February 17, 2020
On February 11th 2020, the Centre for Northern Studies (Centre d'études nordiques - CEN) lost its founding father. As an illustrious geographer, economist, defender of Aboriginal rights, pioneer and visionary of the North, Louis-Edmond Hamelin inspired generations of researchers to discover the many facets o...
Check out the newsFebruary 10, 2020
Ecotones mark zones of rapid change in ecological structure at various spatial scales. They are believed to be particularly susceptible to shifts caused by environmental transformation, making them key regions for studying the effects of global change. Here, we explored the variation in assemblage structure o...
Check out the newsAugust 8, 2019
The second issue of the 2019 edition of the newsletter Écho tourbières was published. This newsletter is intended for anyone interested in the world of peatlands.
Check out the newsJuly 24, 2019
This July, 18 PhD students from 10 nations and all continents and 12 mentors took on a plane early morning from Quèbec to fly their way to Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik. The mission was attending the International PhD School “Arctic Microbiomes” organized by Sentinelle Nord by the Université Laval. What...
Check out the newsJune 21, 2019
CEN researcher Monique Bernier becomes the first woman to receive the prestigious Larry Morley Gold Medal from the Canadian Society for Remote Sensing. Professor Bernier has maintained close ties with the Society throughout her career, including chairing it from 2009 to 2014. The Society acknowledges Ms. Bern...
Check out the newsJune 19, 2019
In order to cope with the increase in the amount of data generated by CEN's work and to meet a growing demand for access to it, CEN has set up the Nordicana D collection. This collection, produced solely in electronic form, is freely accessible, via the Internet, to CEN researchers and to all other users inte...
Check out the newsJune 17, 2019
For the second edition of the Northern Project, six students enrolled at Cégep André-Laurendeau in Chemistry and Biology Completion Project stayed in Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik, Nunavik. An internship from June 4 to June 17, 2019 was conducted in partnership with the CEN to apply the knowledge acquired duri...
Check out the newsJune 7, 2019
CEN researcher and former scientific director Warwick Vincent recently did the exercise of popularizing lake ecosystems in his new book called Lakes: A Brief Introduction. The book covers the main aspects of limnology, from its history, to the value of lake environments to societies, including the biological ...
Check out the newsMay 30, 2019
Check out the newsMay 30, 2019
The CEN greatly contributed to mentoring a course entitled Introduction to Northern Research Issues organized by the INQ from May 6 to 10, 2019 in Quebec City. The course objectives were to fully prepare researchers to work in a northern context, in difficult field conditions, and to help them learn how to es...
Check out the newsApril 23, 2019
You will find lots of fresh news from CEN members in the latest edition of the Bulletin! To receive this biannual newsletter directly in your inbox, clic here.
Check out the newsApril 15, 2019
The research undertaken by our members, often in collaboration with northern communities, is highlighted in a recent article in the newspaper Le Devoir. The article specifically addresses issues related to thawing permafrost, collaborative research, climate change and research funding. It mentions the potenti...
Check out the newsApril 9, 2019
The 6th edition of Youth Fusion’s Pigunnaniq (talent in Inuktituk) Festival, which took place on December 6, 7 and 8 2018 in Kuujjuarapik, Nunavik was a great success! Young Inuit talents from 6 Northern Villages of Nunavik gathered together to share the stage with accomplished Indigenous artists, Kelly Fra...
Check out the newsFebruary 15, 2019
In Whitehorse, the Minister of Transport of Canada announced two permafrost research contracts led by, or involving, CEN researchers. Researcher Michel Allard (CEN-ULaval) will receive more than $339,000 in funding to evaluate the effectiveness of climate change adaptation techniques applied at the Iqaluit Ai...
Check out the newsFebruary 15, 2019
The CEN would like to congratulate the Youth Committee of the Kangiqsualujjuaq community and the IMALIRIJIIT team for the $466K Arctic Inspiration Award 2018 they won and which will enable youth from all Nunavik Inuit communities to participate in land-based resource and science camps in rapidly changing nort...
Check out the newsFebruary 13, 2019
Following the elections held on Friday, February 8, 2019, during the annual conference of the Centre d'études nordiques, here are the members who will compose the Student Committee as of May 2019: Karine Rioux, student in Geography and representative at Université de Montréal; Vincent Sassevill...
Check out the newsFebruary 12, 2019
Congratulations to Héloïse Barbel who received the distinction on the Honor Roll of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for the year 2018 as part of the Master's program in Geographical Sciences. She won the unanimity of the jury because of the excellent marks for her master's thesis.
Check out the newsFebruary 12, 2019
The CEN annual meeting was once again a great success this year with over 170 participants and a rich and diversified program including invited conferences on developing research collaborations and partnerships with Inuit communities and on new research platforms for work in coastal zones. We also had the opp...
Check out the newsJanuary 28, 2019
A new comparative study, conducted by the international GTN-P permafrost network, including CEN researcher Michel Allard, shows that mean ground temperature has increased in all permafrost regions except sites in the eastern Canadian Arctic. This new study compiles time series of global permafrost temperature...
