Chopin Coastal Health Solutions Inc. focuses on consulting, the development of Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) systems, and the development of IMTA products, in particular seaweed-based products.
Dr. Chopin was born and educated in France. He obtained his Doctorate from the University of Western Brittany, Brest, France. He moved to Canada in 1989 and is presently Professor of Marine Biology at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John.
Dr. Chopin’s research focuses on the ecophysiology, biochemistry and cultivation of seaweeds of commercial value and the development of Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) systems for environmental sustainability (nutrient biomitigation and other ecosystem services, and green technologies for improved ecosystem health), economic stability (improved output, product diversification, risk reduction and job creation in coastal communities) and societal acceptability (better management practices, improved regulatory governance and appreciation of differentiated and safe products).
Dr. Chopin has published more than 250 papers (refereed papers, book chapters, non-refereed publications), more than 450 abstracts (presented at more than 275 scientific meetings in 41 countries on 6 continents), and several YouTube videos. He has frequent contacts with the media (magazine articles, newspapers/radio/TV interviews and documentaries in more than 275 media platforms in 45 countries). He has given more than 100 invited seminars in 14 countries.
Most of his papers can be found at:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thierry_Chopin/research
Dr. Chopin was, from 2010 to 2017, the Scientific Director of the Canadian Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture Network (CIMTAN), an interdisciplinary strategic network of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Dr. Chopin is Past President of the Aquaculture Association of Canada, the Phycological Society of America and the International Seaweed Association (of which he was also Secretary General for 6 years). He is an advisor to the International Foundation for Science and has been a member of the Editorial Boards of the journals Aquaculture International, Perspectives in Phycology, European Journal of Phycology, Journal of Applied Phycology, Aquatic Living Resources and Aquaculture Reports, and of the professional magazine Fish Farming International.
Dr. Thierry Chopin with the two species of kelps cultivated at the Magellan Aqua Farms Inc. site in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada: Alaria esculenta (winged kelp), on the left, and Saccharina latissima (sugar kelp), on the right.
Dr. Thierry Chopin with Emily Paton, the recipient of the 2020 Thierry Chopin Award for Graduate Coastal Studies.
Dr. Chopin is the recipient of the NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation, the Aquaculture Association of Canada Research Award of Excellence, the New Brunswick BioSciences Achievement Award, the R3 (Research, Results, Recognition) Award of the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, the Coup de Coeur Award of the Conseil Economique du Nouveau-Brunswick, and the Simply the Best Award of the UNB Associated Alumni.
Dr. Chopin created the Thierry Chopin Award for Graduate Coastal Studies in 2017. It is given annually to a promising graduate student from the Saint John Campus of the University of New Brunswick, supervised by a faculty member of the Department of Biological Sciences, in the areas of, in decreasing priority order, phycology, marine and freshwater Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA), and coastal biology in general.
Dr. Chopin is Honorary Consul of France, Chevalier in the Ordre National du Mérite, the Ordre des Palmes Académiques and the Ordre du Mérite Maritime.
Dr. Chopin is Compagnon in the Ordre des Compagnons du Beaujolais and an Officer of the Bailliage of New Brunswick of the Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs.
To preserve the integrity of the Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) concept, the following have been trademarked, on May 23, 2012:
Dr. Thierry Chopin coined the following expressions:
