Peter Geoffrey Wells

Dalhousie University | Dal · Faculty of Graduate Studies

Atlantic leatherback turtles are faced with multiple threats, such as ship strikes, pollution and predation, throughout their annual migratory routes in the Northwest (NW) Atlantic. The risks associated with encounters with floating and submerged plastic debris are currently unknown. This study is a hazard assessment of plastics for this turtle's s...

The interactions between wildlife tourism operators and the animals that they rely on are complex. For commercial whale watching, the recognition of the potential disturbance from the vessels generates uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of management strategies for it to remain a ‘no-take’ practice. This warrants further evaluation. In this st...

This Editorial describes the urgent need for more people to be knowledgeable about the oceans, i.e., to be ocean literate, in this age where there are numerous threats to ocean and human health, especially climate change.

This short article is about the length of time that it takes to address environmental problems, sometimes very fast especially if human health is threatened, and often very slow, despite the importance of the problem for natural ecosystems. It is my first attempt to summarize the literature briefly on the topic and to consider a more in-depth analy...

My section of this CSEB Bulletin is Atlantic News, a summary of current environmental issues in Nova Scotia. As well, in this issue, I have a section on aquatic ecotoxicology news, and my former Dalh. student, Ms. Noemie Blais, has a short piece on her work on shoreline litter, including plastics, and its risk to leatherback turtles.

This is a summary, done four times a year, of the environmental issues in the Province of Nova Scotia. This is published in the Bulletin of the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists, 78(1), Spring 2021..

This article is a summary of current Atlantic environmental issues. It is a column done 4 times a year.

The summer Issue of the CSEB Bulletin has two articles by Wells - one, a summary of some of the environmental issues affecting the Atlantic provinces, and two, a book review of Mammals of Prince Edward Island and Adjacent Marine Waters.

Fifty years ago, the tanker SS Arrow ran aground in Chedabucto Bay on the east coast of Canada, causing a massive spill of Bunker C oil in winter conditions. This article reflects on this anniversary, briefly describing the spill response and the considerable follow-up research over five decades on the fate and effects of oils spilled in northern c...

This paper discusses the use and influence of grey literature in marine environmental decision making, highlighting the benefits and challenges of open access information. This findings, based on many years of interdisciplinary collaboration in our EIUI (environmental information - use and influence) research program, may be particularly informativ...

Globally, grey literature is common. Large quantities of openly available grey literature have been generated since the latter half of the nineteenth century. It is a primary source of information used in many public policy and decision-making contexts, at all jurisdictional levels. In fact, public decision making and policy development would serio...

The objective of this paper is to determine whether contaminant data on mussels and sediments can be used interchangeably, or not, when assessing the degree of anthropogenic contamination of a water body. To obtain adequate coverage of the entire Gulf of Maine, Bay of Fundy sediment samples were collected, analyzed and combined with similar data fr...

This article is a revised version of the Editorial published in the PNSIS 50(2), Feb. 2020, with a focus on its significance to the members of the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists.

This short article describes the importance of recognizing anniversaries of scientific importance, focusing on the 50th anniversary of the SS Arrow oil spill on the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, and its significance to initiating programs in Canada on the fate, effects and bioremediation of marine oil spills.

It is an overview of the importance of the science-information-policy interface in coastal and ocean management, with contributions from leading researchers in this field.

Globally, grey literature is common. Large quantities of openly available grey literature have been generated since the latter half of the nineteenth century. It is a primary source of information used in many public policy and decision-making contexts, at all jurisdictional levels. In fact, public decision making and policy development would serio...

My CV contains a reasonably complete listing of all my scientific publications, from 1970 to the present.

What kinds of information products are produced and communicated by the GOMC? Who uses the information and in what capacity? Are users considered in developing products? How do decision makers select information to use in policy development and implementation? What are critical enablers and barriers to the communication and use of such information?...

This paper discusses how open practices in the production and use of grey literature, in marine environmental science contexts, could inform open science initiatives.

It is a tribute to an outstanding Canadian marine scientist.

The article commemorates the life and contributions of Jim Stewart, a prominent marine scientist and member of the NSIS over many years.

It is a short discussion of the many environmental issues confronting our province and the possible role that the Nova Scotian Institute of Science and its members can play in addressing them and promoting their resolution.

Research Questions How are information products produced? How are they communicated? Who uses the information and in what capacity? How are stakeholders considered in developing these products? How do decision makers select information to use in policy development and implementation? What are the critical enablers and barriers to the use of such in...

The photo on this latest CSEB Bulletin is of the freshwater pond at Annapolis Royal, NS, that acts as the final (tertiary) stage of the sewage treatment system for the town. It was taken in the fall, hence suitable for the Fall edition of the Bulletin.