Check out the newsJanuary 22, 2019
CEN congratulates the two recipients of the FRQNT international internship scholarship program for 2019. Doctoral student Bo Qu, from the Geography Department at Université de Montréal under the supervision of Oliver Sonnentag received a $5000 scholarship for a two-month internship in British Columbia. Rac...
Check out the newsDecember 13, 2018
It is with great pleasure that we inform you of the publication of the third volume of the Northern Flore of Quebec and Labrador, under the direction of Professor Serge Payette. The book is the result of a long-term collaboration between several Quebec botanists and is the third of four volumes devoted ...
Check out the newsNovember 26, 2018
CEN is extremely proud to work with Kangiqsualujjuaq community member who, once again, prove their leadership by being nominated for this year Arctic Instpiartion prize! They have been mnominated ofr their project unami Sukuijainiq: A Youth Arctic Ecology Land Camp Program. You can read more information on ...
Check out the newsOctober 12, 2018
CEN would like to thank the outgoing director, Dr Najat Bhiry, for all the hard work she accomplished during her two consecutive mandates as CEN Director from 2012 to 2018. This includes securing a large CFI grant to construct CEN`s ninth research station in Kangiqsualujjuaq, which opened last summer for rese...
Check out the newsOctober 12, 2018
Following a long history of efforts by communities, organizations and interested parties in the greater James Bay/Hudson Bay regions towards sharing knowledge and coordinated environmental stewardship, the inaugural Hudson Bay Summit brought together these groups to formally create the Hudson Bay Consortium a...
Check out the newsSeptember 26, 2018
Climate change threatens to accentuate population fluctuations of this small arctic rodent Already known for the large cyclical variations of their populations, lemmings could experience even more demographic upheavals as a result of climate change affecting the Arctic. This is the conclusion that research...
Check out the newsSeptember 13, 2018
The inauguration of the recently built (2018) CEN research station in Kangiqsualujjuaq took place September 5-6th 2018. The event was a great success, with more than 60 participants from the community, 5 members of CEN and 1 member of CIÉRA. The opening ceremony was officially launched with a prayer by Nor...
Check out the newsSeptember 13, 2018
CEN wishes a warm welcome to Jeannie Annanack (left) and Eleonora Townley (right) as our new managers for the SUKUIJARVIK CEN-Kangiqsualujjuaq station which recently opened in 2018. The station Inuktitut name means “place of science”. CEN hired Eleonora as the year-round manager and Jeannie will also be h...
Check out the newsAugust 12, 2018
CEN researcher Steeve Côté was invited to Boucar Diouf radio program “La nature selon Boucar” on Radio-Canada. During the 4th of August episode's on caribou and nordicity, the researcher discuss the possible reasons explaining the decline of caribou's populations.
Check out the newsJuly 3, 2018
Last month, 24 membres of the Sentinel North program spent a week at CEN's flagship station in Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik to participate in a workshop aiming at familiarising them with the challenges of northern research and to the realities of northern communities. CEN members Michel Allard and Richard Fort...
Check out the newsJune 12, 2018
Three CEN Students are Finalists in "Mon projet nordique". Congrstulations to Samuel Gagnon, Myriam Labbé and Mafalda Miranda who are amongst the six finalists who will have the opportunity to present their projects in Rekjavik, Iceland, next October during the Arctic Circle Assembly. More infor...
Check out the newsMay 28, 2018
To take science by the other end, by the image and not by the words. This is the original idea behind this contest launched by ACFAS in 2010. Dedicated to images from scientific research in all fields of knowledge, the contest has been spreading since 2016 across Canada, thanks to the collaboration with the N...
Check out the newsMay 22, 2018
Congratulations to Samuel Gagnon, PhD student in the department of geographie at Université Laval under the supervision of CEN researcher Michel Allard for winning the 2018 George Hobson award of the Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP). He was given the 1000$ award for his project intitled "Geom...
Check out the newsMay 7, 2018
The interaction between species has undergone unprecedented changes in recent decades. These upheavals, the consequences of which are not yet known, are evolving in line with climate change.
Check out the newsMay 2, 2018
This year, the symposium was once again a success. The symposium lasted two days, on March 21st and 22nd 2018, and took place at the Optics-Photonics block. A section of the conference was reserved for the presentation of scientific posters presented by the undergraduate students. Finally, our conference cont...
Check out the newsMarch 19, 2018
Congratulations to our winners of the CEN 2018 Conference Communication Awards! Samuel Gagnon and Michaël Bonin (ULaval) - Ex-aequo best oral presentation / Louis-Emond Hamelin Award... Mathilde Poirier (ULaval) - best express speech...Karine Rioux (UofMontreal) - Best Express Sentinel North... Mathilde ...
