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Dafne Lemus
  • E-mailmimi.lam@uib.no
  • Phone+47 55 58 26 14+47 484 04 622
  • Visitor Address
    Parkveien 9
    Ida Bloms hus
    5007 Bergen
  • Postal Address
    Postboks 7805
    5020 Bergen

I am a transdisciplinary scholar. I work across disciplines and cultures, typically in collaborative teams, to solve complex problems. As a theoretical chemist and physicist, I analyzed physical problems in the quantum and statistical realms, notably at surfaces. Applying analytical insights and methodological approaches from the physical sciences, I now study the complex interactions and underlying mechanisms governing social-ecological systems, specializing in fisheries. I investigate human values, beliefs, identities, and behaviours not only to resolve today's grand societal challenges, but also to gain insights of our evolutionary past and to inform ethical decision-making for a more sustainable and just future. To do this, I collaborate with scientists from various disciplines (e.g., ecology and philosophy) and citizens and stakeholders with diverse perspectives and knowledge (e.g., local and indigenous communities, industry, NGOs, and government).

I currently investigate three related themes:

  1. Marine values and identities in fisheries and seafood value chains.
  2. Marine sustainability, policy, and governance, notably of seascapes.
  3. Participatory research at the marine science-society-policy nexus.

Current positions

  • Researcher, University of Bergen, Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities
  • Affiliate Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, Policy and Ecosystem Restoration in Fisheries Research Unit
  • Associate, University of British Columbia, Centre for the Study of Human Evolution, Cognition, and Culture
  • Adjunct Associate Professor, University of New Mexico, Department of Biology
  • Marie Curie Alumnus, European Commission
  • Senior Fellow, Environmental Leadership Program

 

My research has been featured in various mainstream news and social media outlets.

Most recently, the national media in the United States (Big Think), Canada (The National Post), Norway (TV2), France (L'Express), Greece (Ta Nea), India (The Indian Express, Hindu Business Line), and Argentina (Clarin) have profiled my research into COVID-19 behavioural identities or personality types, published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. According to the journal's altmetrics, my article is trending in online media attention, with an altmetric score of 202, placing it in the 99th percentile of tracked articles of a similar age in all journals. This research is part of my Managing Ethical Norwegian Seascape Activities (MENSA) project.

My Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship project on Enhancing Seafood Ethics and Sustainability (eSEAS): A Value and Ecosytem-based Management Approach was profiled in a Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects (ELSA) blog, which highlighted a workshop I organized on the Ethics of Quantification in Bergen, Norway examining the challenges of trying to quantify aspects of the Norwegian spring-spawning herring fishery and in SUBPESCA Publicado, where I was interviewed on my views of ecosystem-based management in the context of the Chilean austral sprat fishery.

Prior to coming to the UiB, The Sealives Initiative profiled a Collaborative Solutions for Haida Gwaii Fisheries Management project that I led to focus on values in the Pacific herring fishery conflict in British Columbia, Canada.

I was also profiled in the Society for Conservation Biology news blog and University of Bergen and University of British Columbia (UBC) press releases when I received the Conservation Beacon Award and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship.

UBC press release and the student newspaper, The Ubyssey, highlighted the Herring People arts-based initiative that I led combining art and science to research and disseminate the role of herring in the ecosystem, communities, and industry in British Columbia.

The Reception hosted by the World Wildlife Fund Canada and the Ecology Action Centre was a fun event, akin to “speed-interviewing,” where I was interviewed by the audience!

As well, there are a number of profiles and features related to my earlier work with indigenous communities in the United States and various symposia that I organized for the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

I have also written popular articles to disseminate my research more broadly to the public, most notably in The Vancouver Sun.

Media coverage

Research Says There Are 16 Covid-19 Personality Types. Leaders Have to Plan for Them All, Inc., 11 Feburary 2021.

Live Radio Interview, 640 Toronto’s Morning Show with Peter Shurman, 10 February 2021.

Much More than Expected, AFINO blog, 10 February 2021.

Which COVID-19 personality are you? Researcher says there are 16 kinds of people right now, The National Post, 5 February 2021.

Grubleren, hamstreren og rebellen: Her er de ulike korona-typene, TV2, 4 February 2021. 

Which COVID-19 personality are you?, Big Think, 2 February 2021.

Covid-19 personality types: deniers, contemplators, worriers, warriors & more, The Indian Express, 2 February 2021.

Describen 16 tipos de 'personalidad Covid-19': ¿con cuál te identificás?, Clarin, 1 February 2021.

Οι 16 τύποι-προσωπικότητας της πανδημίας: Από τους αρνητές στους πολεμιστές και τους βετεράνους, Ta Nea, 1 February 2021.

Altruistes, guerriers, rebelles ou angoissés... L'effet révélateur du Covid sur nos personnalités, L'Express, 1 February 2021.

Researcher states 16 Covid-19 personality types amid pandemic, The Hindu Business Line, 30 January 2021.

New research about emerging 'COVID-19 personality types'! EurekAlert, 29 January 2021.

Facts, Values, and the True Cost of Environmental Harm, The Sealives Initiative, 17 February 2019.

Proyecto de Investigación: Subpesca Avanza en Implementación del Enfoque Ecosistémico en Pesquería de Sardina Austral, SUBPESCA Publicado, 13 November 2018.

What is the Value of Seafood?Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects (ELSA) blog, 6 August 2018.

UiB Attracts Foreign ResearchersUniversity of Bergen, 15 November 2017.

SCB Presents Awards for Outstanding Contributions in Conservation, SCB News Blog, 27 July 2017.

Dr. Mimi E. Lam Wins Conservation Beacon Award, University of Bergen, 13 June 2017.

