“I was there during the ‘black period’ of the year, as they call winter up there,” says Brion, who ventured to the area north of Inuvik, N.W.T., in 2003. “There’s about three hours of daylight. Even then you don’t see the sun — it just looks like sunset.”
Along with 20 other researchers stationed upon the over 5,000 ton icebreaker, Brion was studying living organisms contained in the water’s free-floating sediments and sealed within its frozen counterpart.
That artic fieldwork informed Brion’s PhD dissertation, Organic matter in preservation in marine sediments, and his post-Concordia entrepreneurial endeavours. In 2013, Brion founded and is vice-president of Biomolecules for Life Incorporated, based in Moncton, N.B.
“My company harvests active ingredients from organisms in the water — mainly algae,” says Brion, referring to the ubiquitous oceanic plant-like group. “We then use those molecular bits to manufacture health products.’”
The first ware Brion and his company have brought to market is called “OceanSlim.” Coming as a soft-gel capsule, Brion says his merchandise promotes natural weight loss.
The Health Canada-approved OceanSlim works on three levels, according to Brion: it inhibits fat formation, boosts the baseline number of calories the body requires, even while inactive, and it curbs appetite.