CDOGS

CDOGS
Annual Conference
of Dalhousie Oceanography Graduate Students
On Friday March 27, 2026


McInnes room, Student Union Building


Dalhousie University

Halifax, Nova Scotia

About the Event

You are invited to participate in and attend the Conference of Dalhousie Oceanography Graduate Students (CDOGS). This is an annual, student-run conference dedicated to showcasing the ground-breaking research being conducted by oceanography students at Dalhousie. This one-day event is the prime occasion for oceanography graduate students and postdocs to share their research through oral presentations and for undergraduate Honours students to present their theses as posters. The public along with fellow faculty members, ocean scientists, and industry representatives are cordially invited to attend the conference, ask questions and network with our aspiring cohort of young professionals. We look forward to hosting you for this special occasion.

Abstract Submission

Graduate students and post-docs are invited to deliver oral presentations at CDOGS 2026. This year we will be accepting abstracts from students in any department interested in participating, as long as their research is ocean-themed. Presenters can indicate whether they would prefer a 12 minute talk with a 3 minute question period, or a 5 minute talk with a 5 minute question period. Talks will be accepted (and preferred format allotted) with preference given students in the Oceanography Department and to those who have not presented at CDOGS before.

Undergraduate students are invited to participate in a poster session at CDOGS 2026. Undergraduate students from any department who conduct ocean-related research are welcome to submit an abstract.

Any questions regarding the online submission process should be addressed to dosa.cdogs@gmail.com

We look forward to receiving your submission!

Abstract Submission

Registration

Registration for this year's conference is now open. Registration will remain open up to and including the day of the conference.

As always, CDOGS is free of charge.

Registration

Event Schedule

The schedule will be posted shortly after abstract submission has closed. We are planning to have 2 talk sessions in the morning, followed by a short opening talk from industry before lunch. Our extended lunch break this year will be dedicated to our Sponsor Booth Networking session. Following this afternoon break we will welcome our Keynote Speaker, Dr. Sarah Fortune, along with 2 other talk sessions and our undergraduate poster session in the afternoon. At the end of the day, we will have voting for the best presentations and prizes will be awarded to the winners.

CDOGS 2025 Schedule & Abstract Book

Session 1 Early Morning
  • 09:15 - Opening Remarks
  • 09:30 - Timothy Power

    Solitons and Their Applications to Oceanography

  • 09:45 - Brendan Smith

    Passive acoustic monitoring of hydrothermal vent collapse

  • 10:00 - Emil Weber

    Investigating the Impacts of Climate Change and Sewage Pollution on Oxygen Concentrations in Bedford Basin

  • 10:15 - Jacob MacDonald

    Enhancing Models to their Fullest Potential: Constraining Error in a Biogeochemical Regional Model of Halifax Harbour

  • 10:23 - Hana Hourston

    14 Years on the Halifax Line: Water mass Properties, trends and variability

  • 10:30 - Morning Coffee + Snack Break

    Coffee and light pastries provided

Session 2 Late Morning
  • 10:45 - Jake Tan

    How Viable are data features extracted by neural networks for benthic habitat mapping?

  • 11:00 - Jessica Sajtovich

    The Development and Application of BRUVS-Lite: A stereo-Bruv system with Integrated lighting for seascape ecology

  • 11:15 - Antonia Kotliarov

    Benthic Assemblages of Prince Edward Island, Canada: A Cross Disciplanary Approach to Habitat Mapping

  • 11:30 - David Fox

    Mapping lobster habitat suitability: A geospatial approach to conservation in the Northumberland Strait

  • 11:45 - Joseph Barss

    Spatiotemporal Modelling of Lobster Abundance

  • 12:00 - Opportunities in Ocean Science: Presented by OFI, OTN and Planetary
Sponsor Booths & Networking Lunch Break
  • 12:15 - Sponsor Booths:

     - Innovasea

     - TERAMARA

     - Planetary Technologies

     - CMOS

     - Current Tides

  • Lunch and beverages provided.

Session 3 Early Afternoon
  • 13:15 - Plenary Speaker: Dr. Craig Brown

    Plenary

  • 13:45 - Lina Rotermund

    What drives the seasonality of near-inertial waves in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago?

  • 14:00 - Vanessa Zions

    The Far-field Effects of Salmon Aquaculture Activities on Benthic Environment

  • 14:15 - Haley Geizer

    Carbon Storage and remineralization in fjords along Nunatsiavut coast

  • 14:30 - Emma Taniguchi

    Quantifying and comparing the carbon stock and sequestration rate of an eelgrass bed on the Nova Scotian coast to global estimates

  • 14:45 - Alexis Savard-Drouin

    Resilience and restoration potential of kelp Forest in Nova Scotia, Eastern Canada

Session 4 Poster Session & Coffee + Snack Break
    • 15:00 - Start of Poster Session & Break

      Snacks and Beverages provided

    • Clair Girard

      Patterns of offspring care in northern bottlenose whales

    • Alexandra Hancock

      Age distribution of Lophelia pertusa colonial scleractinian cold-water coral fragments from the NE Scotian margin

