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Melanie Griffin Co-investigator (WP5) Melanie learned a long time ago that she loved the outdoors. During her time at St. Francis Xavier University, she favoured classes like biology, marine biology, coastal oceanography, and marine pollution while she completed her Bachelor of Science, majoring in Biology. After this, shg attended James Cook University in Townsville, Australia and noted that she learned more about the Canadian fisheries while in Australia than she ever did here in Canada. She went straight to work looking for a job in Canada where she could help in the lobster industry. She had some amazing jobs along the way, as a Marine Interpreter on a Whale Watching Boat, Marine Biologist in a lobster plant, Field tech at the Lobster Science Centre and Project Manager/field biologist with Aquatic Science and Health Services. All of which lead her to the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association. Now, she assists fishers directly in answering questions about different species and stock status, in an effort to ensure that fishing remains sustainable for future generations while maintaining a healthy ocean.

Memorial University Ian Petty Research Assistant (WP2) More to come.

Ronald Pelot Co-investigator (IWP2, WP3) Dr. Pelot is a Professor in Industrial Engineering at Dalhousie University, specializing in maritime risk and response for over 20 years. His research work related to the FOCI application comprises four related areas in modelling and investigation. (1) Maritime traffic modelling: much modelling work on maritime traffic depends on a spatio-temporal representation of traffic patterns, usually disaggregated by vessel type, commodity type, activity, etc. (2) Maritime traffic risk analysis: risk analysis encompasses many elements and stages. Dr Pelot’s work has addressed a variety of aspects such as extreme weather impacts on fishing incidents, exposure measures for better risk prediction, ship characteristics correlation with incident rate. (3) Arctic shipping: Ron had been involved in three large-scale arctic shipping studies, including OFI Mod N in Phase 1. Some issues addressed therein were ship routing in ice, remoteness relevance for risk, and cumulative impacts of shipping in the north. (4) Response resource planning: where SAR resources are located (ex. CCG vessels and lifeboat stations) affect response time, coverage, and back-up options. The optimization models are quite relevant to the current SAR WP proposal. Since 2012, Dr. Pelot has also been the Associate Scientific Director of the MEOPAR NCE (Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network of Centres of Excellence), a role which allows him to bring a lot of expertise to FOCI in regards to project planning, networking, and knowledge mobilization.

Vicki Kristman Co-investigator (WP8) Dr. Kristman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Lakehead University and the Inaugural Director for a new Research Institute at Lakehead University: EPID@Work – Enhancing the Prevention of Injury and Disability@Work. She also holds appointments in the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and the Institute for Work & Health in Toronto. She holds a doctoral degree in epidemiology from the University of Toronto and completed the CIHR Work Disability Prevention strategic training program as a postdoctoral fellow at the University Health Network in Toronto. In 2014, Dr. Kristman was awarded a prestigious CIHR New Investigator Award for her program of research on “Preventing Work Disability through Accommodation”. She is currently leading projects to identify factors associated with Indigenous work, health and safety, and to determine factors associated with supervisors’ support for providing work accommodations for workers with mental health disorders. Dr. Kristman is the Principal Investigator on an ongoing SSHRC Partnership Development Grant entitled “Understanding labour force participation, work productivity and disability in the Indigenous context: a partnership with the Nokiiwin Tribal Council. She will collaborate with Dr. Cullen and a PhD student to engage local Indigenous groups to build a local Indigenous Coastal Communities partnership. The partnership will develop a “two-eyed seeing” approach to 1) understand the burden of the problem of work disability in coastal communities; and 2) identify opportunities for the development of novel culturally-sensitive policies and practices to strengthen Indigenous workers and workplaces to increase labour force participation and productivity, and reduce work disability.

Robert Stephenson Co-Lead (IWP1), Advisory Committee member Dr. Robert Stephenson is a Research Scientist with the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (St. Andrews Biological Station, since 1984), and Visiting Research Professor at the University of New Brunswick (since 2010). From 2010-2016 he was Principal Investigator of the Canadian Fisheries Research Network – an NSERC-funded network that linked academics, industry and government in collaborative fisheries research across Canada. Stephenson has worked extensively on the ecology, assessment, and management of Atlantic herring, and more broadly on issues related to fisheries resource evaluation and Fisheries Management Science. Current research interests include development of integrated coastal management, implementation of the ecosystem approach in social-ecological systems, development of policies and strategies for full-spectrum sustainability of marine activities including the integration of ecological, economic, social/cultural and institutional aspects of management, and strategic foresighting in relation to the management of coastal activities and the viability of coastal communities in the context of ecosystem change.

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.

