Dr. John McDonald
Co-Director, Ecosystems Restoration International
John McDonald graduated from the University of Victoria with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Honors Physics and Mathematics in 1969. He then started graduate work in Physical Oceanography at the Institute of Oceanography at the University of British Columbia. John was awarded a fellowship from the National Research Council of Canada for his research work and received his Master’s Degree in 1972. After completing the required coursework for a Ph.D. in 1973, John started extensive environmental consulting work in Canada’s Arctic. He oversaw and conducted numerous field oceanographic and atmospheric studies in the Mackenzie River Estuary and assisted other marine scientists with surveys of Bowhead and Beluga whales, grizzly bears, caribou migration, and fisheries. The experience from over five years of this work qualifies him as an oceanographer, environmental consultant, and computer-mapping specialist. During the 1990s, as his interests expanded into aquaculture, he conducted extensive evaluations of aquaculture facilities in major sounds and inlets along the coast of British Columbia. In association with another very gifted scientist, Karl Ricker, he completed several major biophysical suitability-assessment and computer-mapping studies for the provincial government of coastal areas in the North Coast, Central Coast, and Vancouver Island regions of British Columbia for the pen rearing of Chinook salmon and other fin fish species. In the summer of 2004, John started working for AFI and CMBI. He is now in charge of MBET’s overall aquaculture and ecology projects, where he applies his technical strengths in environmental impact assessment, aquaculture processes, environmental mitigation, contingency planning and computer mapping. With tremendous focus and multitasking ability, he is heading a group of contributors (eventually about 150) who are writing an evolving manuscript that will be the blueprint to save our planet: “The Manual for a Sustainable World.” The book is expected to be seven volumes strong and over 10,000 pages long and will emphasize solutions rather than merely identify problems. John is a highly spiritual person with a positive attitude towards life itself. He instills enthusiasm and drive in the people he works with and helps them look beyond the norm and see extraordinary possibilities in all that they do.
