Michael J. Risk Condensed Curriculum Vitae Born: Toronto Ontario ...

Michael J. Risk
Condensed Curriculum Vitae
Born: Toronto Ontario, Canadian citizen
Married, no dependents
Language skills: English (mother tongue), French, Spanish, Indonesian, some Swahili and
German.
Educational History:
BSc 1962, Honours Geology, University of Toronto
MSc 1964, Sedimentology, Univ. Western Ontario
PhD 1970, Marine Biology, Univ. Southern Calif.
Employment History:
General
1960 Junior Geologist, Shell Oil, northern BC
1961 Geologist, Texaco, northern BC/Alberta
1961-1970 TA/RA, UWO/USC
Academic
1971-2003 Professor of Geology and Biology, McMaster Univ.
(accelerated promotions to Assoc. and Full Prof.)
Visiting faculty, various years:
Univ. Costa Rica
James Cook Univ., Australia
Universitas Diponegoro, Indonesia
Univ. Autonoma de Baja California, Mexico
Adjunct appointments
Univ. Puerto Rico, Marine Science
Brock Univ., Geology
CICESE, Mexico, Marine Sciences
Univ. of Tanzania, Marine Sciences
Univ. of Guelph, Zoology
Universitas Diponegoro, Indonesia
Dalhousie Univ., Geology
Univ. of Costa Rica, Biology
Present status:
Professor Emeritus (early retirement 2003), with an active research program.
Awards:
NSERC studentship, 1962/65
NSERC Special Studentship, 1965/69
Brant Award (U Toronto) academics and athletics
Bickell Award (U Toronto) academics
Teaching awards and nominations: UWO, USC, James Cook Univ., McMaster.
Two Best Teacher Awards
Three Best paper Awards (Most recently, Best Paper in Marine Pollution Bulletin for 2009.)
Funding history (major awards only):
Continuously supported by NSERC, 1971-2005 (present level of Discovery Grant $45,000/yr.)

NSERC Strategic Grant, impact of tidal power developments on the benthic ecology of the
Bay of Fundy: $750,000 (1985-88)
NSERC Strategic Grant, Climate records in deep-water corals: $1.5million, 2000-20005
Asian Development Bank (with Canora Canada): COREMAP Indonesia: $3million, 1998
CIDA Canada:
Marine Ecodevelopment, Indonesia, $3million, 1988-98
Coastal research, Zanzibar, $750,000
Coral Reef Research, Maldives, $450,000
Professional activities:
Manuscript Editor, MEPS
Reviewer: a dozen major journals, 8 countries
Proposal reviewer: US EPA, NOAA, NSF, Hawaii, Australia, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden
Session Chair, many professional meetings
Symposium organizer: 1 st and 3 rd Int. Deepwater coral congresses
Testified to US Congress, march 2002, on deepwater corals
Member, SEFCRI (SouthEast Florida Coral Reef Initiative) Technical Advisory Board
Technical Advisor to CCPAC, Caribbean Climate Change initiative.
Field and research experience:
Worked in 30 countries, lived in seven. Field experience in mountain geology, intertidal and
subtidal benthic ecology, coral reef ecology, coral reef geology, deep-water coral reefs, coastal
zone management and water quality issues. Extensive experience in impacts of land-based
pollution on coral reefs of the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf and SE Asia. Animalsediment
research in the Arctic, Maritime provinces of Canada, NE USA, Florida, California. Over
the past decade, my major focus has been on coral reef health and recovery, and scientific
methods to assess stress on reefs.
Experienced diver with more than 10,000 dives over a 50-year period. Advanced capability in
underwater still photography and videography.
Consulted on coral reef health, impacts and recovery in Barbados, Grenada, Bahamas, Mexico,
Tanzania, Maldives, Indonesia; reefs and fisheries in Eritrea, Kenya, Indonesia, US Virgin
Islands, Iran, Saudi Arabia.
Published on and supervised research on mangroves, seagrass beds, softbottom communities,
oil spill impacts, impacts of sewage and industrial discharge, and fish habitat/coral reef ecology.
International experience:
Travel and field work in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Maldives, Thailand, Malaysia, East Africa,
Caribbean (6 countries), Latin America (4 countries), Middle East (3 countries).