Memorial University Pierrette Janes-Bourque Master's Student (WP2) Pierrette Janes (she/her) is a Master’s of Science in Geography student at Memorial University’s campus in St. John’s, NL, and is co-supervised by Dr. Carissa Brown and Dr. Joel Finnis. Pierrette is from the beautiful, nature-filled province of New Brunswick where she spent most of her childhood exploring local forests. After completing her Bachelor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Leadership from the University of New Brunswick, Pierrette’s interest in forests led her to a position as Stewardship Coordinator for the Nature Trust of New Brunswick, working closely with local conservationists to protect, monitor and restore some of New Brunswick’s unique natural spaces. Pierrette’s research with FOCI will focus on climate smart trees and urban forests as a potential nature-based climate solutions in coastal communities in Newfoundland.

Doug Smith Co-investigator (IWP1) Assistant Professor Doug Smith of Memorial University’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied. Science researches complex socio-technical systems. He has developed an approach called the process monitoring and performance measurement (PMPM) method for investigating these systems. The PMPM method provides insights into the how complex systems function by modeling the interactions between people, organizations, and technologies. Smith is an investigator in IWP1.

Madeleine Gustavsson Collaborator (WP9) Dr Madeleine Gustavsson is a Researcher at Ruralis – Institute for Rural and Regional Research in Trondheim, Norway. Before joining Ruralis, she was a Research Fellow at the University of Exeter (UK), holding an Economic and Social Research Council New Investigator fellowship, researching the changing lives of women in small-scale fishing families in the UK and Newfoundland. As part of the Women in Fisheries project, Madeleine visited Memorial University in 2018 as a visiting postdoctoral fellow where she also got to learn about the Newfoundland fishery and collect data with women in Newfoundland fishing families. Previous to this, Madeleine conducted research on fishing cultures – including intergenerational and gendered dimension – in North Wales, UK which led here to secure PhD in Human Geography at the University of Liverpool. In addition to publishing on the topics of fisheries, gender and Blue Justice, Madeleine has co-edited the book ‘Researching People and the Sea’ published with Palgrave Macmillan in 2021. More broadly, her research focuses on marine, coastal and rural issues drawing on social science methods to understand the lifeworlds of people living and working with the sea. Dr Gustavsson will collaborate with the lead and postdoctoral fellow of FOCI’s Work package 9.3.

Randolph Peters Collaborator (IWP4) Randolph Peters is an internationally recognized composer who works in a wide range of art forms and music media. As well as many symphonic, choral and chamber music works, he has composed for opera, theatre and dance, and has created more than 100 film and television scores for feature, documentary and animated productions. Peters’ compositions have been presented around the world by such as artists as percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, the Kronos and the Penderecki String Quartets, and conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Marin Alsop, and Bramwell Tovey. His work includes commissions from the Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Calgary, Québec, Manitoba Chamber, and Edmonton Symphony Orchestras, the Hannaford Street Silver Band, and the Elmer Iseler Singers, among others. His operas include Nosferatu, commissioned by the Canadian Opera Company; Inanna, set to an original libretto by Margaret Atwood; and The Golden Ass, with an original libretto by Robertson Davies, premiered by the COC in 1999.

2022-25 Sheridan R. Thompson Knowledge Mobilization Coordinator Currently, Sheridan is an Interdisciplinary PhD candidate conducting transdisciplinary research in Iceland focused on the impact that local knowledge has in adaptation to a rapidly changing coast in the face of a climate crisis. Sheridan has inquired into the making of knowledge with coasts through multiple ways of experience including story-telling, rock climbing, surfing, hiking, and research in both the natural and social sciences. Sheridan has been conducting experiential hiking tours in coastal landscape and culture since 2013 and has partnered with organizations such as Shorefast Foundation (Fogo Island), Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Network (NLEN), Oceans Learning Partnership (OLP), Coastal Connections, Harris Centre Public Engagement, and Fishing for Success (F4S). Sheridan came on board as the Knowledge Mobilization Coordinator with Future Ocean and Coastal Infrastructures (FOCI) in June 2022.

David Lane Collaborator (IWP4) As part of FOCI IWP4, I will create a puppet play that reflects the rich craft and storytelling traditions of the Gros Morne region while capturing and promoting public engagement with core coastal communities around themes of our changing oceans and other FOCI themes. My aim is to enhance capacity in puppet construction and performance in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Gros Morne Puppet Project will engage in a process that recognizes the diversity of the west coast of Newfoundland, and uses indigenous and traditional knowledge as the bases for design and construction. We will draw on the knowledge that exists in communities already, be it boatbuilding, rug hooking, or trap construction, and in FOCI and relevant Bonne Bay Marine Institute research and redirect it towards making a piece of theatre that feels connected to the community in which it’s being created and works for a diverse audience. The creation of the play will help to answer some of the outreach programming needs of the Bonne May Marine Research Station, creating a piece of FOCI/Bonne Bay Marine Station theatre which will sit in their performance venue, and can be remounted with relative ease each summer. Visitors to the research station will view the play in the context of the region, and learn specifics about the history and local practices of the neighboring coastal communities and their connection to larger issues/challenges related to ocean change and coastal community sustainability.