Centre for Earth Resources Research (CERR)
Director
Quinlan, G.M., B.Sc. Toronto, Ph.D. Dalhousie; Professor
RESEARCH GROUP
The Centre draws on the research expertise and talent of faculty members in the Department of
Earth Sciences as well as other specialists inside and external to Memorial. For a complete listing
of faculty, see Earth Sciences entry.
SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES
The Centre for Earth Resources Research was established in 1983 to provide for the co-ordination and promotion of earth resources research and associated work related to the origin, discovery, development, exploitation and environment aspects of earth resources.
The Centre promotes, initiates, and co-ordinates research within the earth resources disciplines on the domestic and international scenes. Researchers interact, when appropriate, with the industrial and government sectors and introduce other organizations to the potential benefits of further research and development in earth resources.
The special facilities of the Centre complement the development of graduate and undergraduate programmes in earth sciences and related disciplines at Memorial University of Newfoundland. A further function of the Centre is to contribute to the training of people competent in solving earth resources problems and to encourage personnel exchanges with industry and government.
The Alexander Murray Building which opened in 1990 houses the Department of Earth Sciences
and the Centre, and has laboratories for teaching and basic and targeted (contract) research.
ORGANIZATION
The Centre is an integral part of the Department of Earth Sciences. The active research of faculty members within, and those cross-appointed to the Department, contributes to programmes in the Centre. Increasing collaboration is under way with government and industry in research projects that emphasize earth resources. The work of the Centre addresses problems and opportunities related to mineral resources, petroleum resources, exploration technology, environmental geoscience, and generic research.
The Centre works closely with other local, domestic, and international research institutes. The
Centre for Cold Ocean Resources Engineering, the Ocean Sciences Centre (formerly MSRL and
NICOS) and the NRC Institute for Marine Dynamics, as well as the Institute for Fisheries and
Marine Technology, the department of Natural Resources and the federal Fisheries and Oceans
Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Laboratory are some local organizations with which CERR can
interact.
OCEAN SCIENCES CENTRE
ADMINISTRATION
Driedzic, W.R., B.Sc. York, M.Sc. Toronto, Ph.D. British Columbia; Director
Devereaux, J.; Laboratory Services Supervisor
Guest, B.; Acting University Diving Safety Officer
Wheeler, D.; Administrative Officer (Logy Bay)
SCIENTIFIC STAFF
Brown, J.A., B.Sc. St. Francis Xavier, M.Sc. Memorial, Ph.D. Queen's; Associate Professor (Research)
Crim, L.W., B.A., M.Sc., Ph.D. California; Professor (Research)
Deibel, D., B.Sc. Bucknell, Ph.D. Georgia; University Research Fellow, Associate Professor (Research); Winner of the President's Award for Outstanding Research, 1990-91
Fletcher, G.L., B.Sc. British Columbia, Ph.D. California; Professor (Research)
Parrish, C.C., B.Sc. Wales, Ph.D. Dalhousie; Associate Professor (Research); Winner of the President's Award for Outstanding Research, 1995-96
Rivkin, R.B., B.Sc., M.Sc. City College, New York, Ph.D. Rhode Island; Associate Professor
Schneider, D.C., B.Sc. Duke, Ph.D. SUNY, Stony Brook; Professor
Thompson, R.J., B.Sc. Bristol, Ph.D. Leicester; Professor (Research); Associate Director, OSC
Wroblewski, J.S., B.Sc. Illinois, M.Sc., Ph.D. Florida State; Professor (Research)
Adjunct Professors
Anderson, J.T., B.Sc., M.Sc. Guelph, Ph.D. British Columbia; Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Brattey, J., B.Sc.(Hons.) Glasgow, Ph.D. Liverpool; Department of Fisheries and Oceans
DuRand, M., B.A. Carleton College, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Woods Hole
McKinley, R., B.Sc. Guelph, M.Sc. York, Ph.D. Waterloo; Department of Biology, University of Waterloo
Morgan, J.M., B.Sc. Mount Alison, Ph.D. Queen's; Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Pepin, P., B.Sc. McGill, Ph.D. Dalhousie; Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Speare, D.J., DVM, DVSc. Guelph; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, U.P.E.I.