Head of a major project in Indonesia: developed curricula, funded and educated university staff,
funded local social and scientific research, organised community outreach groups, took baseline
data on health and environment, supervised research on coral reef health. This project lasted 10
years. It was so successful that 6 other countries and 4 NGO’s gave us money to continue and
expand our work. In the process, we trained at least two dozen Indonesians who now are the
leaders of their university and community. There was a TV special made on the activities of the
project (People of the Reefs, Wildcard Productions). Budget approx. $1.5 million.
Organised the Coral Reef Research Group in Min. Fisheries, Maldives, 1985-90. This group is
still active, doing frontline work, although their field station was severely damaged by the tsunami.
Budget approx. $500,000.

Organised coral reef research at Institute of Marine Sciences, Zanzibar, 1986-91. This work
involved training Institute staff, and selecting for further study abroad, as well as conducting and
supervising research on the status of coral reefs of Zanzibar. Budget approx. $250,000.
Team Leader, COREMAP Technical assistance. COREMAP is a multimillion-dollar (up to $500
million, potentially) soft loan to Indonesia from ADB and WB to help assess the status of
Indonesia’s coral reefs (Coral Reef Monitoring and Assessment Project). I was in charge of a
major economic and scientific analysis of western Indonesia, including many of the sites
devastated by the recent tsumani. My team scoped out alternative income possibilities, smallbusiness
loans, fisheries impacts and coral reef health. Budget was approx. $3 million.
Currently (2009-2012) head of an international team investigating ecological recovery of Saudi
Arabian intertidal habitats from the oil spill produced during Gulf War I. The entire project is
funded by UNCC, and has a total budget of approx. $1 billion.
Using the technique of determining past environmental conditions via analysis of bioindicatorsbivalve
shells, skeletons of corals, gorgonians, black corals-have successfully concluded major
consulting projects in Iran, Chile, and Saudi Arabia.
Experience specific to Iranian coastlines:
1. Monitoring and modeling study-Phase I, Chabahar.
-field work, sediment analysis, report writing, diving in Chabahar to observe conditions.
2. Monitoring and modeling study-Phase II, Nayband to Dayyer.
-field work, diving in Nayband Bay, technology transfer (sediment analysis), report
writing.
3. Monitoring and modeling study-Phase II, Dayyer to Bushehr and Deylam.
-field work, sediment analysis, shoreline morphology and evolution, report writing.
Iranian ICZM
-advised Iranian experts on aspects of coastal zone management, issues of boundaries
and jurisdiction, indicator species.
4. South Pars Phase 9&10 Dredging Impact assessment.
-field work, observations of corals under sediment stress, preparation of a monitoring
plan to assess sediment levels in water.
5. Keynote Speaker, ICOPMAS 2010.
Publication record (abbreviated):
More than 200 refereed articles and book chapters. Three in Science, two in Nature. Citation
analysis suggests I am in the top-ranked 2% of all scientists, all fields, worldwide: “h” score of
35.
Only publications relevant to this application are listed below (of approx. 200):
Risk, M. J., M. Burchell, K. deRoo, R. Nairn, M. Tubrett and G. Forsterra. 2010. Trace elements in
bivalve shells from the Río Cruces, Chile. Aquatic Biology 10: 85-97.
Sherwood, O. A., B. E. Lapointe, M. J. Risk and R. E. Jamieson. 2010. Nitrogen isotopic records
of terrestrial pollution encoded in Floridian and Bahamian gorgonian corals. Environ. Sci.
Technol. 44: 874-880.

Risk, M. J., O. A. Sherwood, R. Nairn and C. Gibbons. 2009. Tracking the record of sewage
discharge off Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, since 1950, using stable isotopic records from
antipatharians. Mar. Ecol. Progress Series 397: 219-226.
Risk, M. J., B. E. Lapointe, O. A. Sherwood and B. J. Bedford. 2009. The use of δ 15 N in assessing
sewage stress on coral reefs. Mar. Poll. Bull. 58: 793-802.
(*awarded Best Paper of 2009.)
