All Research

Gary Drouillard

Gary Drouillard is a proud member of the Cowichan Tribes and a lifelong subsistence fisherman and hunter. He shares a deep connection with his territory and the nature that grows and thrives on it. He is passionate about marine conservation and possesses a wealth of knowledge about the effects of marine shipping on his band’s territory.

Gary Drouillard is currently working as an Operations Coordinator for the Lyackson First Nation. He is also very involved in his community, where he sits on the Cowichan Tribes Community Fisheries Board, the Cowichan Bay Fisherman’s Wharf Board, and the Cowichan Tribes Community Land Use Committee.

Martin Forêt, Ph. D.

Martin Forêt holds a Ph. D. in oceanography from the University of Quebec in Rimouski and a Ph. D. in marine ecology from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. In 2020, he joined Technopole maritime du Québec’s maritime transport innovation network MeRLIN as the Program Coordinator.

In his roles, Martin Forêt works to improve access to research and development expertise to facilitate the implementation of innovative solutions addressing the many challenges the marine shipping industry stakeholders are facing. MeRLIN supports Quebec’s maritime industry in the definition of its research needs while encouraging collaborative, solution-oriented work around common issues, and promoting the development of long-term planning tools. Prior to joining MeRLIN, Martin Forêt worked for various organizations in the aquaculture, fundamental and applied research, and education sectors, in France and Canada.

Captain Philip McCarter

Captain Philip is the Associate Dean of the Marine Campus at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He has more than 30 years of experience in the marine shipping industry, where he worked within the public, private and education sectors.

After receiving his Bachelor of Science in Marine Zoology from the University of British Columbia, Captain McCarter enrolled in the Canadian Coast Guard College and worked his way up from cadet to master. Over 10 years, he worked on icebreakers, search and rescue vessels and was part of the team to lay fibre optic cable across the Atlantic. He was also involved in the recovery efforts following the1985 Air India plane crash.

After achieving his Master Mariner’s Certificate of Competency, Captain McCarter came ashore in Newfoundland, where he taught at the Marine Institute and attended Cardiff University for his Master’s in Marine Law. He then spent twelve years working in the private sector as a Shipping Safety Manager, and five years with BC Ferries as a Senior Manager for Bridge Simulator Operational Training. Captain McCarter recently joined the British Columbia Institute of Technology as Associate Dean of the Marine Campus.

Captain Ivan Oxford, MM

Captain Oxford is a Senior Master at Transport Desgagnés, a Director at the Nautical Institute-BC Branch as well as a part-time Instructor at the Camosun College. He is an experienced shipmaster, ice navigator, and educator. He graduated from Memorial University’s School of Maritime Studies and is a Master Mariner with over 35 years of experience at sea on commercial and government vessels engaged in near-coastal and foreign trade. Captain Oxford taught at Camosun College’s Nautical Department from 1999 to 2014, returned to sea, and is currently serving as Shipmaster and Ice Navigator on commercial heavy-lift vessels engaged in Arctic operations. He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Nautical Professional Education Society of Canada.

Sonia Simard, LLB

Sonia Simard, LLB, has more than fifteen years of experience as an advocate for sustainable maritime transportation. Throughout her career, she practiced law within the non-profit, public, and private sectors, in both English and French. Most recently, she was Director, Legislative and Environmental Affairs for the Shipping Federation of Canada, and prior to this, held positions at Fednav Ltd, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. Ms. Simard received her law degree from the University of Ottawa and her Masters of Law degree from the School of Law of the University of Washington. She’s also a graduate in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.

Francis Wiese, Ph. D.

Francis Wiese is the Technical Leader for Marine Science at Stantec Consulting. He joined Stantec in 2013 after serving as the Science Director for the North Pacific Research Board in Alaska. In that position, he designed, implemented, and managed large multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional marine ecosystems programs in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska, and set annual research priorities. Since 2011, he has served on the Chukchi-Beaufort Ecosystem Collaboration Team of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee and been a lead-author on a conceptual ecosystem model document for the US Arctic.

Dr. Wiese has worked for and with academia, government, non-profits, and industry, and acted as a reviewer for over 20 international journals and has served on a variety of national and internal science panels and working groups. He has provided expert testimony for oil pollution-related issues in Canada and the United States. Dr. Wiese enjoys thinking outside the box and taking new, inter-disciplinary approaches to tackle old and current issues that require good science.