MARS TEAM

With over 20 years experience studying a variety of cetacean species, starting with her graduate research at Dalhousie University and then working as a consultant with various government, industry, and non-government organizations, Tonya’s primary focus has always been on protecting marine species and reducing impacts from human activities. To do this she has enjoyed working side-by-side with other researchers, government, industry, First Nations, and within communities. Tonya is a strong believer in building relationships and is proud of her partnerships in the fishing industry, shoreline communities, as well as the global research community.

Tonya strives to help MARS achieve its goal to provide effective and safe response while contributing valuable data and research to assess and mitigate the impacts from human activities to marine animals. In 2017 and 2019, Tonya helped lead the response to, and investigation of, the mass mortalities of right whales in Eastern Canada. Tonya is a member of the Canadian Right Whale Recovery Network, a board member of the Right Whale Consortium, a Steering Committee Member for the Entanglement Working Group of the Canada-US International Advisory Committee for Right Whale Recovery and a member of the International Whaling Commission’s Stranding and Bycatch Initiatives.

“To understand and protect these incredible species requires hard work and dedication from all people who study and manage them and those that use our oceans. MARS has always been a proud member of local communities and the global network of marine mammal response and research colleagues, who all strive to reduce impacts to these species from any threats.”

Contact Tonya: twimmer@marineanimals.ca

Born and raised in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Andrew graduated from Dalhousie University with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in marine biology.  He stayed at Dalhousie, working in the Department of Medical Neuroscience where he has studied the human and dolphin brain as well as Alzheimer’s disease and how it might be diagnosed earlier in life.

Initially joining the Marine Animal Response Society as a volunteer, Andrew has been with the organization since 2004.  During this time, he has been a jack of all trades, fulfilling the duties of financial manager, response coordinator, volunteer coordinator, stranding trainer, etc.

Over the years he has participated in many interesting whale incidents throughout the Maritime Provinces.  These have included the 2009 Christmas Eve pilot whale stranding near Port Maitland (NS), the 2013 refloatation of a live stranded fin whale in Jersey Cove (NS), the 2015 disentanglement of the North Atlantic right whale “White Cloud”, the 2016 release of a pod of river entrapped Atlantic white sided dolphins in Lameque (NB) and the 2018 New Years Day refloatation of a stranded pilot whale on Rainbow Haven Beach (NS).

“Working with local communities and colleagues in government and non-government organizations has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of this work. The good will and effort shown by Maritimers has always been incredible.”

Contact Andrew: mars@marineanimals.ca

Danielle always knew she would be working with marine animals. Raised in central Canada, her passion for the marine world led her to Nova Scotia where she earned her BSc in Marine Biology and Environmental Sustainability from Dalhousie University. Ever the adventurer, Danielle moved to South Africa where she worked as a Field Specialist and Principal Investigator with Oceans Research in Mosselbay, focusing on great white shark research. While there she established a Marine Mammal Medic training program in collaboration with MARS. Returning to Canada, Danielle worked on acoustic analysis of whale species with Jasco Applied Sciences, as well as an at-sea, multi-species identification database for WWF-Canada. Danielle recently completed her Masters Degree in Wildlife Health and Conservation from Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. As part of her Masters program, she spent the summer of 2018 rehabilitating marine animals at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Centre.

Keenly interested in marine animal response, Danielle began working with MARS in 2019. Since then, she has taken on many different responsibilities before landing in her current role of Manager of Response Operations. Danielle enjoys working with MARS to grow our response capabilities, ensuring that we are able to make as much impact as possible for these animals.

When not at work, Danielle can be found playing with her rescue huskies, Aayla and Jango or creating intricate costumes (cosplay) for sci-fi conventions with her husband, Warren.

Contact Danielle: dpinder@marineanimals.ca

Originally from Eastern Ontario, Coburn has called Nova Scotia home for over 25 years – she came for university and stayed, unable to imagine herself anywhere else!  Coburn holds two degrees from Dalhousie University (in psychology and marine biology) and always knew she wanted to pursue work that contributed to the conservation of our oceans and in particular, marine mammals.  Coburn spent 15 years working with WWF-Canada alongside a team of talented people dedicated to ocean conservation and during this time, she developed her appreciation for the operational side of non-profit organizations.  After leaving WWF to spend more time with her young family, Coburn now contributes her extensive skills and experience in program development, operational management, fundraising, and financial administration to MARS on a part-time basis.

“Working alongside this small group of people who are putting their heart and soul into making a real difference in marine conservation every day, is truly inspiring and I’m honoured to contribute in any way I can!”

When her head is not buried in spreadsheets and funding proposals for work, Coburn is busy with her three kids who are all competitive athletes. She and her husband Mark spend countless hours running the roads to games and practices, coaching and managing teams, and always cheering with pride. When Coburn has a rare moment to herself, you can find her snuggled in with a good book and a cup of tea or dreaming about design and photography.

Contact Coburn: cmaclean@marineanimals.ca

Jarrett has always felt a deep connection to the ocean and the coast despite growing up in Stratford, Ontario. Although he has a passion for all wildlife, it was his fascination with marine animals that first inspired him to delve into marine conservation and communications.

Jarrett worked at WWF-Canada for 6 years developing and implementing conservation solutions in collaboration with fishermen, scientists and other individuals to address the issue of bycatch in Atlantic Canadian waters. He continues to pursue his passion working with the Society for Marine Mammalogy managing the Society’s online conference interfaces and as Communications Specialist for MARS both behind a computer and camera documenting wildlife and conservation issues.

“I’ve always been more comfortable behind the lens of a camera catching that special moment. Being outside, working with my hands and exploring new places is what inspires me.”

Contact Jarrett: jcorke@marineanimals.ca

Matt was born in Ontario. He grew up with little to no connection to the ocean but had always loved the outdoors and the critters found there. Upon completing high school, Matt trained and then worked as a commercial diver in the Great Lakes performing freighter vessel inspection and repair for some time before looking to further his career by enrolling in Dalhousie’s Bachelor of Sciences program with a major in Oceanography and a minor in Marine Biology.

While studying at Dalhousie, Matt took part in a number of research projects. Beginning as a research assistant in Boris Worm’s lab working to develop an image-recognition algorithm for satellite imagery whale detection. Matt then moved on to work as a scientific diver for the Metaxas Lab studying kelp resilience in the Eastern Shore Islands. Simultaneously, Matt began his honour’s thesis in the Barclay Acoustics Lab at Dalhousie where he developed, built, and modelled a small-scale hydrofoiling data-acquisition platform. This was also around the time that Matt joined MARS!

Matt began initially as a volunteer for MARS. When an opportunity arose to join MARS as a Primary Responder, Matt jumped into this role with great excitement. As Matt began to approach the end of his degree, he sought to increase his involvement with MARS and took on his current position of Coordinator of Response Operations. He aims to help MARS grow and develop an even greater capacity for response and education with marine animals.

Contact Matt: mmar@marineanimals.ca