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Recent Submissions

Access status: Open Access ,
A TRIPARTITE ECOLOGY: RESEARCHER, COMMUNITY, AND THE BENTHOS IN RELATIONAL MARINE SCIENCE
(2026-03-18) Ortenzi, Kathryn; No; Doctor of Philosophy; Department of Biology; Received; Christopher Furgal; Yes; Heike Lotze; Aaron MacNeil; Megan Bailey; Jörn Schmidt
There is a growing movement for marine spatial planning and other environmental decision-making to be inclusive of Indigenous Knowledge and respectful of Indigenous values. While Indigenous Peoples and communities continue to develop and publish guidance on what ethical and equitable research engagement should look like, the goals and processes of ecological research remain largely grounded in Western intrinsic and instrumental values. Largely, the natural sciences have yet to incorporate relational research frameworks, even when the research itself takes place in Indigenous territories. The research written about here is grounded in Nunatsiavut, a land-claims region within Canada. Since 2005, Nunatsiavut has had the right to manage its own marine resources. A principal part of its marine plan is to manage the sea according to Labrador Inuit values that focus on wellbeing, conservation, long-term access to marine resources, and living in good relation to the sea. Benthic plants and animals contribute enormously to the marine ecosystem’s overall health. The purpose of this work is to map the benthos within the larger social-ecological system in Nunatsiavut, and in doing so, build a reflexive process to understand how to nurture the tripartite research relationships between researcher, the subject of study (the benthos), and the communities that rely on them. To do this, I investigate the relationships between all three actors within benthic research. I first conducted a literature review to understand how and if benthic researchers across Inuit Nunaat report upholding Inuit guidelines for ethical and equitable engagement. I then looked at the researcher-community relationship within Nunatsiavut to see how and if researchers upheld their obligations to data sovereignty. Finally, after establishing research relationships in Nunatsiavut, I mapped the spatial and non-spatial relationships between Nunatsiavut communities and the benthos. In undergoing this iterative process, this research shows how a relational research framework can lead to more equitable and ethical research – and how equitable and ethical research leads to research innovations. This research highlights new methodological processes for mapping the benthos, demonstrating how grounding benthic science in relationality keeps the relationships between the benthos and communities intact throughout the research process. In doing so, results remain contextualized through Labrador Inuit experiences and knowledge, and can be much more useful for long-term, sustainable, and equitable marine management.
Access status: Open Access ,
Centring Labrador Inuit Values in Arctic Char Management
(2025-12) Hobbs, Sarah
Arctic char (iKaluk / Salvelinus alpinus) is central to food sovereignty, livelihoods, and wellbeing across Inuit Nunangat. In Nunatsiavut, an Inuit self-governed territory in what is now Labrador, Canada, char is a cultural keystone species that supports both domestic and commercial fisheries. Despite this significance, consistent long-term federal monitoring and updated stock assessments have been absent, leading to what the federal government describes as a “knowledge gap” regarding sustainable and economically optimal harvest levels. However, this issue more accurately reflects a governance gap: data and knowledge about Arctic char are held locally and expressed through Inuit Knowledge Systems that do not align with federal management frameworks. This research seeks to identify the values underpinning the relationship between Nainimiut (individuals from the community of Nain, Nunatsiavut) and char to inform future monitoring and management in support of Inuit self-determination. Drawing on the Imappivut Knowledge Study, which identifies four guiding values: conservation, knowledge sharing, access, and well-being, this study employs these as a framework for analysis. Methods include a literature review examining how these values have been reflected in past monitoring efforts across Nunatsiavut, and interviews with community members in Nain. Findings indicate that these values have been inconsistently represented in the literature, while interview themes closely align with them. This demonstrates that the Imappivut framework is suitable for understanding Nainimiut relationships with char, and future research studies could seek to better represent these values in their approaches. Overall, this research highlights that understanding the values that underpin the fishery and ensuring their explicit consideration in research and management can support Inuit self-determination and align governance more closely with community priorities. Shifting management toward approaches grounded in the ecological, cultural and social relationships between char and Labrador Inuit offers a path toward more informed governance of these fisheries.
Access status: Open Access ,
Taking Care of Data: Advancing Research Sovereignty with the Nunatsiavut Government Research Centre
(2025-12) Khan, Suha
Self-determination is an Inuit right and can be acknowledged through just and equitable research procedures. With the increasing emphasis on collaborative marine research and management, individuals and institutions need to ensure that their long-term research processes align with community values. The Nunatsiavut Government Research Centre (NGRC) has identified a need for the implementation of culturally aligned protocols for data sharing, access, and storage to ensure long-term Inuit research sovereignty. This project explores how researchers undertaking the Imappivut marine spatial planning project’s Knowledge Study navigated the challenges and opportunities of advancing research sovereignty, and how their experiences can inform data governance frameworks that uphold Inuit rights and values. In doing so, it examines obstacles they faced and the strategies they developed to manage valuable data in ways that align with Inuit priorities. To address these questions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with past and present researchers involved in the Imappivut Knowledge Study. Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts identified security, access, sharing, and usage as central aspects of research sovereignty. These findings point to NGRC priorities, including culturally appropriate research practices and accountability to participants, while also highlighting broader considerations for the evolution of long-term projects. This work directly supports researchers employed by the Nunatsiavut Government, who are responsible for stewarding the Imappivut Knowledge Study. By developing methods rooted in Inuit laws, practices, and customs, this study aims not only to support Nunatsiavut’s governance of research data but also to offer lessons applicable to other Inuit communities pursuing marine research sovereignty.
