CaNOE’s 2nd Annual Ocean Literacy Conference & AGM was held from June 7 to 12 at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

As a part of Halifax’s popular ‘Oceans Week’, author and marine educator Dr. Elin Kelsey will give a free public keynote on ‘Ocean Optimism’, the year’s conference theme. The theme was threaded throughout the conference presentations, posters, discussions, and workshops. And many exciting field trips were offered which highlighted Nova Scotia’s ocean connections in food, research, tourism, and more.

Advancing ocean literacy is a priority for Canadians. This annual conference serves as an integral step in that mission; connecting the stakeholders in a meaningful way and fostering important conversation around this topic.

Program

The 2016 conference was 2.5 days long, excluding field trips. All presentations, posters, and workshops were held in the Kennth C. Rowe Building at Dalhousie Univeristy.

Annual General Meeting (AGM), June 11

An important part of this conference is CaNOE’s Annual General Meeting. Here we reviewed the goals, vision, and direction of CaNOE with the Board of Directors and General Members. We also voted in new Directors to the Board for the 2016-2017 year.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Elin Kelsey

Dr. Elin Kelsey is a leading spokesperson for hope and the environment. In 2014, she co-founded a social media campaign devoted to sharing ocean conservation successes. The hashtag OceanOptimism reached 50 million users in its first year.

Elin is the author of You Are Stardust, Not Your Typical Book About the Environment and other award-winning books for children and adults. Elin holds a Ph.D. in Science Communication and International Environmental Policy through King’s College London.

Currently, she is a Principal Research Fellow at James Cook University in Australia, and also holds an adjunct faculty position with the School of Sustainability at Royal Roads University in Canada where she has been teaching courses in environmental communication and environmental education at the graduate level for ten years.

This event was made possible with generous support from Ocean Networks Canada.

Thank you to our Conference Sponsors

Many thanks to our our host, Dalhousie University, and the Dean of Science’s Office for their support of this conference!

Special thanks to Kat Middelton for this year’s fantastic conference logo and conference program. Kat’s work can be seen on her website.