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Gerald Singh Co-investigator (IWP1) Dr. Gerald Singh is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He has a PhD in Resource Management and Environmental Sciences from the University of British Columbia. Singh is also the Deputy Research Director with the Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center. His research is primarily situated in the science-policy interface, and focused on understanding the dynamics between social, economic, and environmental dimensions in sustainable development. This focus takes form in the following ways: 1) assessing cumulative anthropogenic impacts on the environment and understanding the consequences to people; 2) determine priority policy actions and plans to achieve specific sustainable development objectives (particularly the Sustainable Development Goals); 3) understand risk and uncertainty in sustainability policy and management. Doing work in any one of these areas means navigating data gaps, and Singh uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as structured expert elicitation, in his research.

Memorial University Jacob Sargent Research Assistant (WP8) More to come.

Wendy Smith Co-investigator (WP7) Wendy Smith earned her Ph.D. at the Harvard Business School and is currently Professor of Management at the Lerner School of Business and Economics at the University of Delaware. She brings to the team expertise in studying social enterprises, particularly through a lens of paradox theory. In her previous research, she has studied social enterprises around the world. Most notable her recent research explored the in-depth decision making across the first 10 years of Digital Divide Data, an award-winning work integration social enterprise started in Southeast Asia in 1999. This project explored how the senior leaders applied a paradoxical approach to effectively address the ongoing competing demands between their social mission to stop the cycle of poverty through enabling increased work opportunities and their business goals to be an operationally sustainable business. This research led to a publication in Administrative Science Quarterly, one of the top journals in the field of organizational studies, as well as publications in practitioner journals such as the Harvard Business Review and other blog posts. Working with PI Slawinski on SSHRC-funded (partnership development grant) research with Shorefast on Fogo Island NL, Smith has gained expertise in social enterprise research and development in Newfoundland and Labrador. This more recent work includes collaboration on the development of the PLACE model for social enterprise and community development, and on related workshops and publications in other blog posts. Smith has also collaborated with PI Slawinski on unpacking the competitive and cooperative dynamics in industry-wide alliances, by studying the Canadian Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA), an initiative to advance environmental standards among companies in the Alberta Oil Sands. Finally, Smith offers expertise in research, analysis and publication. She has spent the last three years as an associate editor at the Academy of Management Journal, one of the top journals in organization studies, accruing insight on the development of academic publications.

Melanie Wiber Co-investigator (WP5) Melanie Wiber is Professor Emerita of Anthropology in the University of New Brunswick and Co-Editor of the Journal of Legal Pluralism. She has extensive experience in collaborative interdisciplinary research, including as a co-investigator on the SSHRC-funded Coastal CURA (Community and University Research Alliance), as lead for a Working Group on the Socio-Economics of Integrated Management for the Oceans Management Research Network that was co-funded by SSHRC and DFO, and as a co-investigator with the NSERC-funded Canadian Fisheries Research Network. In the FOCI Consortium, Dr. Wiber is Co-Investigator on WP5: “Building collaborative interdisciplinary research infrastructure in Atlantic Canada’s lobster fisheries.”

FUTURE OCEAN NEWS Learn more about the research, initiatives, and achievements of FOCI’s network of researchers, HQP, collaborators, and partners in our newsletter "Future Ocean News". Future Ocean News March 2025 Future Ocean News December 2024 Future Ocean News September 2024 World Ocean Day June 2024 Future Ocean News May 2024 Future Ocean News April 2024 Future Ocean News March 2024 Future Ocean News January 2024 Future Ocean News December 2023 Future Ocean News September 2023 Future Ocean News July 2023 Future Ocean News March 2023 Future Ocean News December 2022 Future Ocean News October 2022 Future Ocean News March 2022 Future Ocean News February 2022 Future Ocean News December 2021 Future Ocean News November 2021 Future Ocean News September 2021 Future Ocean News August 2021 Future Ocean News July 2021 World Ocean Day June 2021

Heather Peng Co-investigator (WP1) Dr. Peng is an associate professor in the area of marine/ship hydrodynamics and its application to ship and offshore structure design and evaluation. She has many years of industrial experience at Martec and Oceanic Consulting Corporation in ocean engineering applications. Her research interests include numerical prediction of ship motions and wave loads, hydrodynamic interactions of multiple floating bodies in waves, coupled dynamic analysis of moored offshore structures, dynamic positioning of ships and offshore structures in waves and in ice, hull form optimization and hull propeller interaction, propeller tip vortex, fishing vessels, multi-hull ship, renewable wave energy converter, ship maneuvering, shallow water waves, and safety of ships and offshore structures.