Check out the newsFebruary 12, 2018
Three CEN students have been awarded a scholarship for an international internship at the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Nature and Technology (FRQNT). These scholarships, valued at a maximum of $15,000, are intended for an internship abroad. Congratulations to the new scholars! - Myriam Labbé (Laval U...
Check out the newsFebruary 8, 2018
A CEN student member, Gwyneth Anne MacMillan (University of Montreal), participates to the competition "Science Action!" of the CRSNG. Follow the link to watch her one-minute film on her research on contamination in the far north. Feel free to share it, since only the videos with the most vie...
Check out the newsFebruary 8, 2018
What is called permafrost? What gases does it contain? Why is it important to study its evolution? What are the observable consequences of the permafrost thaws associated with climate change? What is the risk in the near future? Can we delay the thaw? See the report by Florent Dominé, researcher at the Fra...
Check out the newsFebruary 5, 2018
CEN researcher Michel Allard, a permafrost specialist, has received the prestigious Weston Family prize for lifetime achievement in northern science. The 100K$ prize was given to professor Allard during the Arctic Change international conference which took place in Quebec city last December. Congratulations! ...
Check out the newsJanuary 19, 2018
Check out the newsJanuary 10, 2018
Check out the newsSeptember 25, 2017
This summer, a group of 30 adventurers set off on an expedition down the magnificent George River, located on the Ungava peninsula in Nunavik, Northern Quebec. The expedition team consisted of members of the Kangiqsualujjuaq community and a small group of scientists. This was the second edition of the Imaliri...
Check out the newsJuly 10, 2017
To the great surprise of researchers, the bottom of the centre of Lake Ward Hunt, the northern most lake of the American continent, is not completely frozen and is the home of over 1500 species of bacteria, archaea and eukaryotic microbes. A recent study published in npj Biofilms and Microbiomes by post-docto...
Check out the newsJune 29, 2017
The Ordre national du Québec confers each year esteemed titles to exceptional citizens who, by their achievements, values and ideals, have marked the evolution and global reach of Québec. CEN researcher and past director Serge Payette received the grade of Knight of the Order, a distinction amon...
Check out the newsJune 20, 2017
The rough-legged hawk, a circumpolar bird of prey nesting in the North, built its nest on rocky cliffs or steep slopes which are threatened by natural hazards linked to climate change. A study published in Arctic Science and signed by Andréanne Beardsell, a CEN student, with her supervisors Gilles...
Check out the newsMay 31, 2017
The 17th edition of the CEN Bulletin is now available Read the recent news: New CEN awards; NSERC grant for our infrastructures; International agreements; CEN researcher : Christophe Kinnard; A student's perspective by Isabelle Fournier; and more…
Check out the newsMay 29, 2017
A new scholarship was created to acknowledge the incredible work done by undergraduate students. More specifically, this scholarship aims to support students who participate to conferences or who publish a paper as first author. For more information about the prizes and scholarships, please visit the secti...
Check out the newsApril 5, 2017
The International Futur Arctic workshop is a research initiative on arctic bryophytes and lichens, from species to ecosystem levels, and is co-organised by Juan Carlos Villarreal and Line Rochefort. The workshop, perfectly aligned with CEN’s scientific program, will take place at Université Laval...
Check out the newsMarch 6, 2017
Professor Steeve Côté and his research team have installed camera-collars on 14 gestating females of the Rivière aux feuilles herd in 2016. These cameras, programmed to record a 10 seconds video every 20 minutes, are revealing unprecedented images about the behavior, diet and living enviro...
Check out the newsMarch 6, 2017
Manuel Helbig, doctoral student in geography under the supervision of Oliver Sonnentag at Université de Montréal is laureate of the FRQNT Étudiants-chercheurs-étoiles contest for the month of February. Manuel was awarded the prize for his recent publication in Global Change Biology...
Check out the newsFebruary 22, 2017
Catherine Girard, a Université de Montréal doctoral student in Environmental Biology under the supervision of Marc Amyot, is known in Resolute (Nunavut) as the « Poop lady » ever since she collected stool samples for her study of Inuit microbiome. Catherine compared the Inu...
Check out the newsFebruary 21, 2017
The organising committee of the CEN Annual Meeting wishes to thank all who participated and contributed to the success of the 2017 edition of the meeting at Université Laval. Nearly 150 researchers, students and collaborators came to the meeting from Sherbrooke, Montréal, Trois-Rivières (...
Check out the newsFebruary 3, 2017
Students Chloé Martineau and Jean-Benoit Madore, from the Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire sur les milieux polaires (GRIMP, UdeSherbrooke) and under the supervision of Alexandre Langlois have been awarded FRQNT international mobility scholarships. Chloé Martineau, a Master’s degree s...
Check out the newsDecember 21, 2016
Created in 2012 by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Martin Bergmann Medal recognizes achievement for “excellence in Arctic leadership and science”. Professor Warwick Vincent, past director and scientific director of the CEN for many years until just recently, received the prestigious m...