Mimi E. Lam Wins Conservation Beacon Award, University of British Columbia, 1 June 2017.

The Science and Art of the Haida’s Connection with Herring, The Ubyssey, 5 April 2017.

Herring People, Roundhouse Radio Interview, 29 March 2017.

HERRING PEOPLE: An Arts-Based Initiative, University of British Columbia, 24 March 2017.

Focus Interview, WWF-Canada and the Ecology Action Centre Reception, ICES/PICES Dynamics of Small Pelagic Fish Symposium, 9 March 2017.

Fishing for Solutions in Haida Gwaii, University of British Columbia, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, The Wall Papers: Peter Wall Institute Magazine, Spring 2016.

Gyotaku: Creating Life from Death: The Japanese Art of Fishprinting, CBC Radio One Early Edition with Rick Cluff interview with Mineo Ryuka Yamamoto, 28 July 2011.

Two Worlds Working Together: Forming a Link between Traditional Knowledge and Western Science, Cassandra Brooks, Society for Advancing Hispanics/Chicanos & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) News, Summer/Fall 2009, Vol. 12(1), pp. 4 – 7.

Climate Change and Indigenous Knowledge, Richard Simonelli, Winds of Change: American Indian Education & Opportunity, Summer 2008, Vol. 23(3), pp. 18 – 22.

Report on AAAS Symposium, The Privilege to Fish, in West Coast Fisheries Need Better Management, by Graeme Stemp-Morlock, Green Living Online, 28 February 2008. [online] URL: http://www.greenlivingonline.com/Business/west-coast-fisheries-need-bett....

Report on AAAS Symposium, The Mind of a Toolmaker, in How Human Intelligence Evolved – Is it Science or ’Paleofantasy’, by Michael Balter, Science News Report, 22 February 2008, Vol. 319, p. 1028.

Report on AAAS Symposium, The Privilege to Fish, in AAAS: Cod, Tuna, Sharks, and the Privilege to Fish on The Shifting Baselines blog by Jennifer L. Jacquet, 18 February 2008. [online] URL: http://scienceblogs.com/shiftingbaselines/2008/02/aaas_cod_tuna_sharks_a....

Fostering Connections, Cassandra Brooks, Winds of Change: American Indian Education & Opportunity, Autumn 2007, Vol. 22(4), pp. 30 – 31.

Commentary of Paleo-doodles and Places: A Proto-symbolic Stage in Human Evolution? AAAS presentation, in In the Field: AAAS: Paleodoodling, by Heidi Ledford, Nature blog, 20 February 2007. [online] URL: http://blogs.nature.com/news/blog/2007/02/aaas_paleodoodling.html.

Interview on AAAS Presentation, A Historical Gedanken of Human Learning, Radio Nederland Wereldomroep, The Research File, by J. M. A. Westerbeek van Eerten, Producer, 18 May 2005.

Popular articles

Opinion: Herring Fishery Needs Integrated Management Plan, The Vancouver Sun, 9 November 2015.

Building Sustainable and Resilient Communities, Locally and Globally, FishBytes: The Newsletter of the Fisheries Centre, UBC 14(6):3, 2008.

Valuing Diverse Ways of Knowing, Winds of Change: American Indian Education & Opportunity, Summer Issue, 23(3):42 – 46, 2008.

The Privilege to Tuna, FishBytes: The Newsletter of the Fisheries Centre, UBC 14(2):2, 2008.

What is Nature? FishBytes: The Newsletter of the Fisheries Centre, UBC 13(5):1 – 2, 2007.

Fishprinting Workshop: The Japanese Art of Gyotaku, FishBytes: The Newsletter of the Fisheries Centre, UBC 13(5):3, 2007.

UBC Aboriginal Fisheries Logo Contest Winner, FishBytes: The Newsletter of the Fisheries Centre, UBC 12(5):3, 2006.

Salish Sea Gathering: Towards Ecosystem-based Governance of the Salish Bioregion, FishBytes: The Newsletter of the Fisheries Centre, UBC 11(6):4 – 5, 2005.

Statement of teaching interests

To train a new generation of socially responsible scientists and citizens, I believe that my main role as an educator is to facilitate learning and the transfer of concepts that students can apply directly to their lives. I do that by designing interdisciplinary, theme-based courses that are respectful of individual learning styles and culturally contextualized to embrace diverse ways of knowing. My primary objective in the classroom and in my professional interactions is to foster reciprocal teaching and learning experiences, creating research and cultural mentoring opportunities using insights from cognitive and educational research.

Student supervision and mentoring

Sahir Advani, University of British Columbia (UBC), Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF), PhD, How Commoditization and Cross-cultural Values Influence the Sustainability of Small-scale Fisheries in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India (2014 – 2020)

Jeff Scott, UBC, IOF, MSc, Identifying Stakeholders’ Values and Preferences for Management of Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) in British Columbia, Canada (2014 – 2017)

Audrey Tung, UBC, IOF, Undergraduate Researcher (2015 / 2016)

Diverse students under-represented in ecology, Ecological Society of America, Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS) Mentor (2004 - 2008)

Curricular innovations

The Evaluation of Fisheries Status, Austral Summer Institute XVII, University of Concepción, Chile (2017): Co-designed 1-week intense course to fisheries graduate students and professionals, largely from Chile, Peru, and Ecuador.

Governance Module (including Fishing Game), Fisheries Conservation, Governance and Evaluation course, UBC, Canada (2011): Designed game to teach graduate students of diverse fishing values along seafood value chain in fisheries governance module co-designed and co-taught.

