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Resource and Environmental Management
SFU researcher challenges status-quo of ecosystem models
Sieme Bossier is a postdoctoral fellow in SFU’s School of Resource and Environmental Management’s Ocean Equity Lab working to make ecosystem models more accurate, accounting for impacts on people in addition to the environment.
Traditionally, ecosystem models map everything from sunlight and currents to mammals and birds, and even people using these environments. These ecosystem models are great tools to study ecosystems and their interactions in a holistic way, model future environmental states and inform management decisions.
For example, Bossier explains that these models can depict scenarios for changes in ocean water temperature and fishing technologies, or even demonstrate what a sustainable fishery would look like. However, she notes that they often exclude human components, like equity considerations, in favor of focusing on the natural environment and its resources, as equity is generally seen as too difficult to model.
“I want to challenge this by providing ways towards a better use of our models that include the impact on both the environment and people,” she says. “Simply by bringing our knowledge together, thinking differently and asking different questions, we can work together to recognize and integrate social equity in ecosystem models so that they better represent the realities we see.”
“If we continue to only look at the impacts on the environment, we risk perpetuating inequitable governance systems. We also lose the opportunity to anticipate the social impacts and to identify meaningful solutions for those who rely on marine environments.”
Bossier mentions that the idea came to her while working with a complex ecosystem model. “It became obvious to me that we were missing this essential link to people, and that without it, we wouldn’t be able to deal with the environmental issues we see around us because it’s all connected.”
“Once we can use our models to ask different questions and address issues of inequity, then one will see that there is a lot that can be done to advance ocean equity by using ecosystem models,” she says.
Bossier is also a member of Ocean Nexus, which she credits with helping her dive deeper into her research and better understand parallels in related fields. “Everyone in the Ocean Nexus group works with issues related to equity in the marine space such as ocean governance, pollution, the role of women, energy, fishing, technology, labour rights, etc.,” she says. “Because of this, we can start to see parallels in each other’s work and get a better understanding of our own topics by sharing our knowledge with each other."