Check out the newsDecember 20, 2016
Two CEN students were awarded communication prizes during the last edition of the Faculté de foresterie, géographie et géomatique meeting at Université Laval. Samuel Gagnon, doctoral student and active member of CEN’s student committee, won the first prize for the quality of ...
Check out the newsDecember 20, 2016
CEN researcher Reinhard Pienitz and CEN research staff Luc Cournoyer recently published a paper describing the newly launched Circumpolar Diatom Database (CDD). This open-access online database (db) is a resource for the analysis of species distribution and abundance of diatoms in high-latittude circumpolar r...
Check out the newsOctober 13, 2016
CEN would like to warmly congratulate Warwick Vincent who was recently rewarded for his outstanding scientific research on polar environments. Specialist in Polar Regions’ limnology, Dr. Vincent received the Polar Medal from the Governor General of Canada, the Honorable David Johnston, during a ceremony...
Check out the newsOctober 13, 2016
CEN researcher Richard Fortier was awarded the 2016 CAN-AM Civil Engineering Amity Award 2016 from the Technical Council on Cold Regions Engineering. Dr Fortier was selected thanks to more than two decades of advancing professional relationships between civil engineers in the USA and Canada, by sharing his ex...
Check out the newsOctober 4, 2016
The new holder of the K-C Irving Research Chair in environmental sciences and sustainable development at Université de Moncton, Marie-Andrée Giroux, was a CEN affiliated postdoctoral fellow at the time of her nomination. The mandate of the research Chair is to contribute to the development and m...
Check out the newsSeptember 16, 2016
Professor Dominique Berteaux was given the prize Excellency in research and creation, section realization, by Université du Québec to highlight the quality and originality of his research, his outstanding capacity to valorize it, and its impact on the Québec society. The researcher is a s...
Check out the newsSeptember 8, 2016
Audrey LePogam, PhD student in the avian ecophysiology lab of the researcher François Vézina, has obtained precious data thanks to the support of a team from the Canadian Armed Forces compsed of linemen visiting the Alert station in the far North. The student, known at the station as “Snow...
Check out the newsAugust 12, 2016
Oliver Sonnentag’s research was selected as a feature story for the science report 2015 of the Polar continental shelf program (PCSP). The researcher and his team have been studying greenhouse gas and heat fluxes in the Taiga Plains of the Northwest Territories since 2013. Thanks to a net...
Check out the newsAugust 6, 2016
Black bears are now frequently sighted in residential areas of south-western Ontario. CEN researcher Martin-Hugues St-Laurent, specialist in animal ecology and conservation, says this phenomenon may be explained by the intensification of urban expansion. The increased number of houses built on farm land and i...
Check out the newsAugust 3, 2016
CEN researcher James Woollett was interviewed on the Midi info program of Radio-Canada first channel as an expert regarding the recent discovery of a new Viking site on the Newfoundland coast. The researcher highlight the potential scope of this discovery, which still need to be confirmed, for example by illu...
Check out the newsJune 27, 2016
The Governor General of Canada and his wife visited in May CEN research complex at Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik during a tour of the Hudson Bay region communities. The scientific director, Warwick Vincent, Christine Barnard, Science Coordinator, and Maxime Saunier, Station Manager, presented a variety of ongoin...
Check out the newsJune 3, 2016
A recent article published in La Presse + relates an observation made by the Polar continental shelf’s program (PCSP) Director stating that interest in Arctic research is growing amongst the scientific community. A higher number of applications for logistical support was received by the PCSP this year. ...
Check out the newsMay 27, 2016
Charles Papasodoro, CEN student member in the département de géomatique appliquée at Université de Sherbrooke, have won this year’s best master thesis award from the Canadian Remote Sensing Society. His thesis, carried out under the co-direction of the researchers Alain...
Check out the newsMay 16, 2016
CEN researcher Isabelle Laurion’s work is featured on NSERC’s dashboard. Dr. Laurion, professor at the Centre Eau Terre Environnement at INRS, and her team study lakes created by permafrost thawing in the Canadian Arctic. Her research allows her to evaluate the relative importance of the combined ...
Check out the newsMay 12, 2016
A unique micro-geoarcheology laboratory affiliated to the CEN, was inaugurated at Université Laval last month. Under the direction of CEN director, researcher Najat Bhiry, the laboratory will facilitate the reconstruction of daily human occupancy in archeological sites. Dr Bhiry has developed a compete...
Check out the newsApril 27, 2016
A team from the Groupe de Recherche Interdisciplinaire des Milieux Polaires (GRIMP), including CEN researcher Alain Royer, led a field mission in Umiujaq (Nunavik) where they studied snow density. This density greatly influences the quantity of water which will be released into the rivers following snow melt ...
Check out the newsApril 11, 2016
Samuel Gagnon, doctoral candidate in geography at Laval University, under the supervision of the researcher Michel Allard, was awarded an Alexander-Graham-Bell scholarship which supports the best students in the fields of natural sciences and engineering in Canada. Samuel studies permafrost carbon release fol...
