Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal in Canada Forum Agenda

December 2, 2025
December 3, 2025
8:00 - 9:00
Breakfast and Registration
9:00 - 9:55
Welcome & Introduction to Forum
  • Elder Ann LaBillois (Dalhousie University)
    Welcome ceremony
  • Eric Siegel (Ocean Frontier Institute)
    Welcome & Introduction to Forum
  • Kalina Grabb (Dalhousie Unviresity / Ocean Frontier Institute)
    mCDR Plenary
9:55 - 10:30
CDR Industry Activity
  • Will Burt (Planetary)
    Planetary's Nova Scotia OAE Project: Creating the conditions for learning by doing—safely, transparently, and at a scale that begins to matter
  • Shannon Sterling (Carbon Run)
    River Alkalinity Enhancement - development and deployment of a new CDR Technology that closes the land to ocean carbon flux
  • Ben Slotnick (Lillianah), Bruce Hatcher (Cape Breton University)
    mCDR Plenary
  • Alastair Jarvis (pHathom)
    Biogenic Carbon Capture and Ocean Storage: Converting industrial biogenic carbon emissions into stable bicarbonates in solution for equilibrated return and durable ocean storage
  • Souha El Mousadik (atdepth)
    Operational Modeling & Monitoring for mCDR: Learnings from Nova Scotia’s Coastal Testbed
  • Moderated community discussion‍
10:30 - 11:00
Coffee Break
11:00 - 11:10
Keynote Speaker: Senator Colin Deacon
11:10 - 12:45
Scientific Research
  • Chris Algar (Dalhousie University)
    Benthic impacts of OAE additions in Halifax Harbour and Bedford Basin
  • Ruth Musgrave (Dalhousie University)
    Quantifying uncertainties in estimates of marine carbon dioxide removal using reduced complexity models
  • Talia Evans (Dalhousie University)
    The merits of non-traditional monitoring: organic acids and trace metals across mCDR techniques
  • Adam Yang (Dalhousie University)
    Assessing the effective settling of mineral particles for marine carbon dioxide removal
  • Dariia Atamanchuk (Dalhousie University)
    Advancing MRV by high-resolution observing of the carbonate system and feedstock distribution in the Halifax Harbour field trials
  • Vincent Sieben (Dalhousie University)
    A time-series of innovation: microfluidic TA sensor applied to mCDR
  • Kris Poduska (Memorial University)
    Mineral dissolution, crystallization, and carbonation
  • Chris Whidden (Dalhousie University)
    SCALE MRV: First Steps Toward AI-Optimized Autonomous Monitoring Strategies for Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
  • Kohen Bauer (Ocean Networks Canada)
    Ocean Networks Canada and the mCDR Community in the Salish Sea Region
  • Kalina Grabb (Dalhousie University / Ocean Frontier Insitute)
    CONVERGE CDR across science, engagement, economics, and policy
  • Tyler Eddy (Memorial University)
    The impact of marine CO2 removal on food-webs and fisheries
  • Carolyn Buchwald (Dalhousie University)
    Bringing Nitrogen into Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
  • Sara Seck (Dalhousie University), Neil Craik (University of Waterloo)
    Effective, Equitable, Accountable and Transparent Governance of mCDR Activities: Pathways from Field Research to Large-scale Deployment
  • Megan Bailey (Dalhousie University)
    Aligning mCDR pathways with multiple worldviews
  • Heidi Weigand (Dalhousie University)
    Co-Creating Equitable Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Pathways through Free, Prior, and Informed Consent with Mi'kmaq Communities in Nova Scotia
  • Moderated community discussion‍
12:45 - 1:45
Lunch
1:45 - 3:30
Public & Community Organizations
  • Miriam Zitner (Carbon to Sea)
    Carbon to Sea: Advancing Global Field Research
  • Eric Christmas (Indigenous Advisor)
    Indigenous Consultation and the Carbon Capture Industry: New Innovations in Engagement
  • Andrew Sark (PEI Office of the Regional Chief)
