We lead and support research projects that advance the management, long-term sustainability, growth, and resilience of Nova Scotia’s marine coastal resources.
Our diverse team of scientists and specialists conduct research and participate in science advisory work to improve the management and development of ecologically and economically valuable marine resources. We promote innovation and science-based decision-making by collecting and analyzing biophysical and socio-economic data.
The Centre for Marine Applied Research (CMAR) was established in 2019 and operates as an independent division of Perennia Food and Agriculture Corporation, a provincial Crown Corporation.
Meet the people behind our work.
Gregor has championed the development and growth of CMAR.
He has almost three decades of experience in aquaculture sustainability and environmental research, working with both freshwater and marine systems.
Gregor is an Adjunct Professor at the University of New Brunswick and an Adjunct Scholar at Dalhousie University. He has served as the acting Manager of Aquaculture Operations for the province of Nova Scotia.
Leah assumed the role of Research Manager in 2019 and oversees the day-to-day management of projects, reports to funders and stakeholders, and is responsible for meeting budgets and timelines.
Leah has worked in Nova Scotia’s aquaculture industry for over 15 years. She has led research and development projects, managed an environmental monitoring laboratory, and was the divisional manager for Atlantic Canada’s largest environmental monitoring company serving the aquaculture industry.
Leah holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Biology from Dalhousie University. Leah is also an ECO Canada certified Environmental Professional (EP) with Education and Training, Research and Development, Environmental Manager, and Sustainability specializations.
Laila creates maps to support research projects and has developed a marine resource mapping tool to support the sustainability of Nova Scotia’s coastal resources.
Laila has extensive experience in planning, project management, real estate, and GIS management. She led the development, implementation, and operation of the Halifax International Airport GIS and CAD Program where she supervised site suitability analysis for airport infrastructure and maintained GIS web applications.
Laila holds a M.Sc. in Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) from BUET and M.Sc. in Geography, Urban and Environmental Studies from Concordia University.
Margo supports marketing, communications and stakeholder relations for marine coastal resource projects in the province.
Margo has developed successful marketing, communications, and engagement strategies for public and private sector organizations in her 20-year career. She has held senior marketing and communications roles in the ocean tech, natural health, telecommunications, and energy sectors.
Margo holds a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science (Earth Sciences) degree from Dalhousie University.
Danielle applies multivariate statistics to draw insights into ecological relationships and develop advice for ocean stakeholders.
Danielle is an enthusiastic R user who enjoys writing code to automate repetitive tasks and improve workflow efficiency. She develops and maintains the “CMAR-verse” R packages used to process CMAR’s Coastal Monitoring Program data. These packages facilitate compiling, formatting, visualizing, quality control, and sharing this valuable data and can be installed from GitHub.
Danielle completed her Ph.D. at Dalhousie University, where she identified key pressures on marine ecosystems to inform ecosystem-based fisheries management.
Jenny works on sustainable aquaculture, with a focus on marine spatial planning and marine management. She is currently involved in leading the development of a decision-support tool to identify the suitability of coastal waters in Nova Scotia for finfish aquaculture.
Jenny’s research interests include exploring tools and strategies for holistic decision-making of marine social-ecological systems. Her research applies an interdisciplinary lens to investigate complex management challenges facing aquaculture using mixed methods from the natural and social sciences. Working at the intersection of science and policy, she is passionate about knowledge mobilization and exploring ways to integrate biophysical, ecological, and socio-economic considerations for sustainable aquaculture.
Jenny completed her interdisciplinary Ph.D. at Dalhousie University, where she identified key challenges and opportunities for applying carrying capacity tools and approaches to inform ecosystem-based aquaculture management.
Khalil is a Research Scientist at the CMAR, and his main fields of interest are aquatic animal health and sustainable aquaculture. Khalil completed his Ph.D. at Memorial University, where he used genomics approaches to study Atlantic cod and Atlantic salmon immune responses and developed molecular tools for monitoring fish health and defense responses. As a postdoctoral fellow at Memorial University and Atlantic Veterinary College, Khalil led several research on the identification of genes and pathways involved in the Atlantic salmon response and resistance to pathogens causing significant losses in Canada’s aquaculture. He also developed projects on managing fish health through sustainable means.
