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Office of Research and Development

Our Researchers

Leaders in the ocean and maritime sectors

Dr. Heather Burke
Director, CASD
(709) 778-0345
Research Areas:
Seafood value chain optimization through waste upcycling, green chemistry, cascading biorefineries and circular economics; Crustacean based bioproducts, chitin, chitosan and its derivatives; Processing of seaweed bioproducts; Seafood processing and quality.
Biography:

PhD in environmental science from Memorial University with a focus on the development and optimization of seafood value chains using green technologies and a bio-refinery approach to minimize waste and maximize value of fisheries and aquaculture resources. Director of the Centre for Aquaculture and Seafood Development at the Fisheries and Marine Institute, Memorial University of Newfoundland since 2005. Leads a multi-disciplinary research team, provides scientific and technical expertise to industry, academia, and government focusing on accelerating innovations in seafood processing, aquaculture, and marine bioprocessing. Oversees approximately 30 research contracts per year ranging in value from $10K to $3 million.

Academic Profile

  • Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL
  • Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) – Environmental Science - 2022
  • Master of Business Administration – 2003 Food Science – 1996
  • Bachelor of Science (Honors) – Biochemistry (Food Science) - 1994

Management Experience

  • 2005 – Present Director, Centre for Aquaculture and Seafood Development, Marine Institute, MUN
  • 2022 – Present Member of PhD committee, Fisheries Science Program, Marine Institute, MUN
  • 2024 – Present Board of Directors, International Association of Fish Inspectors
  • October 2024 Organizer, Seaweed Culture Workshop, Sheraton, St. John’s
  • November 2023 Chair, Organizing committee, Inaugural Seafood Innovation Summit, Marine Institute, MUN
  • 2019 – 2020 Lead - Review of the 2019 Newfoundland and Labrador South Coast Cultured Atlantic Salmon Mortality Event
  • 2018 – 2019 Chair - Provincial Committee for the NL Mussel Value Chain Assessment for the Way Forward on Aquaculture
  • 2018 – 2019 Lead - Provincial Cod Action Plan Roadmap for the NL Fisheries Advisory Council
  • 2016 - 2019 National Committee Member, Food Processing Skills Canada
  • 2015 – 2019 Canadian Coordinator and member of international consortium, PrimeFish EU Horizon 2020 (https://primefish.ca/)
  • 2011 – 2019 Board of Directors, International Association of Fish Inspectors
  • 2011 – 2014 Lead - Enhancing the Competitiveness of the NL Ocean Technology Sector: Focus on Marine Bioprocessing
  • 2010 – 2019 Advisory Board and Organizing Committee, Atlantic and Gulf Seafood Technology Conference
  • 2016 Editorial Board, Journal of Ocean Technology
  • 2005 – 2010 Founding member and previous Board member of Food Tech Canada

Selected Industry Research Projects

  • Pilot Scale Development of Nutraceutical Grade Salmon Oil Extracted from Salmon Processing By-products (2023-2026)
  • Lab Scale Optimization of Shrimp Shell Bioproducts (2024-2025)
  • Snow Crab Spoilage Study (2024-2025)
  • Seaweed Networking Event and Knowledge Transfer Mission (2024-2025)
  • NL Seafood Sector Organic Waste Inventory Assessment (2023-2024)
  • Northern Shrimp Chitin Tech Transfer (2023-2024)
  • Vannamai Shrimp Chitosan Pilot Projects (2022-2024)
  • Bio-extraction of Chitin and Astaxanthin from Porcupine Crab Shells (2022)
  • Quality Assessment and Melanosis of Montagui Shrimp (2021-2024)
  • Chitosan Lab Design - Pilot Project (2021-2025)
  • Marine Collagen and Protein Extraction (2021-2022) – Project Manager/Principal Investigator
  • Quality Assessment of Arctic Char and Yellowtail Flounder (2021) – Principal Investigator
  • Pilot Scale Assessment of BSF Chitin, Chitosan and Melanin (2021) – Principal Investigator
  • Atlantic Cod Quality Pilot Project (2016-2018) – Project Manager/Principal Investigator
  • PrimeFish Canada (2015-2020) – Principal Investigator and Coordinator for Canadian component (www.primefish.ca) of PrimeFish EU Horizon 2020
Courses:

Not currently teaching

Publications:

Burke, H. and Kerton, F. (2023). Sequential extraction of valuable bio-products from Snow Crab (Chionoecetes opilio) processing discards using eco-friendly methods. Mar. Drugs, 21(6), p. 366. DOI: 10.3390/md21060366

Burke, H. and Kerton, F. (2022). Heavy metals in Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) Bio-products. J. Ocean Technol., 17(1), pp. 102-126.

Burke, H. (2022). Green chemistry and an ocean based biorefinery approach for the valorization of Snow crab processing discards. PhD Thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland. https://doi.org/10.48336/9AEA-Q877

Wu, H., Zou, T., Burke, H., King, S. and Burke, B. (2021). A novel approach for Porcupine crab identification and processing based on point cloud segmentation. 20th International Conference on Advanced Robotics (ICAR).

Manuel, H. (2017). Innovations in Shellfish Processing: Bioproduction of chitin, chitosan and its derivatives, in Fuels, Chemicals and Materials from the Oceans and Aquatic Sources (Eds: Francesca M. Kerton, Ning Yan & Christian Stevens), John Wiley & Sons Ltd. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781119117193.ch6

Dave, D., V.V Ramakrishnan, S. Trenholm, H. Manuel, J. Pohling and W. Murphy. (2015). Omega-3 fatty acids from salmon processing waste produced from Newfoundland aquaculture industry. D McPhee, T Donaghy, J Duhaime, and GJ Parsons (eds). Canadian Aquaculture R&D Review 2015. Aquaculture Association of Canada Special Publication 24.

Dave, D., V.V Ramakrishnan, J. Pohling, S. K. Cheema, S. Trenholm, H. Manuel and W. Murphy. (2015) Investigation on oil extraction methods and its influence on omega-3 content from cultured salmon. Journal of Food processing and Technology, 5(12):1-13.

Dave, D., Ramakrishnan, V., Trenholm, S., Manuel, H., Pohling, J. and Murphy, W. (2014). Marine oils as potential feedstock for biodiesel production: Physicochemical characterization. Journal of Bioprocessing & Biotechniques, vol 4, issue 5, 168-180. DOI: 10.4172/2155-9821.1000168

Dave, D., Ramakrishnan, V., Pohling, J., Cheema, S., Trenholm, S., Manuel, H., and Murphy, W. (2014). Investigation on Oil Extraction Methods and its Influence on Omega-3 Content from Cultured Salmon. Journal of Food Processing and Technology, Vol. 5, Issue 12, 401-414. DOI: 10.4172/2157-7110.1000401

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