Check out the newsMarch 23, 2016
Canadian amateurs of backcountry skiing and snowboarding will soon be able to count on more reliable avalanche forecasting models thanks to the studies led by CEN researcher Alexandre Langlois and his team over the past 3 years in the Chic-Chocs and the Rocky Mountains. The adaptation of the Swiss model of av...
Check out the newsMarch 21, 2016
The Université Laval’s Contact magazine shared with its readers, in its winter 2016 edition, the numerous northern research initiatives being led by the members of its institution. From the foundation of CEN more than 50 years ago by Louis-Edmond Hamelin, to the recent developments of the Institu...
Check out the newsMarch 7, 2016
The Université du Québec (UQ) Bulletin features an article on water quality led by Simon Bélanger, director of the Laboratoire d’optique aquatique et de télédétection at Université du Québec à Rimouski and CEN researcher. Using images collec...
Check out the newsJanuary 11, 2016
Predictions of the amount of gas released by thawing permafrost in the Arctic are based on very limited data and results obtained may poorly reflect the actual amounts that will be released. This is why CEN Post-Doctoral Fellow Frédéric Bouchard and his colleagues Isabelle Laurion, Daniel Fortie...
Check out the newsJanuary 6, 2016
A recent publication in the international journal Geophysical Research Letters relates the warming of lakes on every continent on the planet. These increases in temperature are faster than that of the air and ocean water temperatures and have multiple consequences, such as the increased abundance of cyanobact...
Check out the newsDecember 10, 2015
The Radio-Canada TV program « La semaine verte » has produced a series of episodes on the United Nations conference on Climate Change that took place in Paris in December 2015. Research undertaken by the group Caribou Ungava, led by CEN’s researcher Steeve Côt&eacut...
Check out the newsNovember 4, 2015
CEN’s radiochronology laboratory, run by lab technician Guillaume Labrecque, participated in the Sixth International Radiocarbon Intercomparison (SIRI) competition. The participating laboratories (almost 50) each received thirteen samples that had to be dated using the laboratories’ standard proto...
Check out the newsOctober 26, 2015
Check out the newsSeptember 17, 2015
Research by CEN professors Martin Simard and Patrick Lajeunesse have shed some light on a surprising driver responsible for landslides in mountainous regions of Québec. In addition to the cumulative effects of the slope, the thickness of the soil layer, and the amount of water in the ground, the ...
Check out the newsSeptember 11, 2015
A paper was published as a result from a workshop initiated and ran by early career scientists present during the ICARP III meeting which took place in Portugal last year. The young researchers, among which were members of the CEN, planned this workshop with the objective of discussing which research question...
Check out the newsSeptember 2, 2015
The second volume of the work « Flore nordique du Québec et du Labrador » was published by the Presses de l’Université Laval under the direction CEN researcher Serge Payette. This impressive work which will culminate in the publication of four volumes, made possibl...
Check out the newsAugust 11, 2015
Three of CEN’s students and a post-doc have won prestigious scholarships during the last few months. Simon Massé was awarded the Consortium Ouranos Réal-Décoste scholarship to support his doctoral research, initiated last september under the supervision of Thomas Buffin-Bélan...
Check out the newsAugust 4, 2015
A piece published on Le Devoir’s website relates that local communities and researchers see tangible signs of accelerated climate change in northern Québec. Many animal and plant species, such as moose and birch, which were historically limited to the south of the province are now readily observe...
Check out the newsJuly 23, 2015
It is with great pleasure that all CEN members (researchers, staff, and students) congratulate Michel Allard for obtaining the Polar Medal. The medal was presented to him Wednesday, July 8 in Whitehorse. The Polar Medal celebrates Canada’s northern heritage and recognizes persons who render extraordinar...
Check out the newsJune 11, 2015
Congratulations to two CEN students who were honoured by receiving the Governor General’s Academic Medal during the graduation ceremony at Université Laval this month. Selected among 500 graduates receiving a Master's degree with thesis, Sandra Angers-Blondin worked, under the supervision of ...
Check out the newsJune 11, 2015
The last ACFAS meeting which took place between the 24th and 30th of May at UQAR was a resounding success. Many of CEN’s member actively took part in its organization, notably by organizing workshops, planning activities for the general public and giving outstanding scientific and even musical performan...
Check out the newsJune 1, 2015
Climate change is affecting the North at an unprecedented pace. Northern residents who depend on the ecosystem for traditional activities, such as hunting and gathering, must adapt their ways to the environment undergoing rapid change. Esther Lévesque and José Gérin-Lajoie, CEN researcher...
Check out the newsMay 25, 2015
A study by a team of researchers from France and Québec, including CEN researcher Gilles Gauthier, have demonstrated that greater snow geese migrating to the northern limit of their breeding area have the same adult survival rate than those migrating 800 km to the south to Bylot island. The researchers...
Check out the newsMay 22, 2015
A proposal by the government of Québec to extend forest exploitation into the White Mountains area of the Saguenay region could significantly accelerate the decline of the already threatened caribou populations. For several years now, CEN researcher Martin-Hugues St-Laurent has been working w...
