Lecture Details
Thursday, October 6th, 2016
5:35-6:35pm *embedded in the class INFO 5500: Information in Society
Room 1011, Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building, 6100 University Avenue
The Information Management Public Lectures give attention to exciting advances in research and professional practice. The topics are diverse reflecting the importance and global extent of Information Management in today’s society. The lectures are open to all members of the Dalhousie campus and surrounding community. Click here for the full schedule. We encourage you to attend in person, but if that is not possible you can access a recording on our website following the lecture. Live streaming is not currently available.
Suzuette Soomai
School of Information Management, Dalhousie University
Abstract: The factors influencing scientific communication are contingent on the characteristics of the many dynamic and iterative science-policy interfaces among decision-makers, scientists, and other stakeholders as revealed in case studies of the Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This talk presents the important drivers to information production and the key enablers and barriers to communication based on direct observations at the organizations’ meetings coupled with interviews of fisheries scientists and managers. Unique features of decision-making and information use enable the production of credible, relevant, and legitimate information in each organization, including trade-offs in these attributes to support fisheries governance objectives. Understanding the interface can equip the organizations to evaluate or modify practices to increase the uptake of their information in decision-making and enable stakeholders to determine their most appropriate entry point in a decision-making process.
Biography: Dr. Suzuette S. Soomai is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Environmental Information: Use and Influence (EIUI) research program at Dalhousie University. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the role of scientific information—produced by fisheries management organizations— in policy- and decision-making for marine fisheries management. She holds an Interdisciplinary PhD and a Master in Marine Management (MMM) from Dalhousie University. She also holds a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Zoology and a BSc (Hons) from the University of the West Indies.
Dr. Soomai has considerable experience in fisheries resource assessment and management as she was a government fisheries scientist in Trinidad and Tobago. She has worked closely with commercial/large-scale and small-scale fishers in the Caribbean as well as regional an international fisheries management organizations in a range of research activities including fish stock assessments, freshwater aquaculture farming, and at-sea testing of marine bycatch reduction gear technologies.