Rashid Sumaila is a University Killam Professor and Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Interdisciplinary Ocean and Fisheries Economics at the University of British Columbia's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. He was also named an ‘Extraordinary Professor” by the University of Pretoria in 2024.

His research focuses on bioeconomics, marine ecosystem valuation, and global issues like fisheries subsidies, marine protected areas, illegal fishing, climate change, marine plastic pollution, and oil spills.

Dr. Sumaila has worked on fisheries and natural resource projects in Norway, Canada, the North Atlantic, Namibia, Southern Africa, Ghana, West Africa, Brazil, South America, Hong Kong, and the South China Sea. 

He is a co-recipient of the 2023 Tyler Prize in Environmental Achievement; the 2017 Volvo Environment Prize, and was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2019, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2023. Impressively, Sumaila was named one of  “100 Most Influential Africans” in 2023. Clarivate has named Dr. Sumaila a “highly cited researcher” every year since 2021.

He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Bergen and a B.Sc. in Quantity Surveying from Ahmadu Bello University.