Canada’s efforts to responsibly harness the power of the Bay of Fundy have taken step forward with the promotion of Lindsay Bennett to executive director and the addition of new board director Melissa Nevin to the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE).
Lindsay Bennett has worked at FORCE since 2016 in steadily increasing positions of leadership, most recently as operations director, having previously held senior executive positions in sport administration.
“As we build on this year’s achievements – including three new tidal technologies built in Nova Scotia and a Fundy-wide science program to track fish movement – we are ready to move into the next stage of demonstration and learning,” said Doug Keefe , chair of FORCE.
“With that in mind, we’re delighted that Lindsay Bennett has accepted the new position of executive director, advancing from her previous role as operations director where she has been a tremendous asset. Lindsay excels as a solutions-focused leader, and talented, hard-working project manager and we’re fortunate to have those skills directing all activities at FORCE.”
The new board director Melissa Nevin is the director of fisheries and integrated resources for the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs. She previously worked as a Mi’kmaq Consultation Researcher at the Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn/Mi’kmaq Rights Initiative.
“We’re delighted to add Nevin, a strong advocate for Mi’kmaw, Wolastoqiyik, and Peskotomuhkati fisheries, who arrives with a deep understanding of the renewable energy sector, and tidal energy in particular, to our board,” added Keefe.
Commenting on her new role, Bennett said: “ Meeting the challenge of ‘the Fundy standard’ means attracting the world’s best technologies, and working with rights holders, scientists, regulators and communities to demonstrate we can safely generate clean, renewable energy from the world’s highest tides. I’m ready to lead our staff into a future that will include renewable energy both above and below the water.”
FORCE is Canada’s lead facility for marine renewable energy research, located in the Bay of Fundy. Since 2009, FORCE has built the electrical infrastructure to allow devices to deliver power to the provincial grid, and in partnership with many organizations, conducted and published research, monitoring and risk assessment to better understand the marine environment and the role tidal stream energy technology can play in Canada’s energy future.