Native American and Pacific Islander Research Experiences (NAPIRE) Program, Organization for Tropical Studies, Duke University, Costa Rica (2006): Tropical biology research and cultural experiences eight-week summer program in Costa Rica for Native American and Pacific Islander undergraduate students.

Biology 104: Natural and Cultural History of the Salish Bioregion, Northwest Indian College (NWIC), USA (2004): experiential course integrating marine science and traditional ecological knowledge of Salish Bioregion, in collaboration with the University of Washington-Friday Harbor Laboratories.

Mathematics 101: Mathematics in Nature, Art, and Life, NWIC, USA (2003): conceptual, experiential, holistic mathematics course promoting quantitative literacy within a collaborative learning environment respectful of students’ identities, cultural perspectives, and traditional ecological knowledge.

Science 101: Encounters in the Sciences, NWIC, USA (2002): integrated, contextual, experiential survey course of physical and life sciences, building scientific literacy by integrating cultural history and traditional knowledge within learning community; capstone field experiences with US National Parks Service.

Educational research activities

Faculty Team at National Science Foundation (NSF) -sponsored Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum (SAC) Workshop, ​​​​Olympia, WA, USA (2005).

Faculty Team at 3 NSF-sponsored Math Across the Curriculum (MAC) Workshops, ​​​​​​Leavenworth, WA, USA (2002 – 2004).

Sponsored STEM Faculty at 3 NSF-sponsored Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) Assemblies (2003):

1. Linking Insights about How People Learn to Curricular Reform, Richmond, VA, USA.

2. Ensuring the Success of Under-represented Groups in STEM Learning Environments, Glassboro, NJ, USA.

3. Taking Advantage of New Opportunities for Environmental Research and Education, Portland, OR, USA.

Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) Faculty at NSF-sponsored Foundations of Technology Summer Institute: Designing Integrated Curricula, Syracuse, NY (2002).

Indigenous Cultures and Ecology Faculty, Portland International Initiative for Ecology, Culture, and Learning Leadership for Sustainability Workshop, Portland, OR (2002).

Courses taught

Co-instructor (team taught with fisheries biologist), The Evaluation of Fisheries Status, Austral Summer Institute XVII, University of Concepción, Chile (2017)

Guest Lecturer, Fisheries (FISH) 520: Fisheries Conservation, Governance and Evaluation, UBC, Canada (2011 - 2015)

Guest Lecturer, Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOSC) 478: Introduction to Fisheries Science, UBC, Canada (2010 - 2011)

Guest Lecturer, Interdisciplinary Studies (INDS) 530: Methodologies of Crossing: Exploring Interdisciplinary Knowledges, Trajectories, and Worldviews, UBC, Canada (2010)

Coordinator, Native American and Pacific Islander Research Experiences (NAPIRE) Program, Organization for Tropical Studies, Duke University, Costa Rica (2006)

Co-instructor (team taught with 5 STEM faculty), Science 101: Encounters in the Sciences, NWIC, USA (2002 – 2003)

Co-instructor (team taught with 1 Mathematics faculty), Mathematics 101: Mathematics in Nature, Art, and Life, NWIC, USA (2003)

Instructor, Mathematics 99: Intermediate Algebra, NWIC, USA (2002 – 2003)

Instructor, Mathematics 107: Elementary Statistics, NWIC, USA (2002)

Instructor, Chemistry 111/112/113: Inorganic, Organic, and Biological Chemistry, NWIC, USA (2002 – 2003)

Instructor, Chemistry 100: Introductory Chemistry, NWIC, USA (2002)

Instructor, Chemistry 121: General Chemistry, NWIC, USA (2002)

Instructor, Chemistry 121 and 122: General Chemistry I and II, Whatcom Community College, USA (2001 – 2002)

Teaching Assistant, Chemistry 2301/2302: Physical Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Canada (1992 – 1994)

Teaching Assistant, Chemistry 1011: Introductory Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Canada (1990 – 1992)

My research is situated at the science-society-policy nexus, spanning the physical, ecological, and human sciences. I have published in journals ranging from ScienceFrontiers in Ecology and the Environment, to Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. My academic career has been unconventional, with spurts and gasps, as I enter new domains of inquiry to radically challenge my pre-existing paradigms. Rather than be an expert of only one discipline, I am a transdisciplinary scholar attracted to interfaces, be they between states of matter, disciplines or cultures. Arthur Koestler wrote that creativity in humour, science, and art arises from perceiving a situation or idea in two self-consistent, but habitually incompatible frames of reference. I am honing my dual competency in the sciences and humanities, notably ethics, to forge viable, just, and lasting solutions to today's grand societal and environmental challenges.

Journal articles and book chapters

Human Ecology and Fisheries Ethics

Lam, M. E. 2021. United by the Global COVID-19 Pandemic: Divided by Our Values and Viral IdentitiesHumanities and Social Sciences Communications 8:31.

Kaiser, M., S. Goldson, T. Buklijas, P. Gluckman, K. Allen, A. Bardsley, M. E. Lam. 2021. Towards Post-Pandemic Sustainable and Ethical Food SystemsFood Ethics 6:4.

Aguado, S. H., I. S. Segado, M. E. S. Vidal, T. J. Pitcher, M. E. Lam. 2021. The Quality of Fisheries Governance Assessed Using a Participatory, Multi-criteria Framework: A Case Study from Murcia, SpainMarine Policy 124:104280.

Lam, M. E. 2019. Seafood Ethics: Reconciling Human Well-being with Fish Welfare, Pp. 177-197 in B. Fischer (ed): The Routledge Handbook of Animal Ethics: Routledge, NY.

