History of IMBeR Project Office in Canada

The first IMBER International Project Office (IPO) was hosted at the Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM) in Brest, France and opened in October 2005. The IPO was supported by Centre National de la Recherché Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), the Université de Bretagne Occidentale, and Région Bretagne. Dr. Sylvie Roy was the Executive Officer, and she was supported by Deputy Executive Officer, Sophie Beauvais, and Administrative Assistant Elena Fily. In 2009, Sylvie returned to Canada and was replaced by Lisa Maddison, the current Deputy Director of IMBeR.

In April 2012, the IPO relocated to the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) in Bergen, Norway, with support provided by the Norwegian National Research Council from 2012-2020. The first Executive Officer of the IPO in Norway was Bernard Avril and he was succeeded by Einar Svendsen (2015-2016), then Gro van der Meeren (2016-2017) and John Claydon (2018 – present).

After eight years in Norway, the IPO moved in 2020 to Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. The office is supported by the Ocean Frontier Institute, MEOPAR and the Government of Canada.