Heather holds masters degrees in Food Science and Business Administration, and has 18+ years experience working with the seafood, aquaculture and marine bio-industries. She is also a PhD candidate and is enrolled in the interdisciplinary PhD program in Environmental Science at Memorial University. Her main area of research is value chain optimization of marine biomass waste. 

Currently, she is the Director of the Centre for Aquaculture and Seafood Development (CASD) of the Fisheries and Marine Institute (MI). The CASD is a comprehensive industrial response unit housed within the MI’s School of Fisheries. Located in St. John’s, NL, Canada, the mission of the MI is to foster economic development in strategic sectors of the Newfoundland and Labrador economy, particularly the fisheries and offshore, and to enable Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to participate in the marine industry nationally and internationally. 

Heather is responsible for the management of the CASD and fulfilling its mandate to enhance the competitiveness and future growth of the aquaculture and seafood processing industries in Newfoundland and Labrador. Heather leads a diverse team of scientific and technical researchers with combined qualifications and multidisciplinary industrial skills to provide assistance to clients in all areas of aquaculture and seafood development, ranging from site evaluation services; to seafood processing technology design, processing automation, and testing; seafood product development; fish health and nutrition; and marine bioprocessing. 

In 2012 Heather was elected to the board of directors of the International Association of Fish Inspectors (http://www.iafi.net). She also co-organized and hosted the IAFI’s 2013 World Seafood Congress (www.wsc2013.com) in St. John's, NL. Presently she is leading the Canadian component of the EU H2020 PrimeFish project (http://primefish.cetmar.org/)