    Surfing the Wave: Emotional Resilience and Community Leadership in Marine Carbon Removal
  • Tyler Sack (Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq)
    Mi'kmaq Perspectives to Decolonizing Research Design
  • Tim Bernard (Lennox Island First Nation)
    Transforming Carbon into Care: A Vision for Lennox Island's Conservation Future
  • Ken Paul (Pokiok Associates)
    The opportunity for Indigenous partnerships in mCDR science and monitoring
  • Tim Bachiu (Net Zero Atlantic)
    Carbon management in Eastern Canada
  • Heather Mannix (COMPASS)
    Strategic Communication for the mCDR Science Community
  • Moderated community discussion‍
3:30 - 4:00
Coffee Break
4:00 - 5:00
Policy & Regulation Development
  • Anya Waite (Ocean Frontier Institute)
    Dodging the Crisis: what the marine carbon removal sector might learn from the carbon removal experience on land
  • Christie Mulcahy (DFO)
  • Mona Sidarious (ECCC)
  • Chris Toews (NRCan)
  • Daniel Kelter (CRC)
    Below the Surface: Mapping Canadian Support for Marine Carbon Removal
  • Romany Webb (Columbia University)
    mCDR Law and Policy: US Experience and Lessons for Canada
  • Moderated community discussion‍
5:00 - 6:00
Business & Finance Initiatives
  • Levi Morrison (COVE)
    mCDR Infrastructure Conditions for Growth in Atlantic Canada
  • Chantelle Carden (Northx)
    Early-Stage Investment in Canada’s Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Sector
  • Jing He (Isometric)
    Building Trust in Canadian mCDR: Rigorous MRV Protocols and Independent Verification
  • Frauke Kracke (Frontier Climate)
    A buyer's perspective on mCDR
  • Akash Rastogi (Canada's Ocean Supercluster)
    Opportunity for Canada from mCDR
6:00
Posters & Networking Reception
  • Erik Johnson, Josiane Ostiguy, Ruby Yee, Ruth Musgrave [Dalhousie Ocean Dynamics Group (Dalhousie University, Department of Oceanography)]
    Ocean physics in mCDR
  • Adam Yang (Dalhousie University)
    Effective Settling of Mineral Particles for Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
  • Ruth Driscoll-Lovejoy (Ocean Visions)
    Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal: Getting Evidence for Decision Making This Decade
  • Zack Whitworth (Dalhousie University)
    Impacts of Wastewater and Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement on Nitrous Oxide Production in the Bedford Basin
  • Peter MacGregor (Dalhousie University)
    Experiments to modelling: OAE impacts on nitrification rates and nitrous oxide emissions of AOAs and AOBs under varying pH conditions
  • Stephanie Rose Cortinovis (University of Waterloo)
    Toward a Cross-Impact Balance Analysis of Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Using Legal, Socio-Technical, and Biogeochemical Insights: An Exploratory Study
9:00 - 9:30
Opening Remarks
9:30 - 10:45
Session 1
  • Policy and regulations
    Section Lead: Daniel Kelter
  • Resources and inputs
    Section Lead: Levi Morrison
  • Session 1 Report Back
10:45 - 11:15
Coffee Break
11:15 - 12:30
Session 2
  • Social acceptability
    Section Lead: Miriam Zitner
  • Technological feasibility
    Section Lead: Eric Siegel
  • Session 2 Report Back
12:30 - 1:30
Lunch
1:00 - 1:30
Keynote Speaker: Andri Snær Magnason (Author, On time and water)
1:30 - 2:45
Session 3
  • Environmental and ecological outcomes
    Section Lead: Kalina Grabb
  • Economic viability
    Section Lead: Paul Richards
  • Session 3 Report Back
2:45 - 3:30
Knowledge sharing and expert feedback
3:30 - 4:00
Coffee Break
4:00 - 4:20
Moderated panel discussion
  • Ruth Driscoll-Lovejoy (Ocean Visions)
4:20 - 4:50
Moderated roundtable discussion
  • Ruth Driscoll-Lovejoy (Ocean Visions)
4:50 - 5:00
Closing Ceremony
  • Elder Ann LaBillois (Dalhousie University)