Fetcher, N., M. E. Lam, C. R. Cid and T. Mourad. 2019. Contingent Faculty in Ecology and STEM: An Uneven Landscape of Challenges for Higher Education, Ecosphere 10(12):e02964. 

Lam, M. E., T. J. Pitcher, S. Surma, J. Scott, M. Kaiser, A. S. J. White, E. A. Pakhomov and L. Ward. 2019. Value- and Ecosystem-based Management Approach: Pacific Herring Fishery ConflictMarine Ecology Progress Series 617-618:341-364.

Johnson, D. S., A. Lalancette, M. E. Lam, M. Leite and S. K. Pálsson. 2019. The Value of Values for Understanding Transdisciplinary Approaches to Small-scale Fisheries, Pp. 35-54 in MARE Publication Series, Vol. 21, R. Chuenpagdee and S. Jentoft (eds): Transdisciplinarity for Small-Scale Fisheries Governance: Analysis and Practice. Springer International Publishing, Switzerland.

Surma, S., T. J. Pitcher, R. Kumar, D. Varkey, E. A. Pakhomov and M. E. Lam. 2018. Herring Supports Northeast Pacific Predators and Fisheries: Insights from Ecosystem Modelling and Management Strategy Evaluation, PLoS ONE 13(7):e019630.

Raman, S., P. Hobson-West, M. E. Lam and K. Millar. 2018. Science Matters and the Public Interest: The Role of Minority Engagement. Pp. 230-250 in: B Nerlich, S Hartley, S Raman, A Smith (eds), Science and the Politics of Openness: Here Be Monsters. Manchester University Press: Manchester, UK.

Pitcher, T. J., M. E. Lam, M. Kaiser, A. White and E. A. Pakhomov. 2017. Hard of Herring. Pp. 112-119 in: P Tortell, M Young, P Nemetz (eds), Reflections of Canada: Illuminating our Opportunities and Challenges at 150+ Years. Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, University of British Columbia: Vancouver, Canada.

Lam, M. E. 2016. The Ethics and Sustainability of Capture Fisheries and Aquaculture, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 29(1):35-65 (Special Issue: Selected Papers from the 2013 EurSAFE Conference).

Pitcher, T. J. and M. E. Lam. 2015. Fish Commoditization and the Historical Origins of Catching Fish for Profit, Maritime Studies (MAST) 14(1):1-19.

Lam, M. E. 2015. Aboriginal Freshwater Fisheries as Resilient Social-Ecological Systems, Pages 422-437 in: Freshwater Fisheries Ecology, J. F. Craig, ed. (invited). Wiley-Blackwell: Oxford, UK.

Lam, M. E. 2014. Building Ecoliteracy with Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Do, Listen, and Learn, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 12(4):250-251 (Special Issue: Eco-literacy: Roles, Responsibilities and Relationships of Ecologists in the 21st Century).

Pitcher, T. J., M. E. Lam, C. Ainsworth, A. Martindale, K. Nakamura, R. I. Perry, T. Ward. 2013. Improvements to the ‘Rapfish’ Rapid Evaluation Technique for Fisheries: Integrating Ecological and Human Dimensions. Journal of Fish Biology 83(4):865-889 (Special Issue: Selected Papers from the Sixth World Fisheries Congress).

Beck, C., K. Klemow, J. Paulson, A. Bernstein, M. Lam, G. Middendorf, J. Reynolds, K. Belanger, C. Cardelus, C. Cid, S. Doshi, N. Gerardo, L. Jablonski, H. Kimmel, M. Lowman, A. Macrae-Crerar, B. Pohlad, J. de Roode, and C. Thomas. 2012. Add Ecology to the Pre-Medical Curriculum, Science, 335:1301-1302.

Lam, M. E. and M. E. Calcari Campbell. 2012. The Privilege to Fish, Ecology and Society 17(4):19.

Lam, M. E. 2012. Of Fish and Fishermen: Shifting Societal Baselines to Reduce Environmental Harm in Fisheries, Ecology and Society 17(4):18.

Lam, M. E. and T. J. Pitcher. 2012. The Ethical Dimensions of Fisheries, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 4:364-373.

Lam, M. E. and T. J. Pitcher. 2012. Fish Commoditization: Sustainability Strategies to Protect Living Fish, Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 32(1):31-40.

Lam, M. E. and T. Borch. 2011. Cultural Valuing of Fishery Resources by the Norwegian Saami, Pages 361-376 in: Globalisation and Ecological Integrity in Science and International Law, L. Westra, K. Bosselmann, and C. Soskolne (eds.), Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Lam, M. E. and D. Pauly. 2010. Who is Right to Fish? Evolving a Social Contract for Ethical Fisheries, Ecology and Society 15(3): 16.

Pitcher, T. J. and M. E. Lam. 2010. Fishful Thinking: Rhetoric, Reality and the Sea Before Us, Ecology and Society 15(2): 12.

Lam, M. E. and R. Gonzalez-Plaza. 2006. Evolutionary Universal Aesthetics in Ecological Rationality. Journal of Ecological Anthropology 10:66-71.

Theoretical Chemistry and Physics

Gulam Razul, M. S., E. V. Tam, M. E. Lam, P. Linden, and P. G. Kusalik. 2005. Computer Simulations of Heterogeneous Crystal Growth of Atomic Systems, Molecular Physics 103(14):1929-1943.

Lam, M. E., R. J. Boyd and H. J. Kreuzer. 1996. Mechanism of C2H4 Dehydrogenation to C2H2 on Ni (111). Chemical Physics Letters 253:129-134.

Hensel, K. D., M. E. Lam, M. C. L. Gerry, and H. Willner. 1992. The Microwave Spectrum of BrNC18O and the Structure of Bromine Isocyanate. Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy 151:184-196.

