2021 Keynote Speakers
Tim Masso
Tim Masso is an accomplished public speaker in English and Nuu-chah-nulth—something few can say. At 18, he stands tall in his fourth year of an undergraduate degree program at the University of Victoria, focused on the revitalization and learning of Indigenous languages.
As a young Tla-o-qui-aht boy, Tim was never willing to bend to a status quo. He noticed many connections between land, language and culture, and how the language connects and grounds us to a place. Yet his language was not part of his own elementary school curriculum located in the heart of Nuu-chah-nulth territories (“along the mountains and sea”) on west coast Vancouver Island.
Fast forward to 2021. The Nuu-chah-nulth language program, empowered by Tim’s passion, has eclipsed French as the second language of choice at Ucluelet Secondary, and Tim returned to Ucluelet Elementary for his first UVic teaching practicum. He has changed the course of history and demonstrated how a modern direction can truly honour ancient traditions.
Tim lives steps from the sea and hopes to be a commercial fisherman. His leadership will continue to empower young Nuu-chah-nulth-aht language learners and other youth to dream, create, perform and command in this beautiful language, rooted in place, and held-fast ‘along the mountains and sea.’
Tim is included in this interactive story about Revitalizing Vancouver Island’s Indigenous Languages from CBC News.
Tim will share his journey, the many connections between land, language and culture, and how the language connects and grounds us to a place.
Dr. Kate Moran
President and Chief Executive Officer, Ocean Networks Canada
Before being appointed as President & CEO of Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) in 2012, Dr. Kate Moran developed years of experience in the industry of ocean research. Her previous appointment was Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Rhode Island, where she played an active role in both the Graduate School of Oceanography and the Department of Ocean Engineering. From 2009 to 2011, Dr. Moran was seconded to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where she served as an Assistant Director and focused on Arctic, polar, ocean, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and climate policy issues. Since joining Ocean Networks Canada, Professor Moran has been active in public outreach on topics related to the Arctic, ocean observing, and climate—threads that she wove into a TEDx Talk in 2012.
ONC specializes in ocean monitoring and data collection while also fostering learning and engagement with the Ocean Sense program. This novel education program allows coastal communities, educators and students to collaborate and develop skills in analysing, understanding and sharing ocean data and knowledge. Data collected from Ocean Networks Canada’s observatories is used to create an immersive learning platform and promote ocean education and exploration.
Presentation topic: The Internet Connected Ocean
Dr. T. E. Reimchen
Adjunct Professor of Biology, University of Victoria
Tom Reimchen was born and raised on the Canadian prairies and received a BSc in Zoology at the University of Alberta in 1970. His interests then took him to Great Britain, where he completed his DPhil in marine ecology and genetics in 1974, before returning to Canada. Thus began four decades of ground-breaking research in Haida Gwaii and the Great Bear Rainforest.
His work began from a remote cabin on Drizzle Lake in Haida Gwaii, where “Stickleback Tom” and his team documented an incredible range of adaptations of Threespine Sticklebacks to diverse conditions in over 100 lakes. Since 1997, he has been teaching at the University of Victoria and continued his research programs with his students. Their work on salmon-bear interactions led to the novel concept of Salmon Forests and provided important insight to the evolution of the Spirit Bear and the long-term well-being of our coastal ecosystems.
Tom values the power of knowledge, teaching and lifelong learning. Combined with his innovative thinking, careful field observations, and use of technology, he has helped shape our understanding of important coastal ecology issues of our time. Join us as he shares this incredible journey.
Learn more about Tom’s research and the Reimchen lab here.
Presentation topic: The marine-terrestrial interface in British Columbia: salmon, herring, bears and forests
Special Presentation
Andy Lamb
Andy Lamb is a marine naturalist and educator extraordinaire. He has worked as both Chief Collector and Education Coordinator at the Vancouver Aquarium, and as a fish culturist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Andy’s impact on marine and aquatic education is widely recognized, as reflected by his well-deserved appointment as a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s College of Fellows in 2017; and Honorary Doctorate in Education from the University of Victoria in 2019.
Over the last 50 years, Andy has also found time for thousands of dives in the Pacific NW. The extraordinary teamwork with co-author Bernard P. Hanby (who took the underwater images) and Andy (who provided research material) led to the publication of Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest: a photographic encyclopedia of invertebrates, seaweeds and selected fishes. This extraordinary book is a common feature of many of our bookshelves!
Join Andy from his home on Thetis Island, as he takes us on an up-close and personal tour of the Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest; and introduces us to the new, improved and easily accessible online version of the most comprehensive collection ever published of photographs and information about Pacific Northwest marine life.
