Dr. Andrew W. Trites (on left) – receives award from Andrew Stewart who represented DFO.
Congratulations to our very own Dr. Andrew Trites, professor in the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, who has been awarded the Timothy R. Parsons Medal from Fisheries and Oceans Canada!
This award is awarded for distinguished achievement in ocean sciences, leadership through teaching or mentoring, and significant contributions to multidisciplinary facets of ocean sciences.
Dr. Andrew Trites has been studying marine mammals (primarily Steller sea lions, harbor seals, northern fur seals, and killer whales), in the North Pacific for over 30 years.
In 1993 he, with Dr. Peter Larkin, created the North Pacific Universities Marine Mammal Research Consortium to bring together the very best research talents from west coast universities (Universities of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon State) to collectively resolve critical research problems pertaining to marine mammals. He also established the UBC Open Water Research Station to undertake open-ocean diving and foraging studies with free-swimming trained sea lions, and oversees field programs in Alaska and British Columbia. He leads the UBC Marine Mammal Research Unit (MMRU), a research program that furthers the conservation and understanding of marine mammals and resolves conflicts between people and marine mammals.
Dr. Trites was given the medal 12 June 2018, at a gala luncheon in Halifax, NS.