Dalhousie University
Canada First Research Excellence
Fund 2022 candidate
Transforming
climate action
Canada’s net-zero carbon emissions goals are urgent and ambitious, but emerging science shows they could be derailed by unpredicted changes in Earth’s largest carbon sink – the ocean.

Taking action

Support from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) would empower Dalhousie University to bring together researchers from Université du Québec à Rimouski, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and Université Laval 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 research team

Meet the scholars and their partners from industry and organizations driving the science and innovation behind Dalhousie and its partners’ CFREF application.

Making climate goals count

Anya Waite

Associate Vice President Research (Ocean) and Scientific Director and CEO of the Ocean Frontier Institute, Dalhousie University

The lead of Dalhousie and its partners' CFREF application, Dr. Anya Waite is urgently working to draw the international community’s attention to the risk of omitting the ocean from climate targets.

Watch this interview with Dr. Waite on how the Transforming Climate Action research team plans to address the missing ocean.

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

Investigating the interplay between ocean, earth and atmosphere

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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Mitigating carbon

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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Adapting equitably

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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