In celebration of Ocean Week Canada, oceanographer John Roff will be presenting his talk “Drawing Lines on the Oceans – Planning for Marine Conservation” at the St. Margaret Sailing Club.

Planet Ocean is 71% covered by water. Life originated here and the greatest diversity of living things is still found here. Without our oceans there would be no life on ‘Earth’.

Systematic conservation of marine life and environments has been slow to develop compared to the terrestrial part of our world.

This talk will ask (and start to answer) questions such as:

• Why, as terrestrial beings, should we be concerned with conservation of marine environments?

• How can we decide what parts of the oceans should be protected, and how can you draw lines on an ocean?

• How much of the marine environment should be protected?

• How can marine conservation be adapted to the effects of climate change?

John Roff is presently a consultant to WWF Canada and WWF International on marine conservation planning in the Canadian Arctic Ocean and wider International Arctic Ocean and president of the St. Margaret’s Bay Stewardship Association.

With advanced degrees from Cambridge University and Newcastle University, John Roff’s extensive marine conservation background includes: past European Scholar in the European Union Erasmus Mundus Programme, teaching graduate courses in Marine Conservation, at the University of Algarve in Portugal and University of Ghent in Belgium and previous Canada Research Chair at Acadia University, Nova Scotia, in Environment and Conservation. He is author of over 100 peer reviewed scientific articles, and numerous reports on various aspects of aquatic ecology and the environment. John has worked all over the world, from the arctic to the tropics, in all three of Canada’s oceans, with emphasis on coastal temperate Atlantic waters. John is also an avid sailor.

This event is free and open to the public. Advance registration is required due to capacity limits.

Doors and bar open at 6:30 p.m.

Presentation starts at 7:00 p.m.