Check out the newsMay 14, 2015
ADAPT (Arctic in Development and Adaptation to Permafrost in Transition) led by CEN’s scientific director Warwick Vincent, in collaboration with several other CEN members, is featured on NSERC’s dashboard. The dashboard illustrates the extent of NSERC’s investments in science over the last y...
Check out the newsMay 6, 2015
CEN director Najat Bhiry, researcher Steeve Côté and PhD student Julie Malenfant Lepage appear in a new series of the TV show Canal Savoir called Quoi de neuf chercheurs? The fourth episode of the series presents CEN researchers discussing the challenges facing the North and its communities ...
Check out the newsMarch 20, 2015
Under the ice-sealed lakes of the polar desert in the Canadian High Arctic, an unexpected diversity of life flourishes. New technologies such as GoPro video cameras and high-throughput DNA analyses reveal the presence of micro-organisms and life forms, some of which are so small they cannot be observed under ...
Check out the newsMarch 19, 2015
Thawing permafrost and its potential for positive feedback on climate change, specifically in temperature rise, attracts once again the attention of the media. A report was published on Québec science’s website in February relating a visit at CEN's research station in Kuujjuarapik during...
Check out the newsMarch 17, 2015
Our researchers climbed to the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2014 in Le Soleil. The newspaper highlights scientific breakthroughs by researchers which have marked scientific history in their respective fields. Research by Patrick Lajeunesse (ULaval) on buried preglacial valleys and gorges, published in the...
Check out the newsMarch 5, 2015
Carbon 14 dating achieved by CEN’s lead technician, Guillaume Labrecque, of the radiochronology lab lead to the conviction of an auction company which illegally tried to sell elephant tusks as antiques. Indeed, the dating demonstrated that the tusks came from elephants which were killed after 1975, year...
Check out the newsMarch 5, 2015
The Arctic Ocean now counts two "spring" blooms. This discovery was documented in a study lead by CEN’s researcher Marcel Babin and his colleagues. The study was selected as one of the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2014 by the magazine Québec Science. The study shows that a second ph...
Check out the newsFebruary 10, 2015
Mountain goat kids are exposed to multiple risk factors during their first year of life. A study by Rachel Théoret-Gosselin, in collaboration with Sandra Hamel and under the supervision of CEN member Steeve Côté, shows that maternal care and energy devoted to locomotor development (linked ...
Check out the newsFebruary 4, 2015
The front page of the latest volume of the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences shows a spectacular photo of the Crystal Eye of Nunavik, the Pingualuit Crater Lake, taken by CEN`s research professional Denis Sarrazin. This cover page showcases the article published in the journal and its associated research con...
Check out the newsJanuary 27, 2015
The research of CEN member Martin-Hugues St-Laurent and his team on the Gaspésie peninsula woodland caribou has attracted much media attention lately. The research program, in partnership with the “Société des établissements de plein-air du Québec” (SEPAQ) t...
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Best poster presentation (PhD)– Vincent Sasseville (USherbrooke)
Best poster presentation (MSc)– Élise Imbeau (UQAC)
Best oral presentation / Louis-Edmond Hamelin Prize– Michaël Bonin (ULaval)
Best two-minute elevator speech– Alex Mavrovic (USherbrooke)
Sentinel North Prize for multidisciplinary research – Catherine Chagnon (ULaval)
CREATE-BIOS2 Prize for research on quantitative biodiversity – Myriam Labbé (ULaval)
Best oral presentation / Louis-Edmond Hamelin Prize (Ex- aequo) /Prix Louis-Edmond Hamelin – Samuel Gagnon et Michaël Bonin (ULaval)
Best two-minute elevator speech - Mathilde Poirier (ULaval)
Sentinel North Prize for best two-minute elevator speech - Karine Rioux (UdeMontréal)
Best poster presentation (PhD)- Mathilde Poirier (ULaval)
Best poster presentation (MSc)- Alex Mavrovic (UdeSherbrooke)
Best oral presentation / Louis-Edmond Hamelin Prize - Catherine Girard (UdeM)
Best two-minute elevator speech -Mathieu Tétreault (UQAR)
Best poster presentation (PhD) (Ex-aequo) - Yannick Seyer (ULaval) and Antoine Gagnon-Poiré (INRS-ETE)
Best poster presentation (MSc) -Mathilde Poirier (ULaval)
Best oral presentation -Dominique Fauteux (ULaval)
Special Mention: David Banville and Marc-André Lemay
Best two-minute elevator speech -Clara Morrissette-Boileau (ULaval)
Best poster presentation (PhD) -Audrey LePogam (UQAR)
Best poster presentation (MSc) -Lindsay Gauvin (UMoncton)
Special Mention: Clara Morrissette-Boileau
Best oral presentation-Martin Leclerc (USherbrooke) EnviroNorth scolarship
Best two-minute elevator speech-Michaël Bonin (ULaval)EnviroNorth scolarship
Best poster presentation (PhD) -Clément Chevalier (UQAR)EnviroNorth scolarship