Risk, M. J. 2009. Editorial: The reef crisis and the reef science crisis: nitrogen isotopic ratios as
an objective indicator of stress. Mar. Poll. Bull. 58: 787-788.
Sherwood, O. A., E. N. Edinger, T. P. Guilderson, B. Ghaleb, M. J. Risk and D. B. Scott. 2008.
Late Holocene radiocarbon variability in Northwest Atlantic slope waters. Earth Planetary Sci.
Letters 275: 146-153.
Williams, B., M. J. Risk, R. Stone, D. Sinclair and B. Ghaleb. 2007. Oceanographic changes the
Gulf of Alaska over the past century recorded in deep-water gorgonian corals. Marine Ecol.
Progress Series 335: 85-94.
Williams, B., M. J. Risk. S. W. Ross and K. J. Sulak. 2007. Stable isotope data from deep-water
antipatharians: 400-year records from the southeastern coast of the United States of
America. Bull. Mar. Sci. 81: 437-447.
Sinclair, D. J., B. Williams and M. J. Risk. 2006. A biological origin for climate signals in coralstrace
element “vital effects” are ubiquitous in Scleractinian coral skeletons. Geophysical Res.
Letters 33: L17707, doi:10.1029/2006GL027183.
Williams, B., M. J. Risk, S. W. Ross and K. J. Sulak. 2006. Deep-water antipatharians: proxies of
environmental change. Geology 34: 773-776.
Ward-Paige C.A., Risk M.J., Sherwood O.A. (2005) Reconstruction of nitrogen sources on coral
reefs: δ 13 C and δ 15 N in gorgonians from the Florida Reef Tract. Marine Ecology Progress
Series (in press).
Ward-Paige C.A., Risk M.J., Sherwood O.A. and Jaap, W.C. (2005) Clionid sponge surveys on
the Florida reef tract suggest land-based nutrient inputs. Marine Pollution Bulletin (in press)
Schleyer, M.H., J. M. Heikoop and M. J. Risk. A benthic survey of Aliwal Shoal, South Africa, and
assessment of the effects of wood pulp effluent on the reef. In press, Marine Pollution
Bulletin.
Sherwood O. A, Scott D.B., Risk M. J., and Guilderson T.P. 2005. Radiocarbon evidence for
annual growth rings in a deep sea octocoral (Primnoa resedaeformis). Marine Ecology
Progress Series 301: 129-134.
Williams, B., Risk, M.J., Ross, S., & Sulak, K. (2005) Black coral: a proxy of biogeochemistry off
the SE US continental shelf. Halifax 2005. Joint meeting of Geological Association of
Canada, the Mineralogical Association of Canada, the Canadian Society of Petroleum
Geologists and the Canadian Society of Soil Sciences. Halifax, Nova Scotia
Risk, M.J., Heikoop, J.M., Edinger, E.N., Erdmann, M.V., 2001. The assessment "toolbox":
community-based reef evaluation methods coupled with geochemical techniques to identify
sources of stress. Bulletin of Marine Science, 69(2):443-458.
Dibajnia, M., Sanchez, C., Martinez, M., Lara, A., Nairn, R.B., Marván, F. G., Fournier, C.F. and
Risk, M., (2004). Why are Cancun beaches eroding, A question of integrated coastal zone

management, Proceedings of XIII Congreso Panamericano de Ingenieria Oceanicay Costera,
Mexico.
.
Takarina, N., D. R. Browne and M. J. Risk. 2004. Speciation of heavy metals in coastal sediments
of Semarang, Indonesia. Marine Pollution Bull. 49: 861-868.
Williams, B., Risk, M.J., & Stone, R. (2004) A Century of Surface Productivity Recorded in the
Skeleton of a Deep-Sea Gorgonian. AGU Fall Meeting. San Francisco, California.
Risk M. J., Sherwood O. A., Heikoop J. M., Llewellyn G. (2003) Smoke signals from corals:
isotopic signature of the 1997 Indonesian ‘haze’ event. Marine Geology 202: 71-78.
Hovland, M., M. Risk. 2003. Do Norwegian deep-water coral reefs rely on seeping fluids Marine
Geology 198: 83-96.
