Sondra Eger

Sondra Eger

Title or Function

  • Coordinator of the Atlantic Hub

Expertise

  • Coastal and Marine Socio-Ecological problems; Coastal Communities.

Institution/Organization

  • Memorial University of Newfoundland – Grenfell Campus

Regional Center

  • Atlantic

Email Address

Websites

Telephone

  • (519) 998-2973

Biography

Using a governance lens, Sondra’s doctorate highlights the importance of coastal community perspectives, in addition to natural science perspectives, to strengthen the development of integrated coastal and marine management initiatives and was completed in late 2020. In 2019, Sondra was a Flaherty Research Scholar with the Ireland Canada University Foundation at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland working with colleagues on collaborative governance of coastal and marine social-ecological systems in an integrated and equitable way, specifically as it relates to marine spatial planning. Prior to her doctoral research at the University of Waterloo, Sondra conducted her Masters research in the Dominican Republic after spending some time as a research assistant in Tanzania and Madagascar.

Sondra is currently working as a Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Kelly Vodden to 1) lead the Second Volume of Coastal Routes Radio Podcasts and 2) collaborate with municipalities and Indigenous governments from Newfoundland and Labrador on an existing Potable Water Dispensing Unit Project. Additionally, she is working on a project with Oceans North to create a timeline of research and management activities in Minas Basin. Her on-the-go passion project is working with local fishers to develop a coloring/ activity book for the Bay of Fundy and through partnerships with local resource users and organizations to share science with diverse audiences in an accessible way.

Publications

  • Eger, S., Stephenson, R. et al. (Accepted, Publication Pending). Chapter 13: Bright spots in integrated management of Canada’s oceans and coasts. IN: Sumaila, R., Armitage, D., Bailey, M. and W.W. Cheung (Eds). (2021). Canada’s Oceans: Pathways to Sustainability in a Sea of Change. UBC Press: Vancouver.
  • Eger, S., de Loë, R., Pittman, J., Epstein, G. and S.C. Courtenay. (In review). Systematic Review of Governance in Recent Integrated Coastal and Marine Management Literature. Marine policy.
  • Eger, S.L., and S.C. Courtenay. (2021). “Integrated Coastal and Marine Management: Insights from Lived Experiences in the Bay of Fundy, Atlantic Canada.” Ocean & Coastal Management, January, 105457.
  • Eger, S.L., R.L. Stephenson, D. Armitage, W. Flannery, and S.C. Courtenay. 2021. “Revisiting Integrated Coastal and Marine Management in Canada: Opportunities in the Bay of Fundy.” Frontiers in Marine Science: 8:652778.
  • Eger, S. 2020. [Review of the book Marine Spatial Planning: Past, Present and Future, by Kira Gee and Jacek Zaucha]. Ocean Yearbook: Brill | Nijhoff, 34(1):614-618.
  • Andrews, E.J.*, Harper, S.*, Cashion, T., Palacios-Abrantes, J., Blythe, J., Daly, J., Eger, S., Hoover, C., Talloni-Alvarez, N., Teh, L., Bennett, N., Epstein, G., Knott, C., Newell, S.L, and Whitney, C.K. (2020). Supporting interdisciplinary early career researchers: Insights from the marine sciences. ICES Journal of Marine Science 77(2):476-485.
  • Eger, S. & B. Dobertstein. (2018). Shared governance arrangements and social connectivity: advancing large-scale coastal and marine conservation initiatives in the Dominican Republic. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 26(3): 210-225.
  • Ho, E., Eger, S., Courtenay, S. (2018). Assessing current monitoring indicators and reporting for cumulative effects integration: A case study in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. Ecological Indicators, 95: 862-876.
  • Bennett, N.J., Kaplan-Hallam, M., Augustine, G., Ban, N., Belhabib, D., Brueckner-Irwin, I., Charles, A., Couture, J., Eger, S., Fanning, L., Foley, P., Goodfellow, A.M., Greba, L., Gregr, E., Hall, D., Harper, S., Maloney, B., McIsaac, J., Ou, W., Pinkerton, E., Porter, D., Sparrow, R., Stephenson, R., Stocks, A., Sumaila, U.R., Sutcliffe, T., Bailey, M. (2018). Coastal and Indigenous community access to marine resources and the ocean: A policy imperative for Canada. Marine Policy, 87:186–193.

Awards & distinctions

  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2019-2020)
  • University of Waterloo President’s Graduate Scholarship (2019-2020)
  • University of Waterloo Faculty of Environment – R.S. Dorney Memorial Fellowship (2019)
  • Ireland Canada University Foundation (ICUF) – James M Flaherty Research Scholarship (2018-2019)
  • Huntsman Marine Science Center – Visiting Researcher Fellowship (2018)

Miscellaneous

I live to dive and explore the oceans. I love live music and parenting foster dogs, (pre-covid) traveling, and nature photography. Yoga, long walks and hiking, plant-based cuisine, and Tasting at local breweries.