BoFEP Environmental Stewardship Award – Past Winners

2022: Jeff Ollerhead – Mount Allison University

BoFEP is proud and delighted to announce that the 2022 Environmental Stewardship Award is presented at the ACCESS/BoFEP Conference in Truro, NS to Dr. Jeff Ollerhead. Jeff is a professor in the Department of Environment and Geography at Mount Allison University who where he has worked for more than 25 years. He also served as Provost and Vice-President Academic and Research from 2016-2020. As a coastal geomorphologist specializing in beaches and salt marshes, he has been particularly involved in designing and monitoring salt marsh restoration efforts in the upper Bay of Fundy. He has long been an advocate of maintaining and restoring salt marshes as natural shoreline protection features rather than simply armouring coasts with inflexible rock barriers. He worries that too much of New Brunswick might end up with fixed concrete retaining walls to hold the ocean back — something he refers to as the “New Jersey-fication” of the coastline. Jeff, a staunch supported of BoFEP almost since its inception, is unquestionably a worthy candidate for this special recognition and we in BoFEP extend our warm thanks to him for all his past and ongoing efforts on behalf of the Bay of Fundy and its unique and vulnerable ecosystems.

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2011: Stephen Hawboldt – Former Executive Director of Clean Annapolis River Project (Retired)

The 2011 Award was presented to Stephen in recognition of his vision, energy and dedication toward healthy watersheds and wetlands around the Bay of Fundy. For the past two decades, as Executive Director of the Clean Annapolis River Project, he has been the pre-eminent voice for environmental conservation and stewardship throughout the Annapolis Valley and adjacent areas of the Bay of Fundy. His inspiring leadership, formidable networking and management skills, and his infectious enthusiasm have sparked a host of environmental success stories throughout the region. He has always been adept at bringing the right partners to the table and encouraging them to work together to develop win-win solutions. He has long been, and continues in retirement to be, a forceful voice for environmental reason and responsibility in the Fundy region.

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2009: Moira Brown – New England Aquarium and Canadian Whale Institute

One of North America’s leading specialists on North Atlantic Right Whales, Dr. Moira Brown, was honoured at the 8th Bay of Fundy Science Workshop held from May 26-28th at Acadia University. Dr. Brown, currently a senior right whale scientist with the New England Aquarium and the Canadian Whale Institute, has dedicated her career to saving the North Atlantic Right whale in Canadian waters. The biennial Bay of Fundy Stewardship Award is presented by the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership (BoFEP) to an individual who has “contributed significantly to the environmental health/sustainability of the Bay of Fundy”. At Right, Peter Wells, the Chair of BoFEP, presents the award to Moira Brown.

Dr. Brown has not only increased our knowledge of Right Whale biology and ecology through her innovative and wide-ranging research, but has also played a major role in the development of the federal government’s Right Whale Recovery Plan (2000) and the more recent Recovery Strategy for the North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) in Atlantic Canadian Waters. Her research and informed counsel led to the moving of the shipping lanes in the Bay of Fundy in 2003, thereby reducing the potential for a ship striking a right whale by 90 %. Her efforts also contributed to the designation in 2008 of a seasonal and voluntary “Area to be Avoided” on Roseway Basin on the Scotian Shelf (another critical Right Whale habitat). The latter ruling affects all vessels of 300 gross tonnage and upwards, with the exception of fishing vessels. Dr. Brown and Dalhousie researchers Angelia Vanderlaan and Chris Taggart used decades of Right Whale sighting data, coupled with vessel transit data, to provide the information that enabled Transport Canada to convince the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to adopt significant conservation measures to reduce the risk of vessel strikes for Right Whales in Atlantic Canadian waters.

Dr. Brown’s conservation efforts and research have also recognized the need to understand and appreciate the effects that her research, and the decisions based on it, has on all stakeholders involved around the Bay. As a result, she has developed a unique relationship with the marine communities (fishing, shipping and whale watching) that share the waters of Atlantic Canada with these threatened whales. By working closely with, and making her research available to, these communities Dr. Brown has directly and indirectly promoted the ecological integrity, vitality, biodiversity and productivity of the Bay which has led to enhancing communication and cooperation throughout communities in the Bay.

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2006: Peter Wells – Environment Canada (Retired)

At the workshop Banquet, Dr. Peter Wells, recently retired from Environment Canada in Dartmouth, NS, was presented with the BoFEP “Environmental Stewardship Award” for 2006. Peter has been a driving force behind many of BoFEP’s science-oriented activities, particularly the biennial workshops, technical reports and the activities of several of the working groups. He has been untiring as an editor of, and contributor to, all of the Workshop Proceedings. Congratulations Peter on this well-deserved award and thanks for all the energy, enthusiasm and support you have given to BoFEP ever since its inception.

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2004: Patricia Rae Hinch – Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Labour

Pat Hinch was recognized for her steadfast vision, energy and dedication toward a healthy Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine during recent times when provincial coastal policies and commitments have been in a period of uncertainty and change. She exemplifies an individual who cares about our coasts, coastal communities and marine resources, and one who translates such concern into action, making significant contributions to sustainability of the ecosystem. BoFEP was proud to honour Pat with its first Environmental Stewardship Award as a fitting tribute to her achievements over many years on behalf of the Bay of Fundy.

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