Dr. William Cheung is an Associate Professor and the Director (Science) of the Nippon Foundation-UBC Nereus Program at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. His main research areas include understanding the responses and vulnerabilities of marine ecosystems and fisheries to global change, and examining trade-offs in managing and conserving living marine resources. His works cut across multiple disciplines, from oceanography to ecology, economics and social sciences, and range from local to global scales. In OceanCanada, William co-leads the National Data and Integrated Scenario working group.
William did his undergraduate, master degree in the University of Hong Kong and doctoral degree in the University of British Columbia. He worked with World Wide Fund Hong Kong for two years as a conservation officer. He was Lecturer in Marine Ecosystem Services in the University of East Anglia in the UK form 2008 – 2011, after which he moved back to UBC.
William has published over 80 peer-reviewed publications, including papers in leading international journals. William is also actively involved in international and regional initiatives that bridge science and policy. For instance, he was a Lead Author in the Working Group II of the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a Coordinating Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and Global Biodiversity Outlook. He serves as member of the editorial board of Fish and Fisheries, Fisheries Oceanography and Frontier in Marine Sciences, and as scientific advisors in a number of international and local organizations including BioDiscovery, IUCN and WWF Canada.