Dave Conley

Biography

 Dave’s career in aquaculture grew out of his training in agriculture, renewable resources development and parasitology. His first job in the food sector was in the production planning department at Kraft Foods in Montreal, Quebec (1972-75), after which he travelled to British Columbia (BC) and landed at a beef cattle ranch in BC’s interior, east of the Okanagan Valley, working as a ranch-hand for a season. From this experience Dave decided to enrol at Kemptville Agricultural College (now part of the University of Guelph) in 1977 and graduated with a Diploma in Agriculture, (Honors with Distinction) in 1979. After working in the agricultural sector for 5 years, he enrolled at McGill University’s Faculty of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences in 1984 and completed a B.Sc. (Agr.), Major in Renewable Resources Development (Great Distinction, University Scholar) in 1987. It was during his undergraduate studies that he learned about the rapidly developing salmon farming industry in Norway and the slowly emerging aquaculture industry in Canada. Upon graduating, Dave was awarded a post-graduate scholarship by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) which he used to pursue a M.Sc. (Parasitology) from McGill’s Institute of Parasitology, graduating in 1992. His thesis research focused on the early life cycle biology of a parasitic copepod infecting brook trout and other members of the genus Salvelinus, which are widely farmed in Canada and the USA.

Research Interest

 Business