Edinger, E.N., Copper, P., Risk, M.J., Atmojo, W., 2002. Oceanography, sedimentology, and
reefs of epeiric seas: the Java Sea compared with the Devonian Appalachian Basin and
Michigan Basin. Facies 47(2):127-150.
Lescinsky, H.L., Edinger, E.N., Risk, M.J., 2002. Mollusc shell encrustation and bioerosion rates
in a modern epeiric sea: taphonomy experiments in the Java Sea, Indonesia. Palaios 17(2):
170-190.
Edinger, E.N., Kolasa, J., Risk, M.J., 2000. Variation in within-site coral species diversity on coral
reefs in three regions of Indonesia. Diversity and Distributions 6: 113-127.
Edinger, E.N., Limmon, G.V., Jompa, J., Widjatmoko, W., Heikoop, J.M., Risk, M.J., 2000.
Normal coral growth rates on dying reefs: are coral growth rates good indicators of reef
health Marine Pollution Bulletin 40: 404-425.
Holmes, K.E., Edinger, E.N., Hariyadi, Limmon, G.V., Risk, M.J., 2000. Bioerosion of live massive
corals and branching coral rubble on Indonesian coral reefs. Marine Pollution Bulletin 40:
606-617.
Heikoop, J.M., Risk, M.J., Lazier, A.V., Edinger, E.N., Jompa, J., Limmon, G.V., Dunn, J.J.,
Browne, D.R., Schwarcz, H.P., 2000. Nitrogen-15 Signals of Anthropogenic Nutrient Loading
in Reef Corals. Marine Pollution Bulletin 40: 628-636.
Edinger, E.N., Risk, M.J., 1999. Reef classification by coral morphology predicts coral reef
conservation value. Biological Conservation 92:1-13.
Edinger, E.N., Jompa, J., Limmon, G.V., Widjatmoko, W., Risk, M.J., 1998. Reef degradation and
coral biodiversity in Indonesia: effects of land-based sources of pollution, destructive fishing
practices, and changes over time. Marine Pollution Bulletin 36: 617-630.
Edinger, E.N., Risk, M.J., 2000. Effects of land-based pollution on Central Java coral reefs.
Journal of Coastal Development 3(2): 593-613.
Risk, M. J. 1999. Paradise lost: how marine science failed the world.s coral reefs. Marine
Freshwater Res. 50: 831-837.
Edinger, E.N., Jompa, J., Limmon, G.V., Widjatmoko, W., Risk, M.J., 1999. Reef degradation,
coral biodiversity, and reef management in Indonesia. Pesisir dan Lautan 2(2): 1-16.
LeBlanc, C. G., R. A. Bourbonniere, H. P. Schwarcz and M. J. Risk. 1989. Carbon isotopes and
fatty acids analysis of the sediments of Negro Harbour, Nova Scotia. Estuarine, Coastal and
Shelf Science 28: 261-276.

Risk, M. J., P. W. Sammarco and H. P. Schwarcz. 1994. Cross-continental trends in δ 13 C in coral
on the Great Barrier Reef. Marine Ecology Progress Series 106: 121-130.
Bachtiar, T., J. P. Coakley and M. J. Risk. 1999. Tracing sewage-contaminated sediments in
Hamilton Harbour using selected geochemical tracers. The Science of the Total Environment
179: 3-16.
Smith, J.E., Risk, M.J., Schwarz, H.P., and McConnaughey, T.A. (1997) Rapid climate change in
the North Atlantic during the younger Dryas recorded by deep-sea corals. Nature 386: 818 –
820.
Risk, M. J. and A. C. Risk. 1997. Reef surveys as an aid in management. Proc. 8 th Int. Coral Reef
Symp. 2: 1471-1474.Edinger, E. N. and M. J. Risk. 2000. Reef classification by coral
morphology predicts coral reef conservation value. Biological conservation 92: 1-13.
Heikoop, J. M., M. J. Risk, A. V. Lazier, E. N. Edinger, J. Jompa, G. V. Limmon, J. J. Dunn, D. R.
Browne and H. P. Schwarcz. 2000. Nitrogen-15 signals of anthropogenic nutrient loading in
reef corals. Marine Poll. Bull. 40: 628-636.