Le Roy, R. J., M. R. Davies, and M. E. Lam. 1991. Rate Proportional to (Frequency Shift)2 and Other ˝All Else Being Equal˝ Correlations in Vibrational Predissociation. Journal of Physical Chemistry 95:2167-2175.

Lee, N., M. E. Lam, B. C. Sanctuary, and M. A. Keniry. 1991. Multipole Theory of Composite Pulses: II. Time-Reversal and Offset-Alternating Sequences with Experimental Confirmation. Journal of Magnetic Resonance 92:455-467.

Sanctuary, B. C., N. Lee, F. Commodari, G. Campolieti, M. S. Krishnan, and M. Lam. 1989. Operator Space Quantum Numbers for Spin Systems. Journal of Magnetic Resonance 84:323-332.

Conference proceedings

Lam, M. E., P. Angkiriwang, S. Surma and T. J. Pitcher, Pacific Herring Values and Ethics: Linking Cultures, Fisheries, and Ecology, Proceedings of the Asia-Pacific Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics 2018 Congress, Climate Change and Food: Challenges for the Future, Taipei, Taiwan, May 10 -12, 2018.

Lam, M. E. 2015. Reconciling Haida Ethics with Pacific Herring Management, Pages 169-175 in Know Your Food: Food Ethics and Innovation. Proceedings from the 12th EurSafe Congress, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 28 – 30 May 2015. D. E. Dumitras, I. M. Jitea, and S. Aerts (eds). Wageningen Academic Publishers: Wageningen, The Netherlands. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3920/978-90-8686-813-1_25.

Lam, M. E. 2013. Comparing the Ethics of Capture Fisheries and Aquaculture, Pages 305-312 in The Ethics of Consumption: The Citizen, The Market, and The Law. Proceedings from the 11th EurSafe Congress, Uppsala, Sweden, 11 – 14 September 2013. H. Röcklinsberg and P. Sandin (eds). Wageningen Academic Publishers: The Netherlands.

Technical reports

Cohen, J. B., F. Bajanca, M. E. Lam, K. Stroobants, P. Novitzky, M. Björnmalm, G. Kismihók, A. Loeber. 2019. Policy Brief Towards Responsible Research Career Assessment.

Lam, M. E., T. J. Pitcher, S. O. Funtowicz, and J. P. van der Sluis. 2018. Preliminary Knowledge Quality Assessment of ICES Advice for NSSH Fishery. Annex 6, Pp. 90-94 in ICES Report of the Workshop on a Long-term Management Strategy for Norwegian Spring-spawning Herring (WKNSSHMSE), August 2018, Torshavn, Faroe Islands. ICES CM 2018/ACOM: 53.

Kumar, R., S. Surma, T. J. Pitcher, D. Varkey, M. Lam, C. Ainsworth, and E. Pakhomovo. 2016. An Ecosystem Model of the Ocean Around Haida Gwaii, Northern British Columbia: Ecopath, Ecosim and Ecospace. Fisheries Centre Research Reports 24(2):76pp.

Pitcher, T. J., R. Kumar, M. E. Lam, S. Surma, and D. Varkey. 2016. Spatial Modelling of the Haida Gwaii Ecosystem: Contributions to Haida Gwaii Marine Spatial Plan. Fisheries Centre Research Reports 24(1):79pp.

Pitcher, T. J., R. Kumar, M. E. Lam and S. Surma. 2013. Spatial Modelling of the Haida Gwaii Ecosystem: A Pilot Project Contributing to Haida Gwaii Marine Spatial Planning. Report to the Haida Oceans Technical Team, 72pp.

Pitcher, T. J., M. E. Lam, P. Ganapathiraju, A. Martindale, K. Nakamura, R. I. Perry, D. Varkey and T. Ward. 2011. UBC Martha Piper Research Fund Final Report: Valuing the Human Dimensions of Fisheries.

Pitcher, T. J., M. E. Lam, D. Varkey, N. Adams, E. Buchary, B. Hunt, S. Klain, L. Li, S. Obradovich, K. Parkinson, I. McKechnie, D. Tesfamichael, Z. Schoenberger and H. Stewart. 2009. The Sea Before Us: Reconstructing the Strait of Georgia, Peter Wall Institute of Advanced Studies Exploratory Workshop, 29-31 May 2009.

Lam, M. E. and U. R. Sumaila. 2008. Socio-economics Discussion Paper: Proposed revised Multiple Accounts Evaluation Framework emphasizing sociological resilience and community profile indicators, DFO Report.

Guénette, S., V. Christensen, C. Hoover, M. E. Lam, D. Preikshot, and D. Pauly. 2007. A Synthesis of Research Activities at the Fisheries Centre on Ecosystem-based Fisheries Modelling and Assessment with Emphasis on the Northern and Central Coast of BC, Fisheries Centre Research Reports, Vol. 15(1), Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

See also publication list in Cristin:

Academic article
  • Show author(s) (2023). Too hot or too cold: the biochemical basis of temperature-size rules for fish and other ectotherms. Environmental Biology of Fishes.
  • Show author(s) (2021). United by the global COVID-19 pandemic: divided by our values and viral identities. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Towards Post-Pandemic Sustainable and Ethical Food Systems. Food Ethics. 19 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2021). The quality of fisheries governance assessed using a participatory, multi-criteria framework: A case study from Murcia, Spain. Marine Policy. 1-13.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Ethical reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic in the global seafood industry: navigating diverse scales and contexts of marine values and identities. Maritime Studies. 501-516.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Considerations for management strategy evaluation for small pelagic fishes. Fish and Fisheries. 20 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Value- And ecosystem-based management approach- And Pacific herring fishery conflict. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 341-364.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Contingent faculty in ecology and STEM: an uneven landscape of challenges for higher education. Ecosphere. 1-16.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Herring supports Northeast Pacific predators and fisheries: Insights from ecosystem modelling and management strategy evaluation. PLOS ONE.
Letter to the editor
  • Show author(s) (2021). WTO must ban harmful fisheries subsidies. Science. 544-544.