The chapter is an essay covering the critical components of ocean health or marine ecosystem health, from the perspective of a marine ecotoxicologist.

The International Ocean Institute - Canada has produced this collection of over 80 insightful essays on the future of ocean governance and capacity development. The book honors the work of Elisabeth Mann Borgese (1918-2002), preeminent ocean advocate and founder of the IOI.

This is a short essay describing some of the approaches to evaluating the health of marine ecosystems, and some of the challenges faced in this era of global ocean change.

This talk, given at the September 2018 Steering Committee Meeting of the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership or BoFEP, describes the past and present activities and products of the organization, leading to a discussion of the next steps, i.e. core programs, of the organization. BoFEP is celebrating its 21st Anniversary this year, and with renewed me...

This book, in honor of Professor Elisabeth Mann Borgese of the International Ocean Institute (IOI) and Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia), is a compendium of over eighty short essays on the many aspects of ocean governance. It is an outgrowth of the IOI-Canada's flagfish training course on ocean governance. the essays consider the current...

This report is the Proceedings of the 12th BoFEP Bay of Fundy Science Workshop, held in Truro, Nova Scotia, 9-12 May, 2018. The theme of the workshop was " A Changing Fundy Environment: Emerging issues, Challenges and Priorities".

This is a contract report for Environment Canada (EC), completed in July 2018. It addresses emerging environmental issues in the Bay of Fundy, the northern section of the Gulf of Maine. It has been in the reviewing phase within EC for the past two years! The report is a detailed update of the report completed for the Gulf of Maine Council (GOMC) in...

This is a paper based on a master of marine management, graduate student research on whales and concerns about the effects of noise from whale watching boats. The study analysed the whale watching management practices for Tofino, BC, to evaluate their effectiveness for the industry's sustainability and for meeting legislated cetacean conservation o...

It is a short editorial on the climate change issue in Maritime Canada.

This essay cannot provide a full description of the evolution of ocean boundary-making methodologies. Instead it highlights the evolution of the scientific methodology employed in the delimitation of international maritime spaces, which comprises two components: the determination of the outer limits of maritime spaces under national jurisdiction an...

The Gulfwatch Contaminants Monitoring Program is part of the Canada-US, Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (GOMC). Programs monitoring legacy toxic substances, i.e., chemical contaminants, such as Gulfwatch, collect and analyse environmental samples (e.g., blue mussels), interpret the data, and report on chemical levels and trends (spa...

This is a letter to the local newspaper expressing concerns about eating fish from or swimming in Halifax Harbor. It was written solely to express concern that government departments are not routinely monitoring water, biota and bottom sediments in the harbor, hence putting human use of the harbor at unknown risk.

A short note to the local paper on the hazards of eating fish or swimming in our cleaner but still chemically contaminated harbour, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

serendipity in the sciences is an unexpected experience prompted by valuable interaction with ideas, information, objects, or phenomena. While serendipity is often associated with the “aha” and “eureka” moments that characterize well-known scienti c discoveries such as the structure of dna, serendipity may be more accurately described as a factor a...

March 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the SS Torrey Canyon oil spill and cleanup, off the Cornwall coast in the English Channel. It was the world's first major supertanker disaster. It was a signature event in the marine pollution field, especially related to oil spill response and the initiation of scientific studies of monitoring and researchi...

This is the proceedings of the 11th BoFEP Bay of Fundy Science Workshop, held in Fredericton, NB, June 2016.

THIS BOOK IS NOW OPEN-ACCESS: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429153938

THIS BOOK IS NOW OPEN-ACCESS: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429153938

THIS BOOK IS NOW OPEN-ACCESS: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429153938

This book provides a timely analysis of the role that information-particularly scientific information-plays in the policy-making and decision-making processes in coastal and ocean management. It includes contributions from global experts in marine environmental science, marine policy, fisheries, public policy and administration, resource management...

In this book, we examine the role of information in policy-making and decision-making for ICOM (integrated coastal and ocean management). Contributors have drawn on their expertise and experience in environmental and fisheries science, marine policy, public policy and administration, scientific advocacy, and information management. This range of di...

The chapter reviews the contributions of scientists at the Biological Station, over a 100 year period, to the fields of marine environmental science and aquatic and marine ecotoxicology. It should be noted that studies of DDT and salmon in the 1950's at the Station were noted by Rachel Carson and contributed to her influential book, Silent Spring.

Description of a hiking trip to the Burgess Shales, Yoho NP, BC, in 2012, including what was observed.

