Science off the grid: BC’s remote coast

A dynamic research hub exists in one of the most remote places along BC’s central coast – the Hakai Institute’s Calvert Island field station. Working at times in extreme conditions and off the grid, the scientists study grizzly bears, salmon, archeology, native plants and oceanography. In fact, there is no other remote coastal location in BC that has such an intensity and diversity of research scholarship.

A multi-disciplinary cluster of nearly 150 scientists from the University of Victoria, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and the Hakai Institute, as well as nearly 40 First Nations community leaders will meet for the third annual Hakai Research Exchange, Oct. 24 in Sidney, BC to showcase their work.

“At a time when support for science has generally eroded across Canada, an absolute explosion of discovery is occurring in one of the least studied but most beautiful parts of the planet,” says Chris Darimont, Hakai-Raincoast professor in geography at UVic. Eric Peterson president of the Tula Foundation and the Hakai Institute adds: “Our work has unleashed the pent-up demand for long-term ecological research, and we are pleased to serve as a conduit for this energy.”

The Hakai Institute is a research and postgraduate teaching organization that promotes long-term study at remote locations on British Columbia’s coastal margin. The institute and other Hakai programs are financed and run by the Tula Foundation and its co-founders, Peterson and Christina Munck.

The Hakai Research Exchange is held at the Mary Winspear Centre on Oct. 24 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Interviews available upon request.

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