This talk is part of the ALLways Learning Series, which invites ALL members and members of our local community to join us for a free, casual lecture each Friday during the academic year (formerly Lunchtime Learning Series).

Abstract: Estuaries — the interface between fresh waters and the ocean — are surprisingly poorly studied and understood. Reasons are not difficult to find: estuaries are far more varied individually than lakes, rivers and oceans and they are often severely degraded by human presence and activity (~ 60% of the world’s population lives near an estuary or neighbouring coastline and 22 of the 32 largest cities in the world are located on estuaries). Like many small universities, Acadia has often been recognised for ‘punching above its weight’ in terms of its research activities. When Acadia established the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research (ACER) it was essentially the first centre in Canada to take estuarine waters as its focus. The stimulus was the significant lack of information about the Upper Bay of Fundy where tidal power development was being considered. Subsequently, the work of ACER led to collaborative and imitative projects in the UK, Italy, Argentina, Uruguay and elsewhere. Over the last 40 years ACER has established a reputation for comprehensive, collaborative and innovative research into estuarine processes, including promotion of citizen science and local environmental management.

Biography: Graham Daborn taught Biology at Acadia from 1973-2004, and intermittently to 2023. He was Director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research (ACER) from its creation in 1985 to 2004, Acting Dean of Science (1995-6), and initial Director of the Arthur Irving Institute for the Environment. Research has focussed on the natural history of the Bay of Fundy, the effects of tidal power developments, and the prospects for community-based environmental management.