Dr. Verena Tunnicliffe
The Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Maritime Achievement recognizes and acknowledges individuals and organizations along British Columbia’s coast and inland waterways who have made noteworthy contributions to BC’s maritime interests in the areas of science, technology, business, applications of maritime skills, nautical heritage and culture, art, and academic endeavours.
Learn more about the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Maritime Achievement
Dr. Verena Tunnicliffe is the Professor Emeritus, of the University of Victoria’s School of Earth and Ocean Sciences and has spent a lifetime fascinated with the ocean.
A recipient of the Order of Canada, Dr. Tunnicliffe has done extensive work on submersibles on BC’s coast and seminal work on hot vents and the curious animal life that lives in these hostile environments. This work has led to 10 previously unknown species being named for Dr. Tunnicliffe.
She was the principal lead in developing and directing operations of the cabled subsea observing network, VENUS, the world’s first subsea research system delivering on-line data. Dr. Tunnicliffe’s work has led to the establishment of the internationally renowned Ocean Networks Canada, which collects live data on the state of our oceans in the time of climate change.