More information in national current research information system (CRIStin)

Current projects

Managing Ethical Norwegian Seascape Activities (MENSA)

Research Council of Norway (2020-2024)

Management of marine resources, globally and in Norway, strives to achieve sustainable development by balancing resource extraction, biodiversity conservation, and societal acceptability. However, these three philosophical paradigms tend to stand as monolithic pillars in their approaches to sustainability, namely: rationalization, conservation, and community. Consequently, such un-integrated approaches tend to lead to management objectives and policy goals in conflict. These conflicts are often rooted in competing economic, ecological, and social values. MENSA’s overarching aim is to develop an integrated ethical approach to the sustainable management of Norwegian seascape activities: this will be done by making explicit values and valuation of the sea and negotiating the ensuing trade-offs with the input of diverse marine stakeholders in Norway, including scientific experts, government representatives, industry members, non-governmental organizations, and most importantly, its citizens.

MENSA’s objectives are threefold:

  1. To contribute to a theoretical understanding of marine resource values and valuation in seascapes, informed by niche construction theory and sense of place empirical research.
  2. To elicit societal values of the seas and coasts and activities associated with marine resources in Norway using the seascape concept and imagery in a novel methodology.
  3. To evaluate value trade-offs and negotiate resource conflicts with Norwegian stakeholders by integrating ecological and oceanographic modelling of scenarios with elicited value priorities in an ethical framework for management strategy evaluation.

The knowledge gained in MENSA can contribute to ethical governance that can resolve disputes related to competing uses or protection of coastal and marine resources. This integrated ethical approach can serve as a proof-of-concept model at the national level for how to reconcile value trade-offs toward sustainable development. Such trade-offs must be reconciled to achieve the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): MENSA focuses on SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions).

eSEAS: Enhancing Seafood Ethics and Sustainability

University of Bergen (2019 - present)

Building on my Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship project (2017 - 2019) on seafood ethics, I am investigating seascape values of diverse social actors to resolve fisheries and marine policy trade-offs. Sustainability goals often lead to conflicting management objectives, which are rooted in competing values. Resource conflicts are compounded when human activities overlap spatially or temporally. To reconcile competing marine uses and conservation, policy trade-offs must be resolved with an understanding of the nature and interaction of values related to the sea and coasts. To aid decision-makers at the science-policy nexus, I am developing multidisciplinary, fit-for-purpose deliberation and decision-support tools, including: 1. value- and ecosystem-based management approach (VEBMA); 2. participatory knowledge quality assessment (participatory KQA); and 3. ethical management strategy evaluation (eMSE). These tools are being designed to promote ethical governance, that is, participatory, deliberative, transparent, and accountable decision-making that can synthesize diverse, often contested sources of knowledge and can reconcile a plurality of values among stakeholders. Ultimately, my theoretical and empirical research aims to foster more sustainable and just seascapes by developing the requisite scientific understanding and policy tools, guided by transdisciplinary, cross-cultural scholarship in partnership with practitioners.

Science of Values and Identity in the Political Process

Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission (2019 - present)

The JRC aims to provide a State-of-the-Science report on the Science of values and identity in the political process. This will include the development of a practical analytical framework for policy-makers to use in supporting political choices by clarifying the values behind each issue and informing the values trade-off process. Specifically, it seeks to improve our understanding of the values and political identities of European citizens, with a view to contribute to a better design and implementation of EU policies, as well as greater support for them among EU citizens. The analysis will also aim to understand the dynamics of values, i.e., how values preferences and priorities of individuals and societies are established and develop, and the way they change through time at the individual and/or societal level. A review of the existing literature on values will be carried out, with contributions from an international, interdisciplinary team of 29 psychologists, legal scholars, philosophers, historians, anthropologists, evolutionary biologists, sociologists and economists. Through an extended review of the main theories of values according to different disciplines, the existing taxonomies and frameworks used to define and classify values will be critically assessed and new insights synthesized. Ultimately, an analytical framework will be developed for values in the political process that can be used to analyze, classify, and debate the values held by European citizens and political parties and movements.

Global Fisheries Review

World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), Global Oceans Practice (2019 - present)

WWF’s Global Oceans Practice is conducting a high-level Global Review of its Fisheries Strategy by a panel of three independent experts selected for their collective experience and perspective. The tasks identified include: 1. identify WWF’s strengths and where it is well-placed to deliver transformation at scale in global fisheries; 2. ensure that WWF is aligned as an Oceans Practice around approaches and in places that have the greatest potential for transformational change; 3. ensure that WWF's work is synergistic with the work of other key players; 4. ensure that WWF's fisheries work continues to deliver against both practice Outcomes and the Global goals; and 5. identify key partnerships that WWF should be developing to increase the impact of its fisheries work. The outcome will be a concise report that provides expert recommendations for the WWF's Global Oceans Practice team on how it can better align its collective vision, strategies, and resources in the coming decade to accelerate and achieve a transition to environmental sustainability for more of the world’s fisheries, in the service of healthy and resilient ocean ecosystems.

Mimi E. Lam, University of Bergen, Norway; Trevor Ward (Chair), Visiting Fellow, School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Australia; and Rashid Sumaila, Professor, University of British Columbia, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, Canada.