Tlusty, M., B.Sc.(Hons.) Illinois, Ph.D. Syracuse, NY; Newfoundland Salmonid Growers
Association
Cross-Appointed Faculty
Dr. D. Burton; Department of Biology
Dr. M.P. Burton; Department of Biology
Dr. P.E. Dabinett; Department of Biology
Dr. B. de Young; Department of Physics
Dr. N. Gogan; Department of Chemistry
Dr. J. Gow; Department of Biology
Dr. R. Greatbatch; Department of Physics
Dr. R. Haedrich; Department of Biology
Dr. H. Helleur; Department of Chemistry
Dr. R.A. Khan; Department of Biology
Dr. J. Lien; Department of Psychology
Dr. H.G. Miller; Department of Earth Sciences
Dr. T. Miller; Department of Biology
Dr. W. Montevecchi; Department of Psychology
Dr. R. Payne; Faculty of Medicine
Dr. J. Robinson; Department of Biochemistry
Dr. F. Shahidi; Department of Biochemistry
Dr. P. Snelgrove; Marine Institute
Post-Doctoral Fellows
Pakulski, J.M., B.Sc. Maine, M.Sc., Ph.D. Georgia
Saunders, P.A., B.A. Oberlin, M.A. Indiana, Ph.D. Georgia
Yaskowiak, E., B.Sc. Southampton, Ph.D. UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Research Associates
Goddard, S., Ph.D. North Wales
Gregory, R., B.Sc. Acadia, M.Sc. Trent, Ph.D. British Columbia
Shears, M., B.Sc. N.B., Ph.D. Memorial
Research Assistants
Avery, T., B.Sc. Guelph, M.Sc. Acadia
Boyce, D., B.A.Aqua Deg.
Hatfield, E., B.Sc., M.Sc. Memorial
Jones, D., B.Sc. Saskatchewan
King, M.J., B.Sc. Memorial
Lee, S.H., B.Sc., M.Sc. Memorial
Matthews, P., B.Sc. Memorial
Riehl, M., B.Sc. Mt. Allison, M.Sc. Memorial
Short, C., B.Sc. Memorial
Somerton, D., B.Sc. Memorial
Cuthbert, F., B.Sc., M.Sc. Memorial
Downton, E.F.; Technical Services; Marine Services Technician
Walsh, G.; Facilities Management; Resident Engineer
A central element in Memorial's plan to become one of the world's leading marine universities, the Ocean Sciences Centre was formed in April, 1988, by the union of the Marine Sciences Research Laboratory (MSRL) and the Newfoundland Institute for Cold Ocean Sciences (NICOS). An ocean sciences research unit within the Faculty of Science, the Ocean Sciences Centre is staffed by almost 40 professional scientists, many of whom are cross-appointed faculty from University departments. The main laboratories, over 4000m2 in total, are located directly on the North Atlantic Ocean at Logy Bay, approximately 9.6 kilometers from the main campus, with other smaller labs at various locations elsewhere. The Centre's small boat, the Karl & Jackie, is berthed at Long Pond on Conception Bay and is used in field investigations.
The Ocean Sciences Centre research programs take advantage of the ocean features that make the
Newfoundland region a unique and important part of the world's oceans. These include the
Labrador Current and sea ice and icebergs (which collectively exercise a major impact on global
climate and weather), some of the world's most productive fishing grounds and strategically
important offshore resources. The region encompasses areas of broad-scale active mixing
between cold and warm ocean waters, many rivers with very low nutrient and sediment loads,
very deep ocean areas close to land, large fjord systems, and direct access to ice-covered oceans
and the Arctic. The fauna contains animals with unique cold ocean adaptations, important marine
mammal populations and some of the largest seabird colonies remaining in the world.
Research Themes
- The endocrinology of reproduction and growth of fishes.
- Cold-water aquaculture.
- Biological production and the ecology of cold oceans.
- Behaviour of fish, whales, seals and seabirds.
- Biological adaptation to low temperatures.
- Genetics of marine organisms.
- Marine biotechnology.
- Seabird ecology.
- Quaternary geology and climate change.
- Remote sensing of ocean phenomena.
- Fjord oceanography.
- Labrador current and shelf circulation.
- Fisheries oceanography.
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