Well, hello sister

Folks from sister cities Norfolk, Virginia and Halifax, Nova Scotia got together at Dalhousie recently. (Danny Abriel Photo)

It turns out we have family in Virginia.

Norfolk, Virginia has been connected with Halifax through the Sister City International Association since 2006.

Halifax and Norfolk are actually quite similar. Our sister city is positioned on the Atlantic coast with a significant military presence and Norfolk Navy Base on its large, ice-free harbour.

Like Dalhousie, Norfolk’s Old Dominion University is a top research institution.

With such similar geographies, industries and institutions in place, Halifax and Norfolk are cooperating on shared goals such as technology commercialization in areas like ocean sciences.

On June 29, delegates from each city gathered in Dal’s Life Sciences Centre for a day of presentations. Keith Taylor, associate vice president academic with Dal, serves on the Halifax Norfolk committee as member for education.

“There is an unusual amount of collaboration going on here,” said Dr. Taylor, describing the promising relationship between Halifax and Norfolk.

Among the delegates were Wayne Buck, chair of the Halifax Committee at the Norfolk Sister City Association Inc. and Nancy Phillips of the Halifax Norfolk Committee.

“Our Sister City relationship had grown stagnant,” said Mr. Buck. “When Nancy and I assumed our roles, we began teleconferencing to reinvigorate things.”

Representatives from Dalhousie, local industry and government focused on the positive impact ocean sciences have on Halifax’s economy, and Dal’s own work in ocean research was centre stage during the day’s events.

John Batt, Aquatron laboratory manager, took delegates on a tour of the ocean sciences research facilities on campus. The Aquatron includes a 700,000 litre research tank, making it the largest in Canada, and one of the largest non-aquarium research tanks in North America.

Kevin Dunn gave examples of Halifax businesses involved in ocean sciences. Projects include offshore natural gas, tidal energy, environmental management and more. Mr. Dunn is the acting executive director of Dalhousie Industry Liaison and Innovation.

“The omega-3 products that you see as your food additives: the main supplier of those in the world is with Ocean Nutrition here in Dartmouth,” said Mr. Dunn.

Amirix VEMCO is a Halifax-based product development and underwater acoustic telemetry device manufacturer. President and CEO Sandra Greer explained that her company’s products are used by Dalhousie’s Ocean Tracking Network and many other customers around the world.

“We are a really cool example of how industry has worked with educators, universities and community colleges and intertwined throughout the 31 years of our history,” said Ms. Greer.

Serge Desjardins works for Environment Canada as acting manager of the National Lab for Marine and Coastal Meteorology. Mr. Desjardins discussed Environment Canada’s work developing a storm surge protection and water levels alert system, as well as the agency’s efforts to streamline connections between themselves, DFO and DND.

But this occasion was not all business.

Conveniently, our sister city’s most recent visit took place during International Fleet Review Week. After wrapping up official business, Virginians and Nova Scotians alike took part in the Canadian navy’s 100th birthday celebrations.