Best poster presentation (MSc) -Yannick Seyer (ULaval) EnviroNorth scolarship
Louis-Edmond Hamelin Prize - Yann Foury (ULaval)
2014 Annual Spring Meeting
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Best oral presentation -Loreleï Guéry (UQAR) EnviroNorth scolarship
Best oral presentation-Alexandre Normandeau (ULaval) EnviroNorth scolarship
Best 2 minutes elevator speech -Pascale Ropars (ULaval) EnviroNorth scolarship
Best poster presentation -Vincent Lamarre (UQAR) EnviroNorth scolarship
Special mention poster presentation - Katrine Grandmont (CEN staff)
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Best oral presentation - Catherine Doucet (UQAR)
Best 2 minutes elevator speech -Marie-Pier Denis (ULaval)
Best poster presentation (Ph.D) -Alex Matveev (ULaval)
Best poster presentation (M.Sc.) -Katryne Larrivée (UdM)
Best poster presentation (M.Sc.) -Simon Massé (UQAR)
In 2011, the Centre for Northern Studies (CEN – Centre d’études nordiques) celebrated 50 years of excellence in northern research. In 1961, Université Laval and the Québec government joined forces to establish the Centre by ministerial decree. Celebrations to underscore this half century of research took place throughout the year and reflected the breadth and vitality of CEN activities. The CEN has grown from a dozen researchers in its beginnings to over 50 in 2011, and from a handful of students to more than 180, emphasizing one of CEN’s foremost missions to train highly qualified personnel in the analysis and management of cold region ecosystems and geosystems. CEN staff comprises over 40 research associates, assistants, and managers.
A series of events also underscored the CEN’s 50th anniversary, such as public lectures held throughout Québec, Canada, and abroad via CEN’s partners such as SCANNET (www.scannet.nu).
The first celebration highlighting CEN’s 50th anniversary took place during the annual Colloque on February 9th and 10th at Université Laval. For the occasion, CEN had the honour of welcoming its founder, Louis Edmond Hamelin, who gave a historic account of the CEN’s establishment at Université Laval by ministerial decree and its first stations in the North. The plenary speaker was the internationally renowned paleoclimatologist Valérie Masson-Delmotte followed by Marcel Babin, holder of the prestigious Canada Excellence Research Chair in Remote Sensing of Canada's New Arctic Frontier and director of the program Takuvik (a joint Université Laval / CNRS laboratory), Jean Carignan geochemist and codirector of Takuvik, and professor Frédéric Laugrand, anthropologist specializing in northern populations and retiring Director of the Interuniversity Centre for Aboriginal Studies and Research (CIÉRA). Another notable event which took place during the Colloque was the throat singing performed by Marie Belleau and Lisa Koperqualuk, two Inuit.
The Colloque closed with the announcement of CEN photo contest winners. The theme of the photos submitted by all members was « CEN field research, from southern Québec to northern Nunavut ». Ten prizes of $100 from www.amazon.ca were attributed to the finalists of the Photo Contest. The top three received an additional $100 in cash. The jury consisted of Geneviève Allard, Stéphane Boudreau, Luc Cournoyer, France Dufresne, Nathalie Racine, Pascale Ropars, and Émilie Saulnier-Talbot.
First prize, Reinhard Pienitz – Drained Lake, Baffin Island, Nunavut (August 2010) Second prize, Arnaud Tarroux, Bylot Island (May 2008) Third prize, Martin Sirois - Bylot Island (August 2006) Finalist, Sébastien Bourget - Ward Hunt Island (July 2010) Finalist, Clément Clerc – Amundsen Gulf (March 2008) Finalist, Francis Gauthier – Bride’s Veil, La Martre (July 2010) Finalist, Mélanie Jean – Boniface River (August 2009) Finalist, Emmanuel L'Hérault – Salluit (June 2008) Finalist, Marie Lionard – Ward Hunt Island (July 2010) Finalist, Nicolas Rolland – Great Plain of Koukdjuak, Baffin Island (July 2010)
The Colloque was also an opportunity to inaugurate its mobile exhibit entitled: Le Centre d’études nordiques : 50 ans de rayonnement. The exhibit highlights CEN’s history, its mission and research themes as well as showcases the CEN Network, our vast network of climate and research stations spanning over 4000 km from southern Québec to the High Arctic desert. The exhibit illustrates the broad scope of CEN’s research activities and the dynamic nature of the Québec researchers.
First hosted at Université Laval’s library, the exhibit then moved on to be presented at the Centre Eau-Terre-Environnement de l’Institut national de recherche scientifique (INRS-ETE) over the summer with a stop at Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR). The exhibit will be presented at the International Polar Year Conference - From Knowledge to Action in Montreal in April. Its final destination is the Community Science Centre at Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik planned for May 2012. Here, the mobile exhibit will be part of a larger, permanent exhibit at the Centre which will be inaugurated in spring/summer 2012.
