MPs visit St. John's campus to discuss marine biodiversity
NDP MPs Ryan Cleary and Jack Harris came to Memorial last month to meet with researchers involved with the Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (CHONe, pronounced Ko-nee). Launched in 2008, CHONe is a Canadian research network funded by NSERC that looks at marine biodiversity in Canada’s three oceans. CHONe’s goals are scientific but the network also tries to better link science and policy, in part by transferring scientists’ knowledge and concerns to the government. Ministers Cleary and Harris visited the St. John’s campus to learn about CHONe scientists’ research, findings and concerns.
While on campus, the MPs met with members of the Geography department. They toured Rodolphe Devillers’ Marine Geomatics Research Lab and met with Melinda Agapito, a PhD student in Geography, to discuss planning of Marine Protected Areas in the Newfoundland and Labrador region. They also visited Evan Edinger’s lab, where they met with PhD student Barbara de Moura Neves to discuss the importance of deep-sea coral and sponge protection in our region and on the west coast of Canada.
Photo (left to right): Jack Harris, Rodolphe Devillers, Melinda Agapito, Ryan Cleary