With funding awarded for 30 new projects, the eighth round of the Ocean Frontier Institute’s (OFI) Seed Fund is the most substantial to date – providing almost $655,000 in support for innovative new ocean research.
Funding awards of $10,000 to $30,000 have been granted to researchers from:
- Dalhousie University
- Memorial University
- The University of New Brunswick
- Université du Québec à Rimouski
- The University of Victoria
OFI was pleased to partner with the following organizations, who are generously co-funding Seed Fund projects that are aligned with their interests and mandates:
- Invest Nova Scotia ($30,000)
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada ($247,650)
- Genome Atlantic ($25,150)
- New Brunswick Innovation Foundation ($69,869)
The Seed Fund provides financial support and expertise for ocean-related projects that demonstrate a high potential to grow into larger externally funded research projects or to deliver their impact through commercialization.
“Our Seed Fund provides the earliest funding for exceptional researchers to advance their innovative ideas. These investments will create scientific, social, environmental and economic benefits for Canada and globally.”
“NSERC is pleased to partner with the Ocean Frontiers Institute through our Alliance grants to support faculty-led research and partnerships of relevance to the Ocean sector through the OFI Seed Fund.”
“Genome Atlantic recognized a strategic opportunity to collaborate with OFI in supporting projects that pioneer innovative solutions for sustainable development of our ocean resources. Small investments have the potential to yield large long-term impacts.”
“NBIF is happy to support OFI as we see the importance of growing research capacity and increase the impact of the work done in blue economy.”

Dr. Julie LaRoche
Towards a quantitative metabarcoding approach for eDNA-based environmental assessment of whole ecosystems.
Co-funded by


Dr. Jean-François Bousquet
An experimental facility for the characterization of mobile underwater communication networks.
Funded by

Dr. Christopher Whidden
SMART-HAB: Satellite imagery-based Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Tool for Harmful Algal Bloom Detection.
Co-funded by


Dr. Laurent Kreplak and Dr. John Frampton
Turning Atlantic Cod fish collagen waste into microfibers for tissue engineering applications.
Funded by

Dr. Chris Algar
Can Microbial Fuel Cells Remove Mal Odour Compounds from Recirculating Aquaculture Systems?
Funded by

Dr. Ramon Filgueira
Nature-based Solution to Coastal Remediation in Boat Harbour, NS.
Funded by

Dr. Graham Gagnon, Jessica Bennett, and Dr. Stefanie Colombo
UV/Nanobubble Treatment as a Novel Alternative to Mitigate Taste and Odour Compounds in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems.
Funded by

Dr. Carly Buchwald
Improving the reliability, cost-efficiency, and overall success of kelp seed production in Nova Scotia.
Funded by

Dr. Baafour Nyantekyi-Kwakye
Developing effective strategies for reducing ice accretion and de-icing of offshore wind turbine rotor blades.
Funded by

Dr. Shuna Ho
Aquaculture for regional resilience beyond industrial diversification.
Funded by

Jay Kirkham and Dr. Sarah Fortune
North Atlantic right whale prey field sampling close to the seafloor.
Funded by

Dr. Miao Zhang
Seismic Sentinels: Monitoring Earthquakes and Whales in the Lower St. Lawrence Seaway.
Funded by

Dr. Rémi Toupin and Dr. Philippe Mongeon
Aligning scholarly and public understanding of ocean knowledge: an assessment based on the UN Second World Ocean Assessment Report.
Funded by

Dr. Ruth Musgrave and Dr. Dariia Atamanchuk
Near surface turbulence and bubbles in the Labrador Sea from an autonomous underwater vehicle.
Funded by

Christine Latimer and Dr. Hugh MacIntyre
Enhancing phytoplankton production of the essential omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) by manipulation of co-occurring bacteria.
Funded by

Dr. Albert Solares Caballero and Dr. Matt Rise
Towards a holistically superior analysis of next-generation sustainable aquafeeds on fish immune responses.
Co-funded by


Dr. Deepika Dave
Novel application of food processing technique for preservation of fresh sea cucumber qualities.
Funded by

Dr. Syed Imtiaz
Human machine conflict resolution in marine autonomous surface ships.
Funded by

Dr. Tomas Araya-Schmidt
Environmentally friendly snow crab pot design: improving sorting of undersized crabs and increasing catch efficiency.
Funded by

Dr. Mohammad Al Janaideh
A High-Performance Oil-Free Electric-based Gyroscopic Stabilizer for Marine Vessels: Development of a Seed Prototype.
Funded by

Dr. Kris Poduska and Dr. Patrick Gagnon
Assessing impacts of ocean climate variability on a key marine calcifier in the Northwest Atlantic.
Funded by

Dr. Hamid Usefi
Machine Learning-based Optimization for Placement and Control of Buoys in Wave Energy Conversion.
Funded by

Dr. Joseph Fitzgerald
Machine Learning of the Ocean’s Equatorial Deep Circulation.
Funded by

Dr. Nan Zheng
Development of novel hidden Markov models to identify fish productivity regimes and forecast future productivity and fisheries management targets.
Funded by

Fiona Le Taro and Dr. Paul-Pierre Bitton
Impact of fishing vessel nocturnal activity on the presence of Leach’s Storm-petrel in harbours.
Funded by

Dr. Hung Cao and Dr. Ian Church
Developing an advanced IoT prototype to monitor the coastal ecosystems surrounding indigenous communities.
Funded by
Dr. Andy Simoneau
Digital Twinning Marine Ecosystems Around Aquaculture and IMTA Systems.
Funded by
Dr. Gobinda Saha and Dr. Clodualdo Aranas
Upscaling through field trial of a novel high-entropy alloy thin coating solution for marine anti-fouling problem.
Funded by
Dr. David Deslauriers
Population demographics and bioenergetics of the elusive Greenland shark in the Saguenay Fjord.
Funded by
Dr. Heather Buckley and Kirsten Aasen
Duo Photo/Electro-Thermal Water Desalination for Remote Coastal Communities.
Funded by