Ansvarlig Forskning og Innovasjon i Norge (AFINO) - Responsible Research and Innovation in Norway

Norwegian Research Council, (2019-2024)

AFINO will work systematically to strengthen and enrich Norwegian Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practice and to broaden theory development within these areas, and specifically in the overlaps between them. AFINO will be a virtual, transdisciplinary centre bringing different types of competences together, in academic workshops and conferences, as well as in stakeholder dialogues and organized exercises for reciprocal learning across professions, industries, and disciplines. The centre will develop and experiment with new and improved methods of learning and collaboration, including learning labs and future literacy laboratories (foresight). To achieve these objectives, we have formed a broad coalition building on strong, existing networks and collaborations within RRI and CSR research environments in Norway, and between research institutions and industry. AFINO will explore the specific challenges and opportunities of a Nordic and/or Norwegian approach to responsible innovation.

Steering Committee: Siri Granum Carson (PI), Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet (NTNU), Kristian Alm, Bedriftsøkonomisk Institut (BI); Matthias Kaiser, Universitetet i Bergen (UiB); Anne Ingeborg Myhr, Genøk - Senter for Biosikkerhet; Lisa Scordato, Nordisk Institutt for Studier av Innovasjon, Forskning og Utdanning (NIFU); Tatiana A. Iakovleva, Universitetet i Stavanger; Stig Erik Jakobsen, Høgskulen på Vestlandet; Clare Shelley-Egan, Oslomet - Storbyuniversitetet

New HoRRIzon Pilot Action 2: RRI Career Assessment Matrix 

Horizon 2020, European Commission (2017-2021)

To facilitate and incentivize broad usage of responsible research and innovation (RRI) approaches it is important to formally recognize and reward good practice in areas such as public engagement, open access, gender equality, ethics, science education and governance. This includes in hiring and promotion decisions made by research-performing organizations, and in funding decisions made by research-funding organizations. Inspired by efforts such as the Open Science Career Assessment Matrix (OS-CAM), the RRI-CAM Pilot Action of NewHoRRIzon aims to explore if OS-CAM can be further developed to fully incorporate RRI. Our group organized both a plenary session and participatory workshop on the relationship between RRI and Career Assessment at the 2019 Marie Curie Alumni Association Conference in Vienna to gather feedback and viewpoints from selected speakers and Marie Curie alumni. The goal is to solicit the input of MSCA researchers, alumni, evaluators, and administrators to co-produce research quality criteria that may be eventually implemented within the MSCA framework. We believe that the RRI-CAM will reach far beyond the specifications of this MSCA funding program pilot, however, as it seeks to facilitate assessments of research quality inclusive of RRI in hiring, promotion, and funding decisions made by research-performing and -granting organizations.

Mimi E. Lam, University of Bergen, Norway; Mattias Björnmalm, Advisor for Research & Innovation, CESAER, Belgium; Fernanda Bajanca, Chair MCAA Policy Working Group and Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, France; Peter Novitzky, Ethicist, Wageningen University, The Netherlands; and Alexandra Dubini, MSCA Evaluator, University of Cordoba, Spain.

Completed projects

eSEAS - Enhancing Seafood Ethics and Sustainability: A Values and Ecosystem-based Management Approach

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, European Commission (2017-2019)

This project explored new ways of securing seafood sustainability by embedding ethics and values in management frameworks. In resource management and governance, the explicit articulation of values is missing. Values can aid decision-makers in resolving inherent policy trade-offs that emerge at the science-policy nexus. This will facilitate more transparent, accountable, and inclusive public decision-making. eSEAS’ objectives were threefold: 1. to promote cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research in the nascent field of seafood ethics; 2. to develop three innovative multidisciplinary “fit-for-purpose” decision-support tools to enhance seafood ethics and sustainability; and 3. to implement ethical approaches to European management challenges, including the complex multijurisdictional Norwegian-spring spawning herring fishery. Through broad public engagement and dissemination, eSEAS catalyzed science-society dialogues and collective actions to enhance seafood ethics and sustainability.

Mimi E. Lam, Marie Curie Fellow, University of Bergen (UiB), Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities (SVT), Norway; Matthias Kaiser, Marie Curie Supervisor, Professor, UiB, SVT; Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, Professor, UiB, SVT; Silvio Funtowicz, Professor II, UiB, SVT; Katja Enberg, Associate Professor, UiB, Department of Biological Sciences, Norway; and Tony J. Pitcher, Professor, University of British Columbia, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, Canada.

Identifying Diverse Stakeholder Values for British Columbia’s Herring Fisheries, T. Buck Suzuki Foundation

Herring PeopleUniversity of British Columbia (UBC) Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies (PWIAS) Arts-based Initiative

The Ethical Challenges of Herring Food Webs and Value ChainsUBC PWIAS International Research Roundtable

Collaborative Solutions for Haida Gwaii Herring FisheriesUBC PWIAS Solutions Initiative

Fostering Sustainable British Columbia Herring Fisheries with Cultural Narratives and Images, UBC Sustainability Research Collaboration Grant

Understanding the Ecosystem Role of Pacific Herring in Coupled Social-ecological Systems: Advancing Forage Fish ScienceNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Strategic Partnership Grant

Valuing the Human Dimensions of FisheriesUBC Martha Piper Research Fund

The Privilege to FishGordon and Betty Moore Foundation Marine Conservation Initiative

Awards

I was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship in 2017 from the European Commission for my interdisciplinary project on Enhancing Seafood Ethics and Sustainability (eSEAS): A Values and Ecosystem-based Management Approach. I am embedding ethics and values in novel marine resource management frameworks. To contribute to more sustainable and ethical seafood governance, I am developing ethical deliberation and decision-support tools (e.g., a value- and ecosystem-based management approach, knowledge quality assessment, and ethical management strategy evaluation).

