Dr. Vianne Timmons

As we head into March and prepare to mark one year of living with COVID-19 in our communities, I want to focus on something positive.

I want to acknowledge and celebrate the students, faculty and staff who have kept Memorial’s research agenda moving forward with tenacity and innovation.

Based on our researchers’ success in earning external funding to support their work, in the most recent reporting year our total sponsored research income is the highest at an Atlantic Canadian university at $160.6 million

This funding enables research in a variety of areas on each of our campuses, but Memorial’s role as a global leader in ocean-related research is undeniable. After all, more than 40 per cent of all research at Memorial is ocean related.

From oil spill response to aquaculture to safety in harsh environments, our expertise in oceans research is unmatched.

Combined with infrastructure such as the world's largest ship’s bridge simulator at the Marine Institute, one of Canada’s largest marine laboratories in the Ocean Sciences Centre, and wind and wave tanks in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, and our leadership with the Ocean Frontier Institute, it’s no wonder we’re one of the best institutions in the world for marine and ocean research.

In fact, for the third time in recent years, Memorial is the only Canadian university ranked as one of the best post-secondary institutions in the world for the study of marine/ocean engineering.

All this means we’re attracting high quality students from across the globe.

For example, Sarah Moriarty from Pennsylvania came to Memorial to study marine mineral resources with Dr. John Jamieson – one of the few people in North America who researches that subject. Since arriving, she’s explored the Pacific seafloor in a submarine, worked in a laboratory at Harvard and gone on two international research cruises.

Students like Sarah are choosing Memorial to work closely with exceptional faculty members, like the 64 researchers from Memorial who were named on the World’s Top 2% Scientists list this year.

The history and culture of our province is deeply anchored in our relationship with the ocean and so is our future.

Memorial researchers contribute significantly to identifying and discovering methods for harnessing, preserving and protecting ocean industries that have substantial global impacts, including the fishery, offshore oil and gas, and the study of the ocean environment.

At Memorial, we dare to dream big.

I hope you share that dream with us and continue to partner with us as we rise to meet the needs of Newfoundland and Labrador.

PS. Next month, read about what we’re doing to support the blue economy.