On Tuesday, the first morning of the IMBIZO, there will be plenary presentations for each of the three workshops, aiming to give everyone an overview of the state of research and future directions for the three workshop topics and provide the basis for joint discussions.
These will be followed by a fourth keynote presentation, given by David VanderZwaag on Wednesday morning, to link the three workshops, through a discussion of dynamic ocean management.
Eddie Allison will give the first keynote talk for the Critical Constraints on Future Projections of Marine Systems workshop
Eddie is a Professor in the College of the Environment at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. His research centres on the human connection to natural resources. His primary areas of focus are 1) the contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to food and nutrition security and coastal livelihoods, 2) governance of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture production and the human rights of fisherfolk, and 3) the vulnerability and adaptation to climate change of people dependent on marine and freshwater resources.
Mary Ann Moran is the keynote speaker for the workshop dealing with Metabolic diversity and evolution in marine biogeochemical cycling and ocean ecosystem processes.
Mary Ann is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. Her research focuses on the role of bacteria in marine nutrient cycles. By focusing on the genetic and ecological underpinnings of bacterial sulfur and carbon cycling in the ocean, she aims to understand the role of marine bacteria in the productivity of the ocean and the formation and flux of climatically active gases. She uses molecular microbial ecology and ecological genomics approaches to explore bacterial processes and their regulation.
Mary Ann is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Microbiology.
André Punt will give the keynote address for the Management Strategy Evaluation workshop.
André is the Director of the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. His research relates broadly to the development and application of fisheries stock assessment techniques, bioeconomic modelling, and evaluating the performance of stock assessment methods and harvest control rules using the Management Strategy Evaluation approach. His research group, Marine Population and Management (MPAM), is involved in the development and application of management strategy evaluation (MSE) methods, focusing on specifying and parameterizing the operating models used as the basis for MSE. They are exploring the best ways to manage marine populations, from small pelagic species, groundfishes, rock lobsters to cetaceans, in the face of changing societal goals, climate change, ocean acidification, and the lack of data which is typical of the marine environment. Their results are used to inform management decision making in the USA and Australia, as well as international marine management bodies such as regional fisheries management organizations and the International Whaling Commission. Dr. Punt has been involved in stock assessment and fisheries management for over 30 years and has been recognized for his contributions in this area with awards from CSIRO, the University of Washington, the Australian Society for Fish Biology, and the American Fisheries Society.
David VanderZwaag will give the keynote address linking the three workshops, by going on a quest for good governance in marine biosphere research
David VanderZwaag is Professor of Law and Canada Research Chair in Ocean Law and Governance at the Marine & Environmental Law Institute at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. He teaches international environmental law and serves as the Associate Director of the Marine & Environmental Law Institute. His research covers a wide range of topics in the field of international ocean law and governance. Research interests include: aquaculture regulation; fisheries management; marine species at risk, maritime boundary delimitation; transboundary cooperation; Arctic law of the sea; Canada-US ocean relations and principled oceans governance.
David is a member of the International Council of Environmental Law as well as the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL). He co-chairs the WCEL’s Specialist Group on Oceans, Coasts and Coral Reefs and is active in several interdisciplinary research networks, including the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR), the OceanCanada Partnership, and the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN).