The Environmental Information: Use and Influence research initiative (EIUI) will present a special session entitled “Does Information Matter? A Critical Question for the Future of Coastal Zone Management” at the 2014 Coastal Zone Canada conference to be held in Halifax on 15-19 June 2014. This session will offer interdisciplinary perspectives on the challenges of communicating […]
Marine & Ocean Issues
Doctoral Student Receives SSHRC Awards for Research Involving Governmental Organizations
Suzuette Soomai, Interdisciplinary PhD student with the EIUI initiative, has been named a recipient of a Michael Smith Foreign Study grant by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Suzuette currently holds a prestigious three-year Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS) from SSHRC. The Michael Smith Foreign Study grant will support her […]
Communicating Fisheries Information: Challenges and Opportunities
Fisheries governance and information pathways in fisheries management are exceptionally complex. At the same time, large quantities of fisheries information on numerous subjects are available from a wide range of providers for a diversity of users. These points were emphasized in a public lecture at Dalhousie University on 20 September 2013 by Dr. Richard Grainger, […]
EIUI Attends NAFO’s Annual Meeting as Official Observer
The Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) – a regional, intergovernmental fisheries management body that conducts scientific research, provides advice, and facilitates cooperation among member states on management and conservation of fisheries resources – held its 35th annual meeting in Halifax on 22-27 September 2013. As a recently accredited official Observer, the Environmental Information: Use and […]
Information Mobilization in the Science-Policy Interface for Integrated Coastal Management
A recent paper by Bremer and Glavovic (2013) reviews the practice and theory of the science-policy interface in integrated coastal management (ICM). They describe two interpretations of the science-policy interface: the science-based interface and the participatory interface. Advocates of the science-based interface see the inherent uncertainty in science as a lack of available information, warranting […]
Scientific Communication and the Problems of Scale
I love to solve puzzles. It has been a fascination of mine ever since I was a child, and my thoughts were and are consumed by new stratagem to resolve any puzzle placed before me. I am fortunate, I guess, that as time goes on, new and more challenging ones keep emerging. I came to […]
Does the global focus on Marine Protected Area (MPA) targets undermine long-term conservation objectives?
Elizabeth De Santo, a member of the EIUI research team, has published a paper in the Journal of Environmental Management titled “Missing marine protected area (MPA) targets: How the push for quantity over quality undermines sustainability and social justice.” The paper takes a critical look at the global trend towards designating enormous swaths of marine […]
Suzuette Soomai and François Bregha win awards at the 2013 Sustainable Oceans Conference
Suzuette Soomai and François Bregha, two research students in the EIUI research team, were named winners of awards for papers presented at the recent 2013 Sustainable Oceans Conference. Interdisciplinary PhD student, Suzuette Soomai, won the Building Bridges award for her paper on “Understanding the Science-Policy Interface: Measuring Use and Influence of Information in Policy-Making,” and […]
Grey Literature in the Marine Sciences: Recognizing Its Importance, Retaining It for Canadians
We have been pursuing research on awareness and use of marine scientific information, especially grey literature, at the science-policy interface for several years and have been focussing on the significance of enablers and barriers to information use. Lately, we have become increasingly concerned about recent federal government decisions to substantially reduce the number of government […]
EIUI Gives Presentation to Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment Working Group
Bertrum MacDonald and Peter Wells gave a presentation about the Environmental Information: Use and Influence research initiative to the Working Group of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment, which met in Halifax on 5 March 2013. The presentation outlined the recent history of the EIUI initiative and, in particular, research undertaken collaboratively […]