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Artist Jamie Neish helping to capture the themes discussed at OFI’s Ocean Frontier 2022 event. © Odum Idika here’s something compelling about the thing out of the research voyage. That did it for me—I fell in color blue,” said Dr. Anya Waite, sci- love with being at sea.” enti? c director and CEO of the Ocean After Dalhousie, Waite completed her PhD in biological

Frontier Institute (OFI) and associate oceanography at the University of British Columbia and “T and vice president research (ocean) at then held postdoctoral positions at Woods Hole Oceano-

Dalhousie University. As the bright sky shone through her graphic Institute and Victoria University in New Zealand. of? ce window and the waters of Halifax Harbor glimmered She soon took a professorship at the University of Western through the tree line, blue seemed to be even more inspir- Australia in Perth, where she taught and led research for 17 ing. OFI, based on Dalhousie’s campus, is an interdisciplin- years. In 2014, Waite became section head of polar biologi- ary research partnership between the university, Memorial cal oceanography at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar

University of Newfoundland (MUN) and the University of and Marine Research before returning to Halifax and her

Prince Edward Island. As the climate warms and scientists alma mater in 2018. race to better understand the role of oceans, Waite’s posi- tion is an impactful one, thanks to critical knowledge and a Within your career, do you have a most valu- lifetime of exploration. able experience, or set of experiences?

A native Nova Scotian, she grew up curious and ambitious, I think the biggest thing I learned was that politics are very ? rst wanting to pursue music, then English to become a writer. local. And you only need to step two doors down the road,

Embracing her love for the natural world, Waite completed and you’re in a completely different atmosphere. For example, a Bachelor of Science degree in biology at Dalhousie. After you can be in a situation where somebody who ? nds you dif- volunteering on a research vessel, she knew she had found her ? cult for some reason. That can be true or not true—it doesn’t calling: “When you’re out at sea, and you’re all trying to work matter. Then, you go next door and there’s a whole different together, it’s a very exciting sort of teamwork. It’s physically behavior and culture.

demanding labor, but you’re all coming together to get some- For me, it was realizing that with these ground-level poli- www.marinetechnologynews.com 29

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