Mike Stokesbury is a professor in the biology department at Acadia University.
Mike on a trawler with a sturgeon. Photo: Danni Harper
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Gaspereau, Nova Scotia. I spent a lot of time as a kid on or in the Gaspereau River.
What is a typical day like in this job?
A workday usually involves preparing and giving lectures in Aquatic Ecology or Conservation Biology at Acadia. Interacting with graduate and undergraduate students in my lab, and from my classes. Doing paperwork, like animal care protocols, grant writing, grant reports, working with students on their theses proposals, chapters and publications. Doing fieldwork if I’m lucky and can fit it in.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
That we have the freedom to identify interesting and important questions in nature, and to attempt to answer them.
Mike at the weir in the Bay of Fundy. Photo: Darren Porter
How is your role with Apoqnmatulti’k different from other projects that you’ve been a part of?
My role is very different in Apoqnmatulti’k. In my usual role as a western trained scientist, I’m used to driving the direction and goals of the project, in collaboration with my students and regulatory, academic and/or industrial partners. Those goals are usually determined by the natural history and ecology of the organism that we are looking at, what research has been done, and usually what may be threatening its sustainability or conservation.
In Apoqnmatulti’k we have a much broader knowledge base to draw from for forming and answering critical ecological questions for species important to First Nations. Often these questions will be more focused on basic ecology or behaviour and fit within the ecosystem. This is because our partners have a more informed and holistic understanding of the ecosystem.
What does Apoqnmatulti’k mean to you?
It means working together. It’s not always seamless, but it is always productive. I learn new and valuable things every time that we interact.
Why do you think animal tracking is important?
Animal tracking is important because we think we know so much, but, actually, we know so little. Every time we work with a species, we learn new information critical to our understanding of the function of that species in the ecosystem, and ways that we can better manage our relationship with the species to improve its sustainability.
What is something most people may not know about lobster, eel or tomcod in the Bay of Fundy?
Eels are sexually undifferentiated at birth, are difficult to tag, bury themselves in the mud, are impossible to catch when migrating, may mature over a fifteen-year period, and are a pain in the neck for people to try to study.
Mike with the students from his lab. Photo: Montana MacLean.
What is something new you learned while working on this project?
I have learned a lot of things. Particularly from the discussions I have had with Mi’kmaw researchers and the Shubenacadie River Monitoring working group that consists of local knowledge holders, Mi'kmaw knowledge and rights holders, leadership, and fishermen. I admire the deep understanding that they have of nature, and how they embrace conservation.
What are you most proud of with Apoqnmatulti’k?
How my students have embraced the project and have become so skilled both at performing the science that they need to do for their theses and at incorporating a Two-Eyed Seeing approach into their projects.
What do you like to do outside of work? (e.g., hobbies etc.)
I like to go hiking with my family.