Let’s be serious, who didn’t want to be a marine biologist when they were a kid? The students and staff at the Aquatron Lab in the Life Sciences department of Dalhousie University aren’t exactly working with Flipper, but they’ve got a lot of cool stuff going on. That includes: an artificial reef habitat for all sorts of marine life, a holding facility for seals and squid, and working with the Dal Medical School to study fish from Northern Africa as a model for human health. Right now, there are literally a thousand people doing research there.

Dalhousie University has got an excellent reputation internationally which has a major impact on Halifax’s success as a city. They’ve got impeccable academic programs, historical and modern infrastructure, competitive sports teams, and a world-class marine research facility. But as Fred Morley always says, Halifax’s biggest asset is our people.  Students, professors and researchers are all getting hands on experience in this lab helping us attract and keep talent here in Halifax. 

People want what we have here, especially in our growing research sector. This lab is the lead research facility for aquatic research at large full scale tank testing in North America. John Batt, Manager of the Aquatron Lab, explains that companies from the states, Europe, and Asia are interested in doing research here.

SmartCity? Absolutely.  

Maeghan Murphy, Marketing & Communications Co-op Student

Maeghan is with the Partnership on a four month work-term. She is in her third year of Public Relations at Mount Saint Vincent University and had her first taste of the working world on her work-term with Nova Scotia Power this summer. Although she’ll always be a Cape Bretoner at heart, Maeghan is happy to now call Halifax her home.