FRANÇOIS FOURNIER

Academic training and work experience : François received his bachelor's degree in biology from the Université de Moncton. He then went on to obtain a master's degree from the Université de Sherbrooke where he worked on the behavioral ecology of mountain goats. He received his PhD in physiological ecology from the Université de Sherbrooke, and his dissertation research dealt with the nutrition and winter energetics of North American porcupines. He then pursued a Postdoctoral Fellowship in wildlife toxicology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he worked on the bioaccumulation of mercury in the Common loon. Francois did a second Postdoc in physiological ecology at the Université Laval, working on developmental plasticity in Greater Snow Goose goslings. He was an assistant professor for a brief period in the biology department at the Université de Moncton (January 2002 – April 2003) before joining the NSERC-Produits forestiers Anticosti Industrial Research Chair in May 2003. Since January 2005, François is working for the Canadian Wildlife Service in Quebec City.

Research interests : His main research interest is the acquisition and allocation of resources in Vertebrates. The projects that interest him most within the Chair's research program are : 1) the importance of food quality on foraging strategies, nutritional ecology, and body composition of individuals, 2) the possible effects of ecological and environmental constraints on individuals (energetics) and on habitat selection, and 3) plant-herbivore interactions (chemical ecology).