VENUS / Salish Sea Workshop 15-17 July 2025

Canada/Pacific
Rooms 101 & 109

Rooms 101 & 109

#100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
Martin Scherwath (ONC)
Description

Past, present and future of inshore observations in the Salish Sea with Ocean Networks Canada

We want to hear from you

Help celebrate successes and shape future observing in the Salish Sea! Join Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) at the VENUS/Salish Sea Workshop on July 15-17, 2025 to share your knowledge and contribute your vision. 

About the Workshop

Over 2 ½ days, we will first review past findings from VENUS then envision the observatory’s future.

Date: July 15-17, 2025
Who: This workshop is intended for interested researchers, First Nation communities, governments and industry.
Format: This workshop will be offered in hybrid format: both in-person and online.
Location: University of Victoria
Register Now: Please confirm your in-person attendance request before April 30, 2025; remote participation registration will remain open.

Even if you are unable to attend this workshop we still want to hear from you! Please complete this brief survey so your questions and ideas can be incorporated into the workshop plan. 

VENUS_seafloor_array_1.jpg

Workshop Support

For those attending in person, light breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks will be provided. Online participation is possible for those who lack travel funds. We will also try to mobilize funds for exceptional circumstances when participants need support to join in-person, on a case by case basis. Please contact us via ue-officer@oceannetworks.ca to inquire further.

More Background

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is a world-leading ocean observing facility hosted and owned by the University of Victoria (UVic), and managed and operated by the ONC Society, a not-for-profit established in 2007. ONC delivers ocean data from its cabled, mobile and community-based observing networks that represent an essential component of Canada’s ocean observing science capacity.
By bringing data to the surface, ONC provides ocean intelligence to scientists, governments, organizations, and citizens. Ocean data are archived, processed and made freely available via ONC’s data management system, Oceans 3.0.

The idea for seafloor cabled observatories was conceived in the 1990s and became a reality in Canada in August 2002 with funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the BC Knowledge Development Fund. These funds helped build and deploy the Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea (VENUS for short) in the Salish Sea, which started streaming data in February 2006. 

Future of VENUS

Two decades later, ONC is now seeking to celebrate the discoveries and progress made through VENUS, as well as revisit the original scientific ideas in the light of today’s community needs and technological capabilities. The time is now right to consider how VENUS observing systems may be reconfigured to help address tomorrow’s questions for the Salish Sea.

From those who have already been involved with ONC, we want to hear about your research and lessons learned. And from everyone: Which observation series should be continued and which have concluded? Where can ONC best utilize existing operations and maintenance funds? Where would new proposals be needed for new ideas? 
 

Registration
Salish Sea Workshop Registration
    • 08:30
      Light Breakfast Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
    • Overview: Welcome Ceremony, Workshop Overview, Introduction to VENUS & ONC Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
    • Presentation: Salish Sea System Digital Twin Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8

      Presentations related to the Salish Sea as an urban sea system

      • 1
        John Delaney: Next-gen Stewardship of Urban Sea Systems
      • 2
        Tammy Sam: Salish Sea – First Nations Perspective
      • 3
        Gary Greene
    • 10:45
      Coffee Break Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
    • Group Exercise: Salish Sea System 1-2-7-All Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

    • Overview: Group Photo Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
    • 12:00
      Lunch
    • Panel: Large Scale System and Changes Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
      • 4
        Richard Dewey: Two decades of second-by-second State of the Ocean monitoring with VENUS
      • 5
        Rich Pawlowicz: Circulation processes in the Salish Sea
      • 6
        SalishSeaCast, Susan Allen et al.’s coupled bio-chem-physical model of the Salish Sea
      • 7
        Jennifer Jackson: An overview of DFO's Salish Sea Biophysical and Shore station data programs from 1914 to present
      • 8
        Jody Klymak: Water mass budgets
    • Panel: Biological Systems and Ecosystem Health Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
      • 9
        Akash Sastri: Overview of DFO plankton monitoring in the Salish Sea
      • 10
        Vera Pospelova: What we have learned from our sediment trap studies
      • 11
        Megan Tomlin and Steven Henry Jr: Clam garden restoration
      • 12
        Stephane Gauthier: Sannich inlet active acoustic observations
      • 13
        Discussion
    • Overview: What ONC can/cannot do Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
    • 15:10
      Refreshments Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
    • Group Exercise: Topical Breakouts Large Scale—Rm 101; Bio Systems—Rms 109 and 201

      Large Scale—Rm 101; Bio Systems—Rms 109 and 201

    • Group Exercise: Report Backs & Group Discussion Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

    • Overview: Graphical Recording, Day 2 Preview, Closing Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
    • Social: Mixer & Informal Poster Session
    • 08:30
      Light Breakfast Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
    • Overview: Day 1 Recap, Day 2 Preview Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
    • Panel: Biogeochemistry in the Salish Sea Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
      • 14
        Kohen Bauer: Distributed biological observatories
      • 15
        Wiley Evans: Ocean acidification research and/or our approaches for measuring the marine CO2 system
      • 16
        Maycira Costa: Coupled satellite and ONC data from ocean surface dynamics
      • 17
        Roberta Hamme: Drivers of biogeochemical changes in deep Saanich Inlet
      • 18
        Panel Discussion
    • 10:30
      Coffee Break
    • Panel: Coastal Management, Soundscapes & Traffic Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
      • 19
        Lorne Underwood
      • 20
        Harvey Takhar
      • 21
        Shahin Dashtguard
      • 22
        Kees Lockman
      • 23
        Panel Discussion
    • 12:00
      Lunch
    • Panel: Physical & digital infrastructure and innovation Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
      • 24
        JP Juteau: Rockland's technology and work in British Columbia
      • 25
        Ben Skinner: The PSF Marine Data Centre
      • 26
        Brad de Young: CIOSS Pacific enabling data access
      • 27
        Jan Newton: NANOOS observing system and science observations from it
      • 28
        Randy LeVeque: Machine learning for tsunami forecasting
      • 29
        Jeff Harris: Towards a digital twin of the Salish Sea: reduced-order modeling through machine learning
    • Overview: Intro to Breakout Exercises Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
    • Group Exercise: Topical Breakouts Coastal Mgmt—Rm 101; Biogeochem—Rm 109; Innovation—Rm 201

      Coastal Mgmt—Rm 101; Biogeochem—Rm 109; Innovation—Rm 201

    • 15:00
      Refreshments
    • Group Exercise: Report Backs & Group Discussion Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

    • Overview: Capture the Gold, Graphical Recording, Day 3 Preview Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
    • 08:30
      Light Breakfast
    • Overview: Preview: Where ONC should do what? Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
    • Group Exercise: Our Collective Grand Vision Rooms 101, 109, 201

      Rooms 101, 109, 201

    • 10:30
      Coffee Break
    • Group Exercise: Report Backs & Group Discussion Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

    • 12:00
      Lunch
    • Overview: Capture the Gold, Graphical Recording, Next Steps Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8
    • Overview: Closing Ceremony Rooms 101 & 109

      Rooms 101 & 109

      #100, 2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 1V8