A donation from the Jarislowsky Foundation has created a research chair in Marine Ecosystem Forecasting in conjunction with the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) and Dalhousie University.
Dr. Derek Tittensor accepted the position in September 2019.
The $2-million Marine Ecosystems Chair gift is matched by Dalhousie University and the OFI.
“We are delighted that the Jarislowsky Foundation has made this position possible,” says Dr. Anya Waite, OFI Scientific Director. “Dr. Tittensor brings fresh energy and exciting new ideas to biodiversity research at Dalhousie, and contributes to the growing strength of the OFI in ocean science research that benefits society.”
“I had the honour of meeting Mr. Jarislowsky and I am very grateful for this fantastic opportunity to push the boundaries of ocean science and sustainability into the future’” says Dr. Tittensor. “Dalhousie and the OFI form a natural home for my work as extremely strong centres for marine biological research. I am delighted and I am also keen to share my knowledge and expertise with Dal students to help build a new generation of passionate marine scientists.”
He is studying how marine ecosystems will change over the coming century, and how we may be able to strengthen their resilience to human impacts. Some of the areas he will work on include marine protected areas and climate change, ecosystem tipping points, scenarios for marine futures, and the international trade in endangered wildlife.
The position will reside in Dalhousie’s Department of Biology and it will benefit from interaction with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, the National Research Council Laboratory, and the Ocean Supercluster.
“Dr. Tittensor’s research is already helping us generate an unprecedented understanding of our ocean,” says Dr. Alice Aiken, Vice President Research and Innovation at Dalhousie. “We are very proud to have a researcher of his calibre at Dalhousie, contributing to some of the most pressing ocean challenges of our time.”
