Dr. Helen Gurney-Smith
Centre for Shellfish Research
Vancouver Island University
Building 373 - 900 Fifth Street,

Nanaimo, BC V9R 5S5

Dr. Helen Gurney-Smith hails from the United Kingdom where she obtained a PhD in Marine Ecology from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and also completed a Masters degree from University College London. She is currently head of the Shellfish Health and Husbandry group at the Centre for Shellfish Research at Vancouver Island University. Dr. Gurney-Smith is the recipient of a prestigious B.C. Innovation Council award for Aquaculture and the Environment.

Dr. Gurney-Smith’s research focuses mainly on aquaculture innovation, including new species development and improving aquaculture techniques, as well as developing sensitive monitoring tools for the assessment of shellfish health and function. Genome BC has recently funded a project with Dr. Gurney-Smith and her colleague Dr. Stewart Johnson to develop genomic technologies for health assessments of marine mussels, which are ecosystem bioindicator species as well as culture organisms. This research will lead to sensitive biomarkers for ecosystem function and ecosystem based management as well as drive husbandry innovation in the BC shellfish industry.

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