Official opening of the Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory

Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell
Vancouver
Friday, March 10, 2006

Check against delivery

I am pleased to be here today as UBC officially opens this beautiful building, and I am looking forward to seeing the dark immersion room at the heart of the Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory.

The idea that cutting-edge information and computer technology will soon be able to create a simulated aquatic ecosystem is fascinating. I know how important this immersion room will be, not only to British Columbia’s ocean waters, but to the world’s. This technology will allow governments to literally ‘see’ the impact of their choices on our fragile aquatic ecosystems. This lab will be able to simulate the degradation that results from uncontrolled exploitation of our coastal habitats through, what is essentially, an interactive computer game.

We live in a world of infinite choices. It can be hard for individuals, post-secondary institutions, industries and governments to make the right choice at the right time. The more informed our decisions the better, so the work that will be done here, in this building, will have a significant impact on the right choices being made.

UBC can be very proud of the Fisheries Centre and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. Both are internationally recognized – as they deserve to be. Both are build on the principle of integration in a dynamic environment to achieve their excellent results. And both are growing dramatically.

This new environmentally sound building we’re officially opening today accommodates that growth, with the help of funding from a variety of sources. The provincial government’s share comes from the B.C. Knowledge Development Fund, the largest of the province’s research funding programs.

The B. C. Knowledge Development Fund provided $4.25 million to help build the Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory. In total, this fund has supported 494 projects to date, with funding from all sources of more than $1 billion invested in research infrastructure at our post-secondary institutions across the province

But the Province’s investment is only part of the resources that made these state-of-the-art facilities possible. On behalf of the provincial government, I’d like to acknowledge and thank the Canada Foundation for Innovation for its contribution, and Stewart and Marilyn Blusson, part of whose generous $50-million donation to UBC is being devoted to this project.

I would also like to thank all the administrators, faculty and staff who have worked so hard and for so long to make these facilities a reality.

Today we’re celebrating more than bricks, mortar and the latest in high-tech equipment and software – although those are all vital to education and research. We’re also celebrating the concept of collaboration from the two world-renowned research institutes working together under the Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory roof, along with the B.C. Fisheries Unit, the Environment Canada Adaptations and Impact Research Department and the B.C. Aboriginal Fisheries Commission to the funding partners whose resources have been pooled to such good effect.

We have seen UBC’s research community accomplish great things, and I expect many discoveries and developments will occur within these new walls.

Thank you.