Memorial University Nancy Leung Research Assistant (WP7) Nancy is pursuing a Master of Business Administration at Memorial University of Newfoundland. As a full-time student, she has been an active member of the Centre of Social Enterprise and has successfully started a social enterprise that promotes eco-wedding culture in the Newfoundland and Labrador province. She has internship experience at a social enterprise that encourages local, social, and green consumer choices. Before moving to Canada, Nancy completed a Bachelor of Economics and Finance at the University of Hong Kong. Nancy is a project manager with over five years of experience in the banking industry. Nancy focused on digital transformation and led multiple innovative projects from ideation to implementation. She is a certified PMP and is proficient in agile adoption in project management. She enjoys bringing change to the community and improving people’s lives through collaboration. Nancy is excited to get onboard and contribute her strengths to FOCI.

Memorial University Sydney Snow CCNL/FOCI Research Intern (WP2) Sydney Snow is an intern with Conservation Corps. NL. Born and raised in St. John’s, she completed a Master’s in Applied Psychological Science (Cooperative) and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology at Memorial University. Her honours research focused on the autobiographical memories of individuals who identify with a different gender than assigned at birth. Her master’s research, supervised by Dr. Martin Day, investigated how social mobility and the wording of policies affect support for redistribution policies. She is currently researching factors that may relate to climate change opinions . In addition to her research, she has completed work term placements and semester projects that focused on program evaluation within health care and academia.

Lorenzo Moro Lead (WP1) Dr. Lorenzo Moro is an Associate Professor in the Department of Ocean and Naval Architectural Engineering and Co-Director of the SafetyNet Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Research at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He received a Ph.D., a M.Sc., and a bachelor’s degree in Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture from the University of Trieste, Italy. His research is primarily situated in ship design methods and maritime safety, focusing on noise pollution from ships, noise exposures of seafarers, and ship structural dynamics. He is technical member for Canada in the Technical Committee II.2 Dynamic Response of the 21st International Ship and Offshore Structures Congress, and chair of the Canadian Atlantic Branch of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. His research has been funded by government and private agencies, including the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) through the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI).

Roza Tchoukaleyska Co-investigator (WP9) Dr. Roza Tchoukaleyska is Assistant Professor in the School of Science and the Environment, Memorial University, where she teaches in the Environment and Sustainability Program and supervises graduate students at the Environmental Policy Institute. Her research examines the economic and social networks which connect urban and rural areas. She is interested in the mobility of ideas across locations, and the interaction between state policies and the cultural texture of individual communities. Her work is comparative, and frequently uses public space as an analytic lens, and trace how diverse identities, political tensions, and civic rights are asserted through usage patterns of plazas, parks, and sidewalks. At Grenfell Campus, Memorial University, she has taken a lead in developing the City Studio experiential learning program, which sees students in geography work with municipal government and community groups to develop innovative solutions to rural and urban issues in Newfoundland. Before joining Memorial University, she was a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the City Institute, York University, and an Associate Lecturer at the Open University, UK.

LEVERAGING EXISTING COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE FOR FOCI OUTREACH AND DISSEMINATION (IWP2) FOCI’s Integration Work Package on ‘Leveraging Existing Communities of Practice for FOCI Outreach & Dissemination’ partners with existing Communities of Practice (CoPs) to facilitate outreach and knowledge dissemination efforts across FOCI. Organized around specific domains (e.g. themes, needs, subject areas), CoPs invite all parties concerned with that domain to exchange ideas, perspectives, and relevant news. Some are quite active and may organize events or lobby on behalf of members; others serve as opportunities for networking and knowledge exchange. Regardless of the form they take, CoP memberships are often a mixture of scholars, practitioners, stakeholders, policymakers, and/or artists. As such, they are fertile venues for novel ideas, outreach, and knowledge exchange. FOCI’s goals and practices align closely with a number of emerging CoPs, as its activities are intended to provide concrete benefits beyond academic circles by integrating efforts by researchers, practitioners, and stake/rightsholders to address the evolving infrastructure needs of maritime industries and coastal communities under conditions of climate, ocean, and social-ecological change. MEET THE TEAM Joel Finnis Lead Jason Thistlethwaite Co-Investigator Joe Daraio Co-investigator Cindy Marven Community of Practice Engagement Coordinator Ron Pelot Co-investigator Amber Silver Co-investigator OUR PARTNERS

Grenfell Campus, Memorial University Emily Anderson Curator of Engagement (PULP/IWP4) Emily Anderson is a visual artist based in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador. She recently completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Her current work investigates environmental issues within the landscape through photography. Emily has contributed to FOCI Integration Work Package 4 on ‘Artistic infrastructure for navigating ocean and coastal community change’ as Curator of Engagement at the PULP Gallery alongside Alli Johnston and FOCI IWP4 co-investigator Dr. Marc Losier.