    • Daniel Ng

      High-resolution mapping of Pacific white skate (Bathyraja spinosissima) nursery habitats at the active Galápagos hydrothermal vent field Iguanas-Pinguinos

    • Chris Latimer

      Enhancing phytoplankton production of the essential omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) by tryptophan fertilization

    • Jayda Kruger

      Remediating Waste, Capturing CO2, and Building a More Sustainable Future with Algal- Enriched Concrete

    • Jenna Wright

      Migratory behaviors and route choices of Atlantic salmon migrating through the Norwegian Sandsfjord toward the Suldalslågen river system

    • Meghan Oliver

      Identification of Galápagos sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) vocal clans in 2022-2023 using a novel automated coda detection software

    • Rori Mulholland

      Reconstructing Seasonal Changes in Surface Particulate Organic Matter Using Carbon

    • Milena Wilson

      Spatial variation of community compositions across the Northumberland Strait

    • Lilian Musselman

      Investigating Patterns in Phaeocystis in the Southern Ocean and its Contributions to the Biological Carbon Pump

    • Peter MacGregor

      Identifying optimal phosphate delivery for sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) in the nursery phase

    • Aiden Soth

      Quantifying Recent Sedimentation on Eastern Canadian Shelves

Session 5 Late Afternoon
  • 16:00 - Ana Eguiguren

    Determining sex and age classes in sperm whales using aerial Photogrammetry

  • 16:15 - Alexis Bazinet

    Quantifying demographic differences in the body condition and health of Eastern Canada-West Greenland Bowhead whales

  • 16:30 - Daiane Domingos Manholer

    Behavioural responses of Southern right whales to whale watching vessel in Brazil

  • 16:45 - Kit Tymoshuk

    How NOT to grow kelp

  • 17:00 - Break & Voting
  • 17:15 - Awards & Closing Remarks
Post-Conference Reception
  • 17:30 - Reception:

    Located in Student Lounge Oceanography (5th floor) LSC.

    Bar service will be available (purchase required), along with complimentary pizza.

  • 19+ only event

2026 Sponsors

Thank you to all our CDOGS sponsors for 2026!

FAQ

Commonly asked questions about the event.

1 I'm not in the Department of Oceanography, can I attend?

Anyone can attend the event. However, seating can be limited, so arriving early is best.

2 I'm not in the Department of Oceanography, or a graduate student, can I submit an abstract?

Only graduate students and post-docs studying subjects relating to Oceanography can give oral presentations. Preference for presentations will be given to graduate students within the Oceanography department.

If you are not an Oceanography graduate student but would still like to present, we are including a poster session for undergraduate students in Oceanography and other related programs.

3 Is food served at the event?

Complimentary coffee/tea and snacks will be available, and lunch will be provided during the intermission.

4 How can I include formulas or special characters in my abstract?

With current limitations, you must input your abstract following LaTex syntax. This includes the use of \begin{equation}...\end{equation} or $$...$$ notation. If you need assistance, refer to the following documentation.

5 How can I use italics or bold format in my abstract?

Referring back to question 4, you must use LaTex syntax to accomplish formatting. For italicized text you may use \textit{...} or \emph{...}. For bold text you may use \textbf{...}. For more complex formatting, refer to the following documentation.

6 In what format should my presentation be?

Oral presentations, given by graduate students and post-docs, will be presented in-person, and presentation slides will need to be submitted the week before the conference as a PowerPoint.

Undergraduate presenters will need to print their poster boards to be affixed to the provided boards during the conference and will be presented to attendees during the afternoon break.

7 How are prize winners selected?

All attendees can vote for the "best overall talk". Only students can vote for the best MSc. and PhD. talks, and the best undergraduate poster. QR codes with links to the online vote will be posted around the venue on the day of the conference.

8 What are the poster size requirements?

To fit within the poster display at the event, posters need to be 1.2m x 1.2m (47" x 47") or smaller.

9 How long should my talk be?

Talks are scheduled in 15-minute blocks; however, presentations should be maximum 10-12 minutes long to allow for 1 or 2 questions following your presentation.

Contact Us

Event Location

  • Visit Us
    McInnes Room, Student Union Building, Dalhousie University
    6136 University Avenue, Halifax, NS, Canada
  • Email Us
    dosa.cdogs@gmail.com

Conference Proceedings

Current Tides

Current Tides is a popular science magazine completely run and published by graduate students in the Dalhousie Oceanography Student Association (DOSA). First published in 2014, the 6 Volumes and counting detail the breadth and depth of the research performed by the students in the Department of Oceanography in a way that is digestible to a wide audience including non-scientists. Current Tides is enjoyed by students’ friends and family, as well as being distributed to visiting scientists. All 6 previous issues are viewable on the Current Tides website.

Current Tides Volume 7
Current Tides is looking for authors for Volume 7! In addition, physical copies of Volume 6 are still available. For more information or to express interest being an author, email dalcurrenttides@gmail.com.