Access status: Open Access ,
Financing the Development of the Blue Economy: Considerations for Blue Finance Engagement
(2025-12) Frost, Kate
The Blue Economy is the newest iteration of sustainable development. Originating from Small Island States, it serves as a model for ocean economic development grounded in themes of social equity and justice. To promote the development of a blue economy, non-traditional sources of private investments mixed with public investments are needed. These investment streams fall under Blue Finance; a relatively new term that incorporates the newly emerged financial mechanisms that are being used to develop the blue economy. Contrary to historical pathways of economic development, sustainable development models such as the green and blue economies have less straightforward trajectories. Applied to development in Small Island States, unique challenges emerge that traditional methods are ill equipped to solve, highlighting the need for new mechanisms. Novel financing instruments in blue finance are addressing these unique development needs, but they come with user risks that are not yet well defined, creating a need for a thorough analysis of these instruments. This project investigates literature on the potential user risks associated with emerging blue finance mechanism such as blue bonds and debt swaps and outlines a list of 15 questions for policy makers to ask if they are thinking about developing their blue economies using blue finance. These questions are not meant to provide a definitive method to approaching blue finance but should serve as a resource to help support informed decision making for the development of socially just, environmentally conscious, and economically prosperous ocean economies.
Access status: Open Access ,
Exploring Environmental Impacts of the Offshore Wind Energy Site Assessment Process in the French Bank Wind Energy Area
(2025-12) Giles, Macy
Canada and Nova Scotia are both committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 with a focus on pursuing renewable energy sources. Offshore wind energy development in the Canada-Nova Scotia offshore area presents an opportunity to advance renewable energy in the region due to the abundance of space, high velocity winds, and consistent availability of high-quality winds reaching speeds greater than 9 m/s. In order to establish a thriving industry that balances development with environmental protection, developers are responsible for undertaking detailed site assessments to assess metocean, geologic, biologic, and archaeologic conditions within their proposed project area. This project aims to address the need for environmental protection during the site assessment process by exploring environmental conditions in the French Bank Wind Energy Area through targeted literature reviews and assessing what the possible impacts of various surveys may be on the environment by developing risk matrices. Across identified methods used to assess metocean, geologic, biologic, and archaeologic conditions, common impacts on the marine environment included greenhouse gas emissions, collisions between vessels and wildlife, physical damage to the environment, marine noise, introduction of invasive species, and marine contaminants. It was found that with appropriate mitigative measures, the likelihood and severity of all common impacts can be reduced. As the industry develops, it will be essential to minimize greenhouse gas emissions, prioritize the wellbeing of wildlife, develop comprehensive prevention and response plans, and leave room for improvement and advancement to ensure sustainable site assessments.
Access status: Open Access ,
Building a Risk Assessment Framework for Dermo Disease (Perkinsus marinus) in Nova Scotian Oyster Farms
(2025-12) Leefe, Lauren
In Nova Scotia, oyster farming is a valuable industry, supporting local revenue and coastal livelihoods. However, the current and future sustainability of the oyster farming sector is threatened by the recent detection of Perkinsus marinus, the parasite responsible for causing dermo disease in eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica). Dermo disease can negatively affect growth and reproduction leading to an increase in oyster mortality, with temperature and salinity as key environmental drivers of P. marinus proliferation. This research examines the potential risk dermo disease poses to Nova Scotia’s current oyster farming operations. A parasite proliferation model for P. marinus was developed based on Ragone Calvo et al. (2001) and forced with local temperature and salinity data. Numerical experiments were conducted using a full factorial design, altering initial parasite load (IPL), parasite transmission (PT), the temperature threshold for parasite growth (PG(T)), the high and low temperature threshold for parasite mortality (PM (HT)) and (PM(LT)), respectively. A sensitivity analysis identified the most influential parameters of the model to be the initial parasite load (IPL) and the temperature threshold for parasite growth (PG(T)). Simulation results were interpreted under best- and worst-case scenarios. Sites along the North Shore of Nova Scotia exhibited higher parasite loads and increased mortality compared with sites along the Eastern and South Shores. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the contribution of local conditions influencing P. marinus dynamics and the need for continued research to minimize the potential risk that dermo disease poses to oyster aquaculture in Atlantic Canada.