2022-05-13 | PT | Online

Co-designing applied ocean models to support community decision making in the NE Pacific

Ocean Networks Canada and the Tula Foundation's Ocean Decade Collaborative Center for the Northeast Pacific co-hosted an online event May 13, 2022 which explored the role, value and utility of Digital Twins of the ocean for communities—for aquaculture management, climate-change planning, mitigation of marine hazards (hypoxia, HAB events, tsunamis, storm surge, sea level rise, among others ), and maritime safety. 

The event, Co-designing applied ocean models to support community decision making in the NE Pacific, brought together over 80 representatives from research institutions, coastal and Indigenous communities, industry, and government agencies from British Columbia, Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California.

Participants and panelists discussed the need to engage coastal communities in the design, planning, and implementation of ocean and coastal models, for community members to develop trust in scientific modeling, and some of the ways in which they have built trust in the communities in which they work, as well as the need for scientists to be transparent about the predictive capacities of the models they create. There was also discussion about the need for capacity building tools to help communities, early-career ocean professionals (ECOPs) and others interested in making use of oceanographic data to support decision-making to understand the data and models currently available and accessible through a variety of portals. The Tula Foundation’s Decade Collaborative Center for the NE Pacific will explore the potential for developing tools and programs in the NE pacific region, to support ongoing exchange and education.

Panelists:

• Dr. Jan Newton, Executive Director, NANOOS

• Shaun Koopman, Protective Services Coordinator, Strathcona Regional District

• Dr. Lynn Lee and Vanessa Bellis, X̱aayda Gwaay.yaay Ḵuugaay Gwii Sdiihltl’lx̱a The Sea Otters Return to Haida Gwaii

• Dr Henry Ruhl, Director, CeNCOOS
  

Date: May 13, 2022
Location: Online Event
Convenor: Ocean Networks Canada, Ocean Decade Collaborative Center for the Northeast Pacific

This virtual satellite event was associated with the G7-sponsored International Digital Twins of the Ocean Summit, taking place May 4-5 2022 in London, UK. In conjunction with this summit, an endorsed activity under the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, locally-relevant satellite events are being held, to explore and share the role, value and utility of Digital Twins of the ocean.