As a liaison between coastal Indigenous communities and ONC’s science & technology teams, Romer is able to navigate complexities in the interplay among scientific objectives, current environmental policy and issues of cultural significance. He believes ONC’s high tech ocean observatories are powerful tools that provide coastal Indigenous communities with critical real-time data to make informed decisions about their local ocean environment for long-term sustainability and resilience. Romer descends from both the skilled fisherman of the Nisga’a wolf clan or Laxi’buu, and from Frisians, who also have a long history of seafaring. His Dutch grandfather was Captain of a 15,000-ton Empire ship and the 4000-ton “My Lady” based out of Rotterdam, which delivered paper around the world. His love for the ocean comes from being raised at 6 months of age on his father’s commercial fishing boat the “Serenade”, which trolled for salmon between Port Hardy and Brooks Peninsula from 1977 to 1998. As a former documentary television producer and senior producer for CTV’s award-winning Indigenous series First Story, Romer brings more than 20 years of experience engaging with Indigenous communities and organizations in British Columbia and parts of Canada.