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United Nations University
Institute for Water, Environment and Health
(UNU-INWEH)
175 Longwood Road South, Suite 204, Hamilton Ontario L8P 0A1 CANADA
Phone: +1 (905) 667-5511
Fax: +1 (905) 667-5510
Email: contact@inweh.unu.edu
Coastal Ecosystems
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Managing Coasts in a Changing World
Seminar series
Coastal ecosystems are severely stressed in many parts of the world as a result of overpopulation, intense coastal development, spiralling resource use, pollution, and the spread of invasive species. Climate change is expected to exacerbate these stressors and may be one of the most important challenges facing the world in the 21st century. The Coastal Ecosystems Programme of UNU-INWEH is hosting a series of seminars given by experts based in southern Ontario on topics relating to coastal environmental science and management in the face of climate change.
Stay tuned - this seminar series will resume in Fall 2013 |
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| Past Seminars | ||
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Marine toxins, seafood safety & ecosystem health: Sato Umi in action
Dr. Charles Trick is the Beryl Ivey Chair for Ecosystem Health at Western University, Canada. a position that emphasizes the merging of science, health/medicine, social and psychological aspects of environmental programs. In this talk, he illustrates the success and failures of merging the science of harmful algal bloom species (HABs) with the needs of community and the decisions of governments in Guatemala, Indonesia and the Cook Islands.
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Preparing coastal communities of Atlantic Canada: challenges of preserving natural & sociocultural elements
Prof. Liette Vasseur is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Brock University and a Minjian Scholar at the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, in Fuzhou, China. Atlantic Canada has been touched in the past decade by increasing numbers of storms which have shown the fragility of this coastal ecosystem. All climate scenarios for this region predict sea level rise, continuous coastal erosion, and increasing frequency in storm surges. The impacts are important for the natural and human components of this ecosystem. In this talk Liette Vasseur will describe some of the actions that have been taken to examine the potential impacts of these predictions as well as the steps and activities being taken right now to try to adapt and improve resilience of these communities.
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The global ocean in crisis
Award-winning Canadian journalist and author, Alanna Mitchell talks about her book: Sea Sick, released in 2009. Sea Sick is the first book to examine the current state of the world's oceans, and the great unexamined ecological crisis of the planet: the fact that we are altering everything about the oceans, from their temperature, salinity, and acidity, to the life within them. Alanna Mitchell will share how she joined the crews of leading scientists in nine of the global ocean’s hotspots to see firsthand what is really happening around the world. She will talk about the impact of coral reef bleaching, the puzzle of the oxygen-less dead zones such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico, and the devastating implications of the changing PH balance of the sea.
This was a joint event between UNU-INWEH, OPRIG and McMaster University.
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A global environmental crisis: the fate of coral reefs and our oceans
Dr. Peter F. Sale, Assistant Director, UNU-INWEH, Peter is a marine ecologist with over 40 years experience in tropical coastal ecosystems, particularly coral reefs. His work has focused primarily on reef fish ecology and he has successfully used his fundamental science research to develop and guide projects in international development and sustainable coastal marine management in the Caribbean and the Indo-Pacific.
Please join Peter, author of 'Our Dying Planet. An ecologist’s view of the crisis we face' for a book signing and seminar titled 'A global environmental crisis: the fate of coral reefs and our oceans'.
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Using science to inform policy in coastal wetland protection: is that enough?
Dr. Pat Chow-Fraser conducts research on the ecology, conservation and restoration of coastal wetlands and associated streams. Over the past 20 years, she and her students have sampled ~300 wetlands in the Great Lakes basin and have published on the use of models to predict effects of water level, invasive species, and human activities on marsh vegetation and fish habitat in Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Her research efforts have contributed to assisting managers and concerned citizen groups to manage wetland and stream habitats more effectively.
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Persistent contaminants in marine mammals: trends and patterns in a changing world
Dr. Chris Metcalfe has been a Professor at Trent University for over 20 years, and has a wide range of experience in determining the environmental fate and effects of contaminants of emerging interest. He has evaluated the distribution of contaminants in water, soils, sediments, effluents, fish, birds and marine mammals, and has also used in vivo and in vitro techniques to evaluate the biological and toxicological effects of contaminants on fish and amphibians. Dr. Metcalfe also has extensive experience in water quality issues in countries with emerging and developing economies, including Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, Cuba and Indonesia.
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Island tourism and impacts on coastal areas: a case study of Thailand |
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Dr. Rachel Dodds, a dynamic, self starter with over 20 years international experience across a wide spectrum of the tourism industry. Rachel has worked with hotels, large and small tour operators, ecotourism planners, sustainable tourism management and marketing projects, international development banks, landscape and park planning firms, governments, NGO's, marketing organizations and hospitality and tourism attractions.
Rachel is currently the Director of Sustaining Tourism - a boutique consulting firm. She is also an Associate Professor at Ryerson University in Canada where she joined the Ted Rogers School of Tourism & Hospitality Management in 2006.
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