Also in 2017, I was the recipient of the inaugural Conservation Beacon Award from the Society for Conservation Biology. I received the award for "pioneering an ethical approach to the conservation of marine resources, both natural and cultural, through interdisciplinary research and community engagement at the science-policy interface." I have been privileged to work with diverse scientists, artists, filmmakers, and indigenous and local community members to not only investigate, but also broadly communicate the ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural values of marine resources to global society.

As an Environmental Leadership Program National Fellow, I received training in specific leadership competencies, from diversity and coalition-building to systems-thinking and strengths-based leadership. As well, I received numerous awards and fellowships while studying theoretical chemistry and physics at Dalhousie University (PhD) and the University of British Columbia (BSc Honours), notably from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada as a postgraduate and undergraduate researcher.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (eSEAS), European Commission (2017 – 2019)

Conservation Beacon Award, Society for Conservation Biology (2017)

National Fellowship, Environmental Leadership Program (2005)

Whiteley Center Scholar, University of Washington-Friday Harbor Laboratories (2004)

Postgraduate Scholarships, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) (1990 – 1994)

Graduate Fellowships, Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University (1990 – 1994)

Best Student Paper, 5th Atlantic Theoretical Chemistry Symposium (1993)

Walter C. Sumner Memorial Fellowships, Dalhousie University (1991 – 1993)

Walter J. Chute Award, Dalhousie University, Chemistry Graduate Programme (1990 – 1991)

University of British Columbia (UBC) Scholarships (1987 – 1990)

NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award, University of Waterloo (1989)

American Chemical Society Undergraduate Award, UBC (1989)

NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award, McGill University (1988)

E. H. Archibald Prize, UBC (1988)

Charles A. and Jane C. A. Banks Foundation Scholarships, UBC (1987, 1988)

President’s Entrance Scholarship, UBC (1986 – 1987)

Service

I serve on the editorial board of the international journal, Food Ethics. Currently, I am guest editing, with Matthias Kaiser, a special issue on Ethical Seafood? Fisheries and Aquaculture at the Crossroads. Previously, I was guest editor, with Meaghan Calcari-Campbell, for a special issue on The Privilege to Fish with Ecology and Society

For the Ecological Society of America (ESA), I was elected as Member-at-Large on the Governing Board. Previously, I served as the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. I also served on the Education and Human Resources Committee (now, Committee on Education and Diversity) and on the Diversity Award Committee. I was profiled in the ESA Focus on Ecologists series for my efforts to enhance diversity in ecology.

At the community level, I served on the Gwaii Haanas Advisory Committee, contributing to the Gwaii Haanas Gina ‘Waadlux̲an KilG̲ulhG̲a Land-Sea-People Management Plan, a collaboration between the Government of Canada and the Council of the Haida Nation, which sets out guiding principles "to manage Gwaii Haanas from mountaintop to seafloor as a single, interconnected ecosystem." I have been active working with First Nations communities in British Columbia, Canada, including the Haida and Holmalco, and Native American tribes in Washington, United States, notably the Lummi.

Guest Editor, Food Ethics, Special Issue, Ethical Seafood? Fisheries and Aquaculture at a Crossroads (2018 – present)

Editorial Board, Food Ethics International Journal (2015 – present)

Advisory Council Member, Gwaii Haanas Land-Sea-People Plan, Canada (2014 – 2018)

Member-at-Large, Governing Board Member, Ecological Society of America (ESA) (2011 – 2013)

Past-Chair, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Section, ESA (2011 – 2013)

Diversity Award Committee, ESA (2010 – 2016)

Education and Human Resources Committee, ESA (2009 – 2012)

Guest Editor, Ecology and Society, Special Issue, The Privilege to Fish (2009 – 2012)

Chair, TEK Section, ESA (2008 – 2011)

Secretary and Treasurer, TEK Section, ESA (2006 – 2008)

I am currently supervising or co-supervising 3 postdoctoral fellows at the University of Bergen (UiB):

Dr Laura Drivdal, Postdoctoral Fellow, UiB Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities (SVT), MENSA Project

Laura is postdoctoral fellow at the UiB SVT working in the MENSA Project. She is leading the empirical research studies investigating the values, identities, and perceptions of Norwegian citizens and stakeholders related to the oceans and coasts of Norway. Specifically, she is gathering data about Norwegians perspectives on ocean issues through both qualitative and quantitative methods, including surveys, interviews, and workshops, to inform the ocean and coastal management and policies in Norway.

Dr Aiste Klimašauskaitė, Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities (SVT), SEAS Programme

Aiste is a SEAS Programme postdoctoral fellow at the UiB SVT, co-supervised by Professor Ragnhild Overå, Department of Geography. She is researching values in the context of blue growth projects and marine sustainability research programmes. She is interested in knowledge, power, expertise, and damage.

Dr Asia Alsgaard, Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for Early Sapiens (SapienCE) and Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies, and Religion (AHKR), SEAS Programme

Asia is a SEAS Programme postdoctoral fellow at the UiB SapienCE and AHKR, co-supervised by SapienCE researchers, Dr Karen van Niekerk, Professor Sarah Wurz, and Dr Carin Andersson. She is identifying changes in the coastal environment and human harvesting practices of fish and seals during the Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age along the southern Cape of South Africa using stable isotope analyses. She will use these data also to address present day issues in marine sustainability along the southern Cape.

 

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