BCBusiness

42 BCBusiness february 2016 embodiment of scientic exploration and discovery—a countervailing force to the dramatic contraction of federal govern- ment science over the past dozen years and a beacon for coastal communities and scientists alike. At rst glance, the breadth of Hakai's research programs seems dizzying, spanning everything from archeolo¬y and carbon dynamics to marine micro- biolo¬y and salmon migration. But all those research projects have two things in common: a shared geography and Peterson's conviction that they will succeed. "We focus on things that we think are important, and we focus on things that we think we can do well," he says. Last year on Calvert, a team of archeologists uncovered what might be the oldest footprints in North America, dating as far back as 13,000 years. Basic surveys of kelp diversity in adjacent waters uncovered record numbers of species, several of which had never been recorded on B.C.'s coast before. And simply by looking closely at a spoon- ful of sand on Hakai beach, microbi- ologists have identi•ied new species of microorganisms. Today, Hakai employs about 70 people (40 scien- tists, the rest support sta'—all reporting directly to Peterson), boasts accommodations for 100 people and has a ¢otilla of a dozen research boats. Over 200 scientists and 80 research projects on the central coast trace their work to Hakai's support—that's in addition to the constellation of collabora- tors across First Nations agen- cies, and federal and provincial departments. In what could still be considered its salad days, Hakai has already shifted the eld of gravity of science in B.C. and it's still expanding. Last summer, Hakai opened a secondary •ield station on Quadra and is currently in talks with the Smithsonian Institution to join the American research organization's Marine Global Earth Observatory network. All of these metrics are impressive in their own right, but perhaps what's most interesting is how Hakai, under Peterson's idiosyncratic leadership, is actually changing what phi- lanthropy can look like. As Rob Butler, president of the Pacic WildLife Foundation points out, donors with a yen to support a cause will typi- cally nd a topical non-prot organization and donate money to it: "In this case Eric has stepped forward and is deeply involved in it and making it run. It's quite a dif- ferent model." At the same time, Hakai is also charting a new way of doing science. "I think where he is and what he's doing will very much advance the kind of science that is needed if we're going to sustain our marine resources," says Eddy Carmack, an emeritus scientist with the Institute of Ocean Sciences at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Nanaimo. "He's not bound by the con- ventional rules or academic protocol, which is quite refreshing." Kelly Brown, director of the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department DATA GRAb (From left) A Hakai archae- ologist excavates a six-metre-deep site near the Calvert sta- tion while students take notes; install- ing equipment to measure how much water flows through streams into the marine environment during storm events; researchers examine young salmon caught to investigate the survival of juvenile salmon as they pass through on their northward migration

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