Download Québec-Océan, Interinstitutional Research Group

RESEARCH CENTRE AT UNIVERSITÉ LAVAL
Québec-Océan,
Interinstitutional Research
Group in Oceanography
Québec-Océan brings together a wide range of expertise, resources, and approaches
in a team of experts driven by a shared passion and scientific mission.
Group members are professionally and personally enriched by their close collaboration
on campus and in the field. With the unwavering support of the employees who manage
and coordinate the logistics of long-term, large-scale projects, Québec-Océan has risen to the
forefront of its field.
Québec-Océan director: Jean-Éric Tremblay, Faculty of Science and Engineering
CENTRE DESCRIPTION
MISSION
Québec-Océan’s mission is
to support Québec researchers
and foster student training in order to
promote excellence in oceanography
research and dissemination of
knowledge.
Québec-Océan brings together the main Québec universities active in oceanography with government
and private sector partners to pool the expertise of top researchers in the oceanographic sciences: physics,
geology, chemistry, and biology.
researchers
research
professionals
students
STATISTICS AT 1 JUNE 2013
This interdisciplinary approach underpins all Québec-Océan activities, from coordinating ambitious research projects
and training students to transferring scientific knowledge to the general public, managers and policy makers.
ADVANTAGES
Any graduate student enrolled at a Québec-Océan
member university can join the research group, provided
he/she is conducting scientific research supervised or
co-supervised by a Québec-Océan member (researcher,
associate researcher, or partner) willing to recommend
the student for membership.
Québec-Océan membership adds value to a graduate
degree. Most master’s and doctoral research projects
are multidisciplinary, meaning that students draw on the
expertise of different Québec-Océan members working in
their field. Many projects are international collaborations
(IPY) or partnerships (CFL, CAISN, ArcticNet), and expose
students to practices at other Canadian and foreign institutions. Québec-Océan also offers short internships as
well as postdoctoral fellowships for foreign students, a
chance for Québec-Océan student members to transfer
their knowledge and benefit from a multicultural learning
environment.
Université Laval in the heart of Québec City
is one of Canada’s top research universities,
with nearly 230 graduate programs.
state-of-the-art equipment is an invaluable opportunity for
student researchers, and only possible when laboratories
pool resources as in Québec-Océan.
Students can attend regular lectures held to fill in gaps in
their learning. They can also suggest speakers and help
organize presentations. The Québec-Océan annual scientific
meeting provides students with the opportunity to discuss
and present their work, and is often a springboard for
attending specialized conferences in their research areas.
A global leader in numerous cutting-edge
disciplines, Université Laval educates
tomorrow’s leaders and prepares them to
face current and future challenges in every
field of knowledge.
Learn more about
Université Laval programs at
ulaval.ca/futurestudents
Québec-Océan has a wealth of oceanographic equipment
available for members to use, whereas the equipment
aboard the Canadian research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen
is dedicated exclusively to Arctic research. Working with
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
Global warming and the melting of the Arctic ice caps have major environmental and
geopolitical implications. Will a commercial Arctic fishery be feasible one day? It’s far
from a sure thing, according to Québec-Océan researchers, who recently showed that very
specific conditions are required to boost productivity in coastal areas. The entire Arctic
Ocean may well remain a “biological desert,” despite receding ice, because the area is
deficient in the nutrient salts required by the phytoplankton at the base of the food chain.
These findings by Québec-Océan researchers1 were among the scientific breakthroughs
that made the pages of the prestigious journal Science, and were also featured on the
radio science show Les Années lumières and reported on by leading international media
outlets (The Economist, The Financial Times).
©Chloé Matias
Since 2011 the Saguenay Fjord and St. Lawrence Estuary have been the subject of several
research projects designed to learn more about geology, biogeochemistry, and marine
biology of the area. One project assessed the risk of underwater slides, rock avalanches,
and tsunamis. Research examining the potential of St. Lawrence River surface water to act
as a sink for atmospheric CO2, as well as problems of eutrophication and acidification in
the marine estuary, are currently in the modeling and analysis phases. Finally, monitoring
of algae, invertebrate, and marine mammal (seal and whale) populations has contributed
to understanding these species’ behaviour, their health, and the threats they face.
The impact of research by Québec-Océan members was recognized with multiple awards in
2012. Louis Fortier won both the Weston Family Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Northern
Research and the Timothy R. Parsons medal for excellence in oceanographic research,
while Louis Bernatchez was honoured with the Québec government’s Marie-Victorin award.
©Marc Thibault
100 %
Québec-Océan
Université Laval
Pavillon Alexandre-Vachon
1045, avenue de la Médecine
Suite 2078
Québec City (Québec) G1V 0A6
CANADA
[email protected]
www.quebec-ocean.ulaval.ca
(DC2014-01)
1. Tremblay J.É, S. Bélanger, D. G. Barber, M. Asplin, J. Martin, G. Darnis, L. Fortier, Y. Gratton, H. Link, P. Archambault, A. Sallon, C.
Michel, W. J. Williams, B. Philippe, M. Gosselin (2011) Climate forcing multiplies biological productivity in the coastal Arctic Ocean.
Geophys. Res. Lett. 38, L18604, doi:10.1029/2011GL048825