Dr. Rashid Sumaila, Professor in the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, has been named a University Killam Professor. This is the highest honour UBC can confer on a faculty member, recognizing extraordinary teachers and researchers who are leaders in their fields and who have received international recognition for their talents and achievements.
Professor Sumaila is a leading scholar of ocean and fisheries economics. His work has focused on the well-being and sustainability of coastal communities and ecosystems. He is a Canada Research Chair (Tier I) in Interdisciplinary Ocean and Fisheries Economics and specializes in bio-economics, marine ecosystem evaluation, and the analysis of global issues such as fisheries subsidies, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and the economics of high and deep seas fisheries. His work challenges today’s approaches to marine governance, generating new and exciting ways of thinking about our relationship to the marine biosphere, such as protecting the high seas as a “fish bank” for the world and using “intergeneration discount rates” for natural resource projects.
“The research funds from this award will be used to support the great works of my excellent students, postdocs and research associates, without whom this award would have not been possible,” says Dr. Sumaila.
Dr. Sumaila’s research covers all aspects of the future health of the ocean, including overfishing, oil spills, plastics pollution, ocean acidification and climate change. Through his SSHRC sponsored OceanCanada Partnership project, Dr. Sumaila is currently focused on understanding and addressing threats facing Canada’s Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean and coastal regions. In the face of COVID-19 and its devastating effects on lives and livelihoods, Dr. Sumaila is also examining how to make people and nature more resilient by simultaneously reducing inequality while curbing environmental degradation.
“Professor Sumaila is a globally recognized researcher on the future of our ocean, integrating social, economic and fisheries sciences to build innovative pathways towards sustainable fisheries”
Dr. Sumaila’s engagement is truly global, having worked in fisheries and natural resource projects in Norway, Canada and the North Atlantic region, Namibia and the Southern African region, Ghana and the West African region, as well as Hong Kong and the South China Sea. Alongside his publications, Dr. Sumaila’s work has generated a great deal of interest and he is regularly interviewed by major news media including The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and the Vancouver Sun.
“Professor Sumaila is a globally recognized researcher on the future of our ocean, integrating social, economic and fisheries sciences to build innovative pathways towards sustainable fisheries,” says Gage Averill, Dean, Faculty of Arts. “His research and its impact on policy are critically important considering the severe threats to the ocean posed by overfishing, marine pollution and the global climate crisis.”
Among Dr. Sumaila’s other distinctions, he was awarded the Volvo Environment Prize in 2017 and was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2019 for his innovative work in fisheries economics and sustainable governance of ocean resources.
Dr. Allison Macfarlane, Director of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, said: “We are thrilled that Professor Rashid Sumaila has been named a University Killam Professor. Dr. Sumaila is an outstanding, interdisciplinary researcher, teacher, colleague, and advocate for the protection of oceans, coasts and the many communities that depend on them.”
