Dr. Kes Morton PhD, PMP, Founder & Chief Executive Officer
As an ocean scientist who excels in business, Dr. Kes Morton guides ocean sector visionaries who are creating impact for the future of oceans. As the Founder and CEO of Pisces Research Project Management Inc., Dr. Morton harnesses her unique background in management, science and business, leading a collective effort to solve the problems currently facing the world’s oceans.
With a focus on thoughtful solutions and execution, she is celebrated for her efficient and inclusive approach, concurrently pushing the boundaries for ocean data and pushing for social change in the ocean industry. She has played a leading role in reducing barriers to inclusive participation in ocean techology by making collaboration easier. In 2020, she convened the ocean Allies Forum, bringing together partner and allies in the ocean sector to create greater equity, diversity and inclusion in the ocean economy.
For over two decades she has dedicated her efforts at the intersection of industry, academia, and government, researching business practices that support improving ocean research. She is passionate and deeply connected to Canada’s leading role in ocean research and management, as a founding partner of Ocean Allies, Vitality and the UN Decade project Advancing Indigenous Partnerships In Ocean Science for Sustainability. Throughout her career, Dr. Morton has coordinated project teams in 20 different countries, working with more than 450 scientists and managing more than $190 million in project funding.
Dr. Morton holds a Ph.D. in Marine Ecology from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, is a certified Project Management Professional and has a Certificate in Financial Management. She is a member of the Board of Directors of FORCE, and Associate Professional at Memorial Univeristy, is a guest lecturer at the Marine Affairs Program at Dalhousie University, and at any given time is usually serving as a mentor.
Katie Cook, Chief Operating Officer / Sr. Atlantic Advisor
Katie Cook has over 10 years of experience working in project coordination, marketing, communications, administration, website and social media management. Her skill set includes graphic design, event planning, budget management, basic accounting, and HR. Katie is passionate about the oceans, outdoors and the environment.
Brad Covey, Chief Technology Officer
Brad spent his childhood in, on, and around the ocean which has given him a deep appreciation for the importance of Canada’s waters. This appreciation paired with his background in Computer Science has allowed him to help the ocean science community to realize its goals for 7 years now. Brad helped to shape the Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System (CIOOS) and built operational data systems for real-time monitoring programs. He brings expertise in the scientific data management space including a thorough understanding of the data management principles and standards needed for international data exchange and sharing. Brad also brings a passion for technology with experience as a full-stack web developer; including experience with databases, back-end scripting, data processing, visualization, web development, and server installation and maintenance. In addition he brings experience managing technical teams, building projects, writing proposals, and coordinating collaborative initiatives to the Pisces RPM team.
Melissa Weber, Vice President of Business Development
Melissa Weber brings expertise in research from her experiences in academia. She is a social scientist and has worked with three Inuit communities in Nunavut on various projects related to the marine environment. She holds a Honours Bachelor of Arts in Geography from the University of Ottawa and a Master of Arts from the University of Waterloo. She is currently finishing her PhD at the University of Ottawa with the Environment, Society and Policy Group. Melissa is passionate about protecting our marine environments and enjoys spending time near the water.
Jessica Hurtubise, Senior Business Development Coordinator
Jessica Hurtubise brings expertise from the western Arctic in project coordination in industry, public service, and non-profit sectors. She is a marine biologist and environmental scientist currently living in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Her experience spans multiple provinces and territories, having focused on species at risk conservation, national fisheries reconciliation policy, acoustic telemetry coding, open-access ocean data, and Métis rights in environmental conservation in the Arctic. She holds an Honours B.Sc Honours Co-op in Marine Biology and Oceanography from Dalhousie University. She is fluent in both French and English and is a certified scuba diver.
Kyryn Swanson, Jr. Business Development, Jr. Atlantic Ocean Advisor
Kyryn Swanson brings a combination of skills and experience to work in communications, social media management, multilingualism, and in facilitating data entry, updates, and problem solving, with two summer work terms of experience in communications. She is currently in a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and German at Dalhousie University. Kyryn lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with a passion for hiking and being in nature.
Corinna Francis, Jr. Financial Advisor, Jr. Atlantic Advisor
Corinna Francis brings a lot of experience with accounting, finances, office management and HR. She gained all of her experience through working in management roles in retail and working in the banking industry. She is currently living in Gander, Newfoundland with her husband and two daughters. She loves to spend her time with her family and being able to help others through volunteer work.
Lindsay Carroll, Senior Ocean Research Product Owner, Junior Human Resources Advisor
Lindsay brings knowledge from her involvement in a variety of ocean research projects investigating fish ecology and the aquatic environment. She is a marine biologist, holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Marine Biology from Dalhousie University, and is currently finishing her Master of Science in Biology with Acadia University. She upholds a passion for meaningful resource use and collaboration in research to achieve a common goal for the betterment of our oceans. Lindsay grew up in Nova Scotia and currently resides in Moncton, New Brunswick with her partner and dog.
Kiersten Runte, Jr. Ocean Marketing & Communications
Kiersten Runte brings a background of research and field experience from her various academic pursuits. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology from Dalhousie University, where she did bioacoustics research on the discovery of an unknown beaked whale click off West Africa. She also received the Indigenous Studies certificate from Dalhousie University, is passionate about combining western science with Indigenous ways of knowing, and is committed to the guiding principles of two-eyed seeing. She is a proud volunteer with the Marine Animal Response Society, where she had an extraordinary (and stinky) experience extracting the skeleton of an 82-foot female Blue Whale. She has a passion for science communications and ocean education, and brings an enthusiastic spirit to her work. She has a special interest in working and supporting Arctic Communities and efforts in polar sciences, as well as the exciting new developments in ocean technology. Kiersten has always enjoyed being in and near the water, with a special love for cold-water swims in lakes that tend to still have ice in them.
Ellis Keener-LaCroix, Sr. Ocean Programmer
Anaik Chacon, Jr. Ocean Programmer, Jr. Data & Information Advisor
Anaik obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science at Dalhousie University. She took part of the Women in Technology Society as their Marketing and PR representative; where she helped organize events, manage social media posts, and contribute to anything that involves empowering women in STEM fields. Anaik is interested in developing her skills as a front-end developer, focusing on designing and building elaborate web applications. She also wants to help expand the ways that we are able to support ocean projects by gaining experience and knowledge in ocean data. She is originally from El Salvador, but she currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In her free time, Anaik likes to play many video games and watch entire seasons of TV series in one sitting.
Tamea Queensborough, Jr. Ocean Programmer, Jr. Data & Information Advisor
Tamea brings technical experience from working as a Quality Assurance Specialist and as a Junior Web Developer on her past co-op work terms. She has worked with multiple programming languages and have collaborated on various projects that involved both frontend and backend development. Tamea is currently in her fourth year of pursuing a Bachelor of Computer Science Degree at Acadia University. She is originally from Jamaica but is now slowly adjusting to the frequently changing Canadian weather. She is always willing to lend a helping hand to others, and loves learning new things.
Tamea Queensborough on LinkedIn
