Transforming
climate action
An ocean-first approach

Taking action

The ocean protects us against the worst impacts of climate change. But emerging science shows its ability to absorb carbon and regulate temperatures is changing in ways we don’t understand. It’s a risk we can no longer afford to take.
Support from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund is empowering Dalhousie University to bring together researchers from Université du Québec à Rimouski, Université Laval and Memorial University to:
Reduce international uncertainty about ocean carbon sequestration.
Make Canada a global leader in the mitigation of carbon emissions.
Create just and equitable adaptation policies and tools.

Meet the researchers

Meet the Dalhousie scholars and their research partners set to embark on the most intensive investigation into the ocean’s role in climate change ever undertaken.
Anya Waite

The world’s most impactful ocean research team

Anya Waite

Associate Vice President Research (Ocean) and Scientific Director and CEO of the Ocean Frontier Institute, Dalhousie University
"
The Transforming Climate Action program brings together more than 170 researchers spanning academic disciplines, provinces, and languages. With the support of more than 40 national and international private and public sector partners and deep institutional connections with Indigenous peoples and communities in Atlantic Canada and Quebec we are uniquely prepared to bring a collective approach to climate action.
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A Deep Dive with Anya Waite

Dr. Waite sits with Dalhousie President Deep Saini to discuss how the research team will help tackle climate change with support from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.

Reducing uncertainty

Rachel Chang

Global leadership at the ocean-climate nexus

Rachel Chang

Canada Research Chair in Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University
"
We need to understand how energy, gases and particles are exchanged between the atmosphere and the ocean. It’s not a simple process and it can go in both directions. There are layers on top of the ocean that prevent gases from absorbing, there are waves, there are storms, there is sea spray, they can all have an impact. And the ultimate question is, how do they affect climate?
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Ruth Musgrave

New currents of Arctic water spark concern

Jean-Éric Tremblay

Director of Quebec’s Northern Research Institute, Université Laval
"
The profound, climate-driven transformation of the Arctic can radically alter CO2 balance in downstream oceanic regions. It is crucial to understand how changing deliveries of meltwater, nutrients and organic matter in the western North Atlantic impact carbon fluxes regionally and globally.
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Philippe Archambult

A sea change on the seafloor

Philippe Archambault

Director of the Laboratoire de biodiversité benthique et aquatique (Biome), Université Laval
"
Changes in the export of organic matter to the seafloor due to global changes will impact food webs and benthic ecosystems where 98 per cent of the ocean's biodiversity can be found. The seafloor is the largest habitat on the planet, and benthic organisms play a key role in global carbon budgets.
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Mitigation

Ruth Musgrave

Enhancing the ocean’s ability to thwart climate change

Ruth Musgrave

Canada Research Chair in Physical Oceanography, Dalhousie University
"
There is a strong argument for looking at the ocean for carbon dioxide removal. Its capacity is enormous and, because the processes may correct the acidification of the ocean that we’ve already caused, there is cautious optimism. But we need to fully understand the implications and impacts before we move forward.
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Ruth Musgrave

Ocean-based carbon removal an essential

Baiyu (Helen) Zhang

Canada Research Chair in Coastal Environmental Engineering, Memorial University
"
Climate change has been changing weather patterns, disrupting the normal balance of our nature and posing many risks to human beings and all other forms of life on Earth. Conducting ocean-based carbon dioxide removal thus becomes essential to our communities and all Canadians.
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Hugh MacIntyre

Ensuring the science is safe

Hugh MacIntyre

Professor, Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University
"
There is a massive amount of literature on acidifying the ocean, and its damaging impact. But there is a surprisingly small amount of literature on raising pH with alkaline substances and its effect on phytoplankton growth. We want to know if they can accommodate a rise in pH, or will they actually be harmed by it.
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Kelly Hawboldt

Realistic solutions to mitigate big impacts

Kelly Hawboldt

University Research Professor, Department of Process Engineering, Memorial University
"
The coastal communities that make their livelihood off the ocean feel the impacts of climate change every day. This project can not only mitigate these impacts but also result in an overall healthier ocean.
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Adaptation

Kiran Banerjee

Climate-migration an opportunity for Canadian leadership

Kiran Banerjee

Canada Research Chair in Forced Migration Governance and Refugee Protection, Dalhousie University
"
We’ve made no progress dealing with the climate-induced migration that promises to displace people at a scale of magnitude that far exceeds anything we have seen before. Future challenges require a better understanding of the changes taking place in the climate and ocean so the global community can respond.
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Ruth Musgrave

Empowering a new generation to take environmental action

Geneviève Therriault

Desjardins Research Chair in Environmental Education and Sustainable Development, L'Université du Québec à Rimouski
"
There is an urgent need for empirical research across the country to better understand the perspectives, needs and concerns of young citizens and teachers on climate-ocean interface issues and for these to be truly part of the solution.
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Kate Sherren

Making space for the ocean

Kate Sherren

Professor, School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University
"
We need to be coastal in a different way. We have to make some tough decisions together about where we can defend, where we should defend, and where we should actually pull back and leave space for ocean dynamism.
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Fanny Noisette

Linking different forms of knowledge

Fanny Noisette

UNESCO Chair in Integrated Analysis of Marine Systems, ISMER-UQAR
"
Climate change, with its biophysical, social, economic and political impacts, is no longer to be considered only as a technical problem. It is also an issue requiring adaptive and creative responses and strategies that involve consideration of different forms of knowledge and the cultural dimension of societies.
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Transforming Climate Action

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Media release: April 28, 2023