Mary R. Brooks
Dr. Mary R. Brooks is the William A. Black Chair of Commerce at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. Her research interests focus on transportation and global supply chain management. She was a Canada–US Fulbright scholar at George Mason University in 2005; during this time she investigated the impact of security regulations on the US’ maritime container trade. Her latest book, North American Freight Transportation: The Road to Security and Prosperity, will be published by Edward Elgar in June 2008.
Dr. Brooks was Membership Secretary and Treasurer of the International Association of Maritime Economists from 1994 to 1998 and a Director of the Halifax International Airport Authority from its inception in 1995 to 2004. She currently chairs the Committee on International Trade and Transportation and serves on the Committee for Funding Options for Freight Transportation Projects of National Significance, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C. Dr. Brooks received her undergraduate degree from McGill University, her MBA from Dalhousie University and her Ph.D. in Maritime Studies from the University of Wales in 1983, and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.
Dr. Brooks is no stranger to public policy research, having led the research team for the publication, Short Sea Shipping on the East Coast of North America, completed in March 2006; this project provided guidance to potential short sea operators and to governments on the public policy changes required to promote Canada-US short sea activity. Most recently she was the invited opening speaker, at the North America Works II in Kansas City conference, Kansas City, Mo, December 1 (Title: “Building North American Competitiveness Through a Continental Transportation Strategy”). Her work in public policy development began in the early 1980s providing advice to the Government of Canada in the area of liner shipping, and was honed during her two years as Vice-President Policy for the Halifax Chamber of Commerce (1996-1998). She has provided advice to the governments of Canada, the United States, and Australia as well as the European Council of Ministers of Transport. She is currently leading a project for Transport Canada, Port Performance Benchmarks and Indicators (T8080-07-0240), due March 2008.
A sample of completed projects follows:
Short Sea Shipping on the East Coast of North America, a research contract for Transport Canada ((Project ACG-TPMI-AH08)and the Halifax Port Authority (Project Leader: Mary R. Brooks; team members: J.R.F. Hodgson, James D. Frost and Stephen Kymlicka), 2005-06.
The Jones Act Under NAFTA and Its Effects on the Canadian Shipbuilding Industry, individual contract, Ottawa: Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (EET-012-03), pp 64. (This refereed research report for government was commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2003 and was reprinted by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies as a Research Paper, September 2006.
Canada’s Maritime Cabotage Policy: A Report for Transport Canada, a research contract (with Dalhousie Marine Affairs) for Transport Canada. 2004.
To Review Certain Recent Developments in International Shipping Policy, a research contract (with Dalhousie Marine Affairs) for Transport Canada. 2003.
Short Sea Shipping in Atlantic Canada, a contract for Transport Canada, with Marinova Ltd. 2003.
Dr. Brooks has published well over 50 articles, and has authored or edited more than 20 books or monographs, in addition to a software package in the international marketing/distribution field and six widely used business cases. Articles have appeared in journals such as The Logistics and Transportation Review, Transport Reviews, International Journal of Transport Economics, Maritime Policy and Management, Transportation Journal, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Materials Management, and Canadian and international transport research fora Proceedings. (A complete list of publications is available on request; the following is a selection.)
Brooks, Mary R. and Kevin Cullinane, eds. (2007), Devolution, Port Performance and Port Governance (Research in Transport Economics Volume 17). Oxford: Elsevier.
Brooks, Mary R. and Kenneth J. Button (2007), “Maritime Container Security: A Cargo Interest Perspective,” in Port, Maritime and Supply Chain Security: Frameworks, Models and Applications, Bichou, K., M. Bell and A. Evans, (eds.), London: Informa (Chapter 13, 221-236).
Thibault, Marc, Mary R. Brooks and Kenneth J. Button (2006), “The Response of the US Maritime Industry to the New Container Security Initiatives,” Transportation Journal, 45, 1, 5-15.
Brooks, Mary R. and Kenneth J. Button (2006), “Market Structures and Shipping Security,” Maritime Economics and Logistics, 8, 1, 100-120.
Brooks, Mary R. and J.R.F. Hodgson (2005), “The Fiscal Treatment of Shipping: A Canadian Perspective on Shipping Policy,” in Shipping Economics: Research in Transportation Economics, Kevin Cullinane (ed.), 12, 143-171.
Brooks, Mary R. and James D. Frost (2004), “Short Sea Shipping: A Canadian Perspective,” Maritime Policy and Management, 31, 4, 1-15.
Brooks, Mary R. (2004), “The Governance Structure of Ports,” Review of Network Economics: Special Issue on the Industrial Organization of Shipping and Ports, 2, 2, 169-184.
Brooks, Mary, Kenneth Button and Peter Nijkamp (2002), Maritime Transport, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 558 pp.
Brooks, Mary R. (2002), “Liner Shipping Regulation in North America: A Canadian Perspective,” International Journal of Maritime Economics, 4, 281-300.
Brooks, Mary R. (2001) “NAFTA and Transportation: A Canadian Scorecard,” Transportation Research Record1763, 35-41.
Brooks, Mary R. (2000), Sea Change in Liner Shipping: Regulation and Managerial Decision-Making in a Global Industry, Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Contact information
Mary R. Brooks
William A. Black Chair of Commerce
Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building
Dalhousie University
6100 University Ave. (Room 5118)
Halifax NS Canada B3H 1W7
tel: +1-902-494-1825
fax: +1-902-494-1107
e-mail:
personal web site:
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