Effective advocacy for grey literature must be based on understanding the environments in which it is used. As advances in communications technologies continue to occur at a seemingly breathtaking pace, all forms of information are being affected. Evolving publication practices are presenting new communication opportunities, in addition to disrupti...

The bibliography contains references to all papers, technical reports, unpublished reports, conference and workshop posters, and oral presentations made by the Gulfwatch Contaminants Monitoring Sub-Committee (formerly the Environmental Quality Monitoring Committee), Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment, from 1991 to present date.

Ocean governance and management require reliable information for evidence-based solutions to ocean problems. Marine environmental organizations often wish to understand how the information they produce, frequently as grey literature, is used to influence designated audiences (e.g., policy makers), but rarely study such outcomes. In this paper, the...

Information is the foundation of evidence-based policies for effective marine environmental protection and conservation. In Canada, the cutback of marine science libraries introduces key questions about the role of such institutions and the management of ocean information in the digital age. How vital are such libraries in the mission of studying a...

This report, an exhaustive compilation of references to publications of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (GOMC), was produced to help celebrate the 25 years of the Council's work on environmental issues of the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy. It was released at the Coastal Zone Canada Conference, held in Halifax, June 2014.

This report, an exhaustive compilation of references to publications of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (GOMC), was produced to help celebrate the 25 years of the Council's work on environmental issues of the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy. It was released at the Coastal Zone Canada Conference, held in Halifax, June 2014.

This is a brief overview of the Gulfwatch Contaminants Monitoring Program that utilizes the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis L., to monitor the presence, levels and trends (spatial and temporal) of EPA's toxic chemicals in the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy.

Since 1970, scientists at Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) have conducted a wide range of research programs addressing the marine environmental implications of oil and gas activities in Canada. This research provided new insight into the behaviour and fate of spilled oil and its refined products in cold water environments, their ecological e...

This paper presents findings of a study of the awareness and use of The 2009 State of Nova Scotia’s Coast Report by specific stakeholder groups and the general public. Communication of the Report to wider audiences was identified as a main issue in increasing public participation in the development of provincial coastal policy.Cet article présente...

This study examined the awareness of, use by, and influence on stakeholders in coastal and marine policy-making in Eastern Canada and the United States of environmental publications produced by government agencies. Research was conducted in collaboration with government agencies and the publications evaluated were: (1) The2009State of Nova Scotia's...

Sea urchins worldwide are known for the entocommensal or endosymbiotic ciliate protozoa inhabiting their enteric (i.e. gut) fluids. The ease of collecting and dissecting urchins and observing the ciliates makes a simple but highly instructive class exercise for studying and appreciating the wonders of ciliates and marine symbiosis.

The Inter-Governmental Ecotoxicological Testing Group (IGETG) is an ad hoc group of government scientists, technologists, data users, and scientific advisors that has been active in the development and application of ecotoxicological testing in Canada. Membership includes representatives from government laboratories that conduct toxicity testing fo...

Scientific information (much of it published as grey literature) can play a pivotal role in the search for solutions to serious global environmental problems. This fact is receiving growing attention by a diversity of researchers. How information functions within the interface between science and policy is only weakly understood, in part because mo...

Marking the 50th anniversary of the publication of 'Silent Spring' written by Rachel Carson.

Status of the Proceedings of the NSISREPORTS FROM THE NSIS COUNCILNOVA SCOTIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

A newly developed gauge for measuring carapace widths of crabs is described. Tests showed that it was accurate to ± 0.5 mm, and its broad jaws enabled maximum carapace width to be measured more consistently than with vernier calipers. In addition, it was noncorrodible and faster and easier to use than calipers. Two years of intensive field use have...

Immunological evidence is provided for the first time of a small heat shock/α-crystallin protein in the scleractinian coral Madracis mirabilis. The protein, termed cp26, had a molecular weight of 26 000; it reacted with an antibody raised to a small heat shock/α-crystallin protein fromArtemia franciscana and its production in corals was temperature...

Weight change, mortality, and neuromuscular coordination, as measured by righting time, were used to evaluate the resistance of Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis to hypoosmotic stress. Acclimation to a salinity of 24 or 25‰ decreased the righting time of urchins after 96 h of hypoosmotic stress. The effect of acclimation was the same for four size...

Scientific information on the shrimp and groundfish resources of the Brazil–Guianas continental shelf has been produced by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), in collaboration with the national governments exploiting the resources, since the early 1970s. In spite of the a...

p>In order to ensure sustainable use of their shared marine resources, the nations of the West Caribbean Region must adopt an approach that encompasses both the human and natural dimensions of ecosystems. This volume directly contributes to that vision, bringing together the collective knowledge and experience of scholars and practitioners within t...