportive behaviours.
- Integration | FOCI
INTEGRATION Supporting integration and knowledge mobilization between stakeholders Although each WP identifies links with other WPs, four additional projects are working to strengthen, consolidate and optimize FOCI integration. Each of these integration work package (IWP) projects are undertaking activities to coordinate elements of FOCI WPs, ensuring integration of overarching FOCI objectives and research questions into WP research designs, and to coordinate and synthesize knowledge mobilization outputs identifying infrastructure designs that can enhance the capacity of ocean industries and coastal communities to safely, sustainably, and inclusively navigate climate, ocean and social-ecological change. FORESIGHTING SUSTAINABLE COASTAL COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURES (IWP1) LEVERAGING EXISTING COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE FOR FOCI OUTREACH & DISSEMINATION (IWP2) SUSTAINABLE COASTAL ATLANTIC CANADA DIALOGUES (IWP3) ARTISTIC INFRASTRUCTURE FOR NAVIGATING OCEAN AND COASTAL COMMUNITY CHANGE (IWP4)
- Bruna Souza de Brito
Memorial University Bruna Souza de Brito Research Assistant (WP7) More to come.
- Work Package 6 | FOCI
PERCEPTIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE (WP6) FOCI’s Work Package on ‘Perceptions of Climate Change and Social Futures’ examines the multiple, and potentially divergent, social perceptions of climate change among the public, experts, media, and policy network actors across Atlantic Canada. It analyses social perceptions of climate change and builds social infrastructure by assessing: i) regional impacts of climate change, ii) responses, in terms of mitigation and adaption; and iii) capacity to respond to changes. Improving our understanding of the social perceptions of climate change in these different spheres helps innovate governance infrastructures that can better navigate futures of climate change and social-ecological instability. The overall objective is to build citizen engagement and policy network infrastructure to help communities grapple with climate change and rapidly evolving ecosystems. MEET THE TEAM Howard Ramos Co-Lead Tarah Wright Collaborator Karen Foster Co-Lead Mark Stoddart Co-Investigator Tuomas Ylä-Antilla Co-Investigator HIGHLY QUALIFIED PERSONNEL (HQP) Laura Funke Research Assistant 2022-24 Matthew Stackhouse Research Assistant 2021-23 Gillian Kerr Postdoctoral Fellow 2020-21 Christine Taylhardat Research Assistant 2023-25 Rachel McLay Research Assistant 2020-24 Yixi Yang Research Assistant 2021-24 Brenna Sobanski Research Assistant 2020-21 Gwyneth Cin Yung Yeung Research Assistant 2022-23 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
- Rachel Kelly
Grenfell Campus, Memorial University Rachel Kelly Postdoctoral Fellow (IWP1) Dr Rachel Kelly is a Postdoctoral Fellow in FOCI’s IWP #1 , conducting research that will improve understanding and inform the potential use of ‘foresighting’ in the FOCI project. Rachel’s role in the project cements research linkages between Memorial University and the Centre for Marine Socioecology (CMS) and the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) both in Tasmania, Australia. She is also heavily involved with developing and expanding the nascent FOCI HQP Caucus. Rachel is a marine socioecologist. Her most recent research has focused on the human dimensions of ocean sustainability, with a particular focus on improving global ocean literacy, connecting citizen science more actively with marine conservation initiatives, and engaging communities more meaningfully to secure marine space social licence. This work has involved collaborative research projects in and with the CMS, the World Maritime University in Sweden, the Australian National University in Canberra, iDiv in Germany, and other international groups. Currently, Rachel is working under the supervision of Asoc Prof Paul Foley and Dr Rob Stephenson (in FOCI) to assess linkages between the concepts foresighting and full-spectrum sustainability, to further the aims and objectives of the wider FOCI project working groups.
- Pedram Pouragasari
Memorial University Pedram Pouragasari Doctoral Student (WP7) More to come.
- Mark Losier
Mark Losier Co-investigator (IWP4) Marc Losier is an Assistant Professor of Photography in the Visual Arts program at the School of Fine Arts, Grenfell Campus, Memorial University. He is an artist and long-time educator. Losier’s work examines the ways in which communities form and define their cultural memory through oral histories, images, and iconography. Using photography and images, filmmaking, sound, objects, and installation, he provokes questions about the value of artworks and archival collections. Previous exhibitions include The Rooms (St. John’s), White Water Gallery (North Bay), FAAS 4 Biennial (Sudbury), Art Bar Projects Anna Leonowens Gallery (Halifax), Art in the Open (Charlottetown), and the Art Gallery of Mississauga. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Media from the School of Image Arts, Ryerson University (Toronto, ON) and has previously taught at the San Francisco Art Institute, OCAD University and the School of Image Arts. At Grenfell, he teaches courses on photography and community-engaged art practices at the undergraduate and graduate level and is working to broaden conceptual lens-based pedagogy and student exhibition opportunities in Western Newfoundland. He is the founding director of PULP Gallery, the only student-run visual art exhibition space in the province.