The year was also busy finishing the upgrades of CEN research stations across the eastern Canadian Arctic, from Radisson in James Bay to Ward Hunt Island off the northern coast of Ellesmere Island. This work was accomplished thanks to the financial support provided by the Arctic Research Infrastructure Fund (ARIF) from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.
On August 2nd 1961, the ministerial decree was signed to finalize the establishment of CEN and its research activities in the North. On this day in 2011, CEN’s tenth research station was inaugurated. This station is a mobile station – a research vessel named after the founder, the Louis-Edmond-Hamelin. The 26 foot aluminum boat (a Silver Dolphin) is the CEN’s first mobile station and is equipped with state-of-the-art instruments to map river beds, lake bottoms and ocean floors. The small vessel has the advantage of being able to cruise in waters less than 2 metres deep and can be easily transported by land to various inland lakes and reservoirs.
CEN has published a special issue in commemoration of CEN’s first 50 years in Ecoscience. The issue includes an overview of terrestrial work out of our station at Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik, a review of work on the Great Whale River and coastal Hudson Bay, articles pertaining to aquatic ecosystems of the Arctic, dendrochronology, and wildlife and tundra ecosystem dynamics. The research topics examined in this issue represent a subset of the wide array of research disciplines studied by the CEN.
Here are some of the major articles you will find in this special issue:
Vincent, W.F., Côté, S.D., Bernier, M., 2011. Special issue - Introductory remarks: From boreal forest to High Arctic Desert: A theme issue commemorating 50 years of research by the Centre for Northern Studies (CEN) in Eastern Canada, 18 (3) : iii-iv.
Payette, S., Saulnier-Talbot, É., 2011. Un demi-siècle de recherche au Centre d’études nordiques : un défi de tous les instants. Écoscience, 18 (3) : 171-181.
Bhiry, N., Delwaide, A., Allard, M., Bégin, Y., Filion, L., Lavoie, M., Nozais, C., Payette, S., Pienitz, R., Saulnier-Talbot, É., Vincent, W.F., 2011. Environmental change in the Great Whale River region, Hudson Bay: Five decades of multidisciplinary research by Centre d’études nordiques (CEN). Écoscience, 18 (3) : 182-203.
Rautio, M., Dufresne, F., Laurion, I., Bonilla, S.E., Vincent, W.F., Christoffersen, K., 2011. Shallow freshwater ecosystems of the circumpolar Arctic. Écoscience, 18 (3) : 204-222
Gauthier, G., Berteaux, D., Bêty, J., Tarroux, A., Therrien, J.-F., McKinnon, L., Legagneux, P., Cadieux, M.-C., 2011. The tundra food web of Bylot Island in a changing climate and the role of exchanges between ecosystems. Écoscience, 18 (3) : 223-235
Vincent, W.F., Fortier, D., Lévesque, E., Boulanger-Lapointe, N., Tremblay, B., Sarrazin, D., Antoniades, D., Mueller, D.R., 2011. Extreme ecosystems and geosystems in the Canadian High Arctic: Ward Hunt Island and vicinity. Écoscience, 18 (3) : 236-261
The 50th anniversary was covered by several press releases which are listed below.
Slideshow of Louis-Edmond Hamelin's conference (pdf - 1.99 Mo) Colloque annuel du CEN, Université Laval, Février 2011
Le Centre d’études nordiques a 50 ans Au Fil des événements, 17 février 2011
Le Centre d’études nordiques a 50 ans MédiaTerre, 21 février 2011
Recherche nordique : Le Centre d’études nordiques (CEN) célèbre ses 50 ans UQAR-Info, 18 février 2011
Reportage journalistique étudiant « Les 50 ans d’existences du Centre d’études nordiques ». Angle neuf 2011, Émission 3 –Partie 2.
Exposition : Le Centre d’études nordiques : 50 ans de rayonnement Bibliothèque de l’Université Laval, 5 mai 2011
Centre d'études nordiques: un petit navire de recherche pas banal Le Soleil, 3 août 2011
L'INRS accueille l'exposition du Centre d’études nordiques (CEN). Webzine planète INRS.ca , 5 juillet 2011
50 ans du CEN (cahier spécial 50e du CEN) Le Devoir, 6 août 2011
50e anniversaire du CEN : Journée de conférences sur la nordicité. Webzine planète INRS,ca, 1er septembre 2011
Regard sur la recherche Nord? Texte de conférence de M. Louis-Edmond Hamelin (pdf - 2.61 Mo) INRS-ETE, 1er septembre 2011
L’UQAR célèbre les 50 ans du Centre d’études nordiques Progrès-écho, 14 septembre 2011
L’UQAR célèbre les 50 ans du Centre d’études nordiques UQAR-Info, 14 septembre 2011
De la forêt boréale au désert du Haut-Arctique (numéro spécial 50e du CEN) Écoscience, volume 18, no3, 2011
