Ports Modernization: Balancing Economic Prosperity and Environmental Sustainability

Michelle Adams is the Interim Director and Associate Professor with the School for Resource and Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University, and a Research Fellow at the Verschuren Centre for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment. Dr. Adams is a professional engineer and former naval officer who holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Dalhousie University. Her scholarly research focuses on industrial ecology, energy policy and sustainability strategies for business and industrial operations. She also has a long history of applied research in an “outward-facing” context, with the primary objective of addressing socio-economic and policy barriers linked to the integration of resource efficiency and sustainable technology into industrial operations

Michelle Adams Thinks Policy Matters
"To me, policy matters because it gives shape to three key aspects of the conversation we have as a society. It both influences and reflects what we are talking about, the types of issues we - as a society - have deemed worthy of discussion. It influences how we talk about it, what is the big picture, where are we and where would we like to get to. And finally, it influences what gets done – it signals our intentions and gives guidance for acting on those intentions to get the outcomes we want."

Dr. Mary R. Brooks is Professor Emerita at Dalhousie University’s Rowe School of Business and a founding editor of Research in Transportation Business & Management. In 2016, she was appointed Chair of the Marine Board of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. She recently chaired the Council of Canadian Academies’ assessment of The Value of Commercial Marine Shipping to Canada. Her research focuses on competition policy in liner shipping, port strategic management and short sea shipping. She has authored and published more than 25 books and technical reports, more than 25 book chapters, and more than 80 articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. She is a co-winner of the 2018 Onassis Prize in Shipping.

Mary Brooks Thinks Policy Matters
"Businesses look to government to set the rules of engagement for all companies conducting business in Canada, and formulate their competitive strategies accordingly. Citizens see policy as directly influencing the lifestyle they will have in future. Without principled policy development by government, Cowboy Capitalism can emerge. In the transportation sector, sound, reasoned and informed policy, based on evidence not ‘tweets’, will drive infrastructure investment that helps the nation’s businesses succeed while citizens’ desires for a safe, secure and environmentally-clean future without wealth destruction are met."

Commenced his Deep-Sea going career in 1983 working on board a product carrier for Shell Canada in the Canadian Arctic and subsequently spent time working in the Beaufort Sea and off the west coast of Greenland. The majority of his sea experience involved global trade with multinational officers and crews.  He has sailed on numerous ship types including: Very Large Crude Carriers, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Carriers, Product Carriers, General Cargo, Container, Seismic, Gaff Rigged Schooners, and Cruise ships. Since 1997 he has been teaching at the Fisheries and Marine Institute (MI) of Memorial University and has been involved in the development and delivery of Oil Tanker, FPSO and MODU training courses and programs for various global clients; lectured in Maritime Economics & Policy, Celestial Navigation, and Cargo Operations to graduating students in the Nautical Science program; instructed in marine simulation for Ballast & Cargo Operations on Oil Rigs and Oil Tankers for various global clients; acted as Team Leader in the development and administration of Emergency Management Training for the Newfoundland Offshore Industry. Since 2010 he has been the Academic Director for the Master of Maritime Management graduate programme at MI. Since 2004 he has been the owner of Global Marine Solutions Inc., a consulting company based in St. John’s. He holds a Master Mariner Foreign Going license, Diploma of Technology in Nautical Science, Certificate in Vessel Chartering and Brokerage, Bachelors Degree in Maritime Studies, Bachelors Degree in Post-Secondary Education, Masters Degree in Logistics, Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional designations in Marine Insurance and Risk Management, Canadian Risk Manager designation, a PhD in Marine Transportation Economics and a Masters Certificate in Project Management. He is a member of the Executive Council for the Canadian Network of Expertise for Transportation in Arctic Waters, a member of the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada, an Associate Fellow of the Nautical Institute and representative at IMO, and Canada’s civilian expert to NATO’s Transport Group Ocean Shipping. He is also an active volunteer and Chairman for the Foundation of the Company of Master Mariners of Canada.

Jim Parsons Thinks Policy Matters
"Public policy, approached as a process, is critical to the belief that any policy decision should maximize public utility with minimal drain on society's limited resources. Owing in part to often complex factor interactions, it is logical that the policy process must undoubtedly involve the clarification of goals, exhaustive evaluation of the situation, identification and selection of a course of action, and determination of optimum execution. The process provides for the conceptualization of beliefs, ideas and challenges to be brought forward for solutions."

Tony is an Assistant Professor at the School for Resource and Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University. He has over 25 years of research and consulting experience in resource and environmental management. Tony previously worked in industry for a decade as an environmental consultant, specializing in monitoring and management of contaminants in marine and terrestrial ecosystems. He did his PhD at the University of Nottingham, UK studying terrestrial pollution in the Russian Arctic arising from resource extractive industries. One of Tony's recent research interests has focused on improving management, sustainability and policy related to environmental impacts and marine transportation.

Tony Walker Thinks Policy Matters
"There is a plethora of empirical evidence to suggest that environmental impacts of marine transportation is occurring on a global scale. However, large gaps remain between understanding the extent of these impacts and mitigating them via national of internal policies. Therefore, better integration of environmental data into effective policy is imperative."