Ryan is a bilingual marine biology researcher with over ten years of experience developing and implementing complex research projects with lab and field-based components in Canada and internationally.
Ryan’s current research interests are sustainable aquaculture development and the American lobster (Homarus americanus) fishery in Atlantic Canada. In addition to research projects, Ryan provides evidence-informed science advice to partners, clients, and stakeholders.
Ryan holds a B.Sc. in Marine Biology & Oceanography from Dalhousie University and a Ph.D. in Pathobiology from the University of Guelph.
Anne has almost a decade of experience in the fields of aquaculture and benthic environment research. During this time, she has specialized in spatial statistics, coastal fieldwork, and project management, and has developed a broad set of skills applicable to marine applied research.
Anne earned a BSc. (Env.) degree from the University of Guelph which focused on ecology and statistics, and then a MSc. in Biological Oceanography from Dalhousie University. Her graduate research was on habitat mapping of the American lobster for use in marine spatial planning, particularly with regard to the spatial intersection of the lobster fishery and the salmon aquaculture industry.
Currently, the bulk of Anne’s work at CMAR is in collecting and analysing primary production data for a project that models the aquaculture carrying capacity of bays in Nova Scotia.
Kiersten works as a Research Manager for a variety of ongoing projects at CMAR. She has experience working in the aquaculture industry in environmental monitoring and aquaculture research.
Kiersten holds a M.Sc. in Biology from Memorial University of Newfoundland and is certified as a designated Environmental Professional (EP) with Education and Training specialty by ECO Canada.
As the Coastal Monitoring Program Coordinator, Nicole works alongside CMAR’s contracted field team to coordinate the ongoing Coastal Monitoring Program (CMP) fieldwork. She is also involved with processing CMP data using CMAR-developed R code and improving the data governance processes for the program. Nicole takes every opportunity she can to get out in the field to support various research initiatives.
Nicole graduated in 2021 from Dalhousie University with a double major in Environmental Science and Environment, Sustainability and Society (ESS) with a certificate in Environmental Impact Assessment. Her Honours thesis research focused on understanding the opportunities for the use of a GIS-based site selection and spatial modeling tool to inform aquaculture development in Nova Scotia.
As a Research Assistant, Therese is involved in a variety of ongoing research, although she primarily supports the development of the Coastal Classification System for aquaculture site suitability.
Therese earned a B.Sc. with honours in Ocean Sciences and a minor in Biology from Dalhousie University, where she also received the 2022 University Medal in Ocean Sciences. Her honours research focused on evaluating the environmental impact of marine aquaculture in a naturally anoxic environment. Therese recently completed her Master of Marine Management at Dalhousie. Her graduate research employed a multi-methods approach to investigate the role of aesthetic values in the sustainable management and planning for marine social-ecological systems, with Nova Scotia as a case study.
As a Research Assistant, James works with data exploration, management, and interpretation to ensure data integrity and usability in support of the Aquaculture Development Area (ADA) in Argyle, Nova Scotia and the Coastal Classification System. He is currently completing an M.Sc. in Oceanography from Dalhousie University, which focused on the phenology of oyster larvae on Nova Scotia’s North Shore and developed a practical method to predict ‘spat-fall’. James is committed to advancing scientific research for the benefit of Nova Scotians and Atlantic Canadians.
Debora has over a decade of experience in scientific research on benthic environments (biodiversity and ecology), with a focus on crustaceans. She has expertise in the development of technical reports, scientific papers, scientific and outreach projects, laboratory management and, coastal and offshore fieldwork.
She currently works in areas of Climate Change with an emphasis on risks to the provincial fisheries and aquaculture sectors.
Debora earned a BSc. in Biological Science, and an MSc. and PhD. in Oceanography at the Federal University of Pernambuco. She recently completed a Certificate in Oceans Technology from NSCC.
We work in collaboration with industry, academia, associations, communities, government agencies, and stakeholder groups that utilize and support Nova Scotia’s coastal marine resources.
