Today, thousands of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), large and small, are found in decision making settings globally. Why are they active in these contexts? Do they fulfill particular roles? Do they affect how information is shaped and used by decision makers? Do they succeed in influencing policy development? Although NGOs have existed for many years, to […]
A first for Canada’s “Ocean City,” the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM) held its 22nd Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals at the World Trade and Convention Centre (WTCC) in downtown Halifax. Across from the Grand Parade square at City Hall, the conference packed the WTCC and the adjacent ScotiaBank Centre with all […]
Suzuette Soomai, Postdoctoral Fellow with the Environmental Information: Use and Influence research program, attended the 9th Canadian Science Policy Conference (CSPC) in Ottawa, 1-3 November 2017. Suzuette participated in a panel, “Science for Decision-Making at Fisheries and Oceans Canada: The Past, Present, and Future,” organized by the Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). The […]
The Environmental Information: Use and Influence research program is featured in the latest issue of Marine Ecosystems and Management (MEAM) in an article titled “Get Your Research off the Shelf and Into Policy: Writing Reports and Briefs that Influence Decision Making.” Written in the form of an interview, this brief article outlines the research agenda […]
Suzuette Soomai, Postdoctoral Fellow with the EIUI research program, will participate in a panel organized by the Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) at the 2017 Canadian Science Policy Conference (CSPC), 1-3 November 2017, in Ottawa. The panel, “Science for Decision-Making at Fisheries and Oceans Canada: The Past, Present, and Future,” will discuss the […]
Collaboration, communication, and creativity – the 2017 Sustainable Oceans Conference encouraged participants to consider these three perspectives when addressing today’s coastal and ocean management challenges. This conference, held in Halifax on 22-23 September 2017, provided six members of the EIUI research program with an opportunity to report about current and ongoing research initiatives. Now in […]
Suzuette Soomai, Postdoctoral Fellow with the Environmental Information: Use and Influence research program, attended the 39th annual meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), 18-22 September 2017 in Montréal, Canada. Over 180 delegates from 11 of the 12 NAFO Contracting Parties attended the meeting. The participants were welcomed to the meeting and to Canada […]
“Current Literature” is a recurring feature highlighting recent publications of interest on the science-policy interface. One of the common ways people find and access information is through search engines like Google and Bing. While search engines can be useful tools and definitely aid users in locating information, the way they are structured can pose challenges […]
“Current Literature” is a recurring feature highlighting recent publications of interest on the science-policy interface. Despite the fact that Canada has had a formal environmental assessment (EA) process since the 1970s, it remains highly criticized by academics and practitioners alike (MacKinnon, 2017). Currently, the federal government is undertaking a review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment […]
As noted in Part I, along with 11 other Canadian graduate students, I was given the opportunity to attend the second science-policy workshop Science Outside the Lab North (SOtL) in Ottawa and Montreal, earlier this spring. In this post, I outline some of the key themes of the workshop. Not surprisingly, with such a diverse […]