Mathieu Ardyna
Juliette Provencher
Sébastien Guérin
My expertise lies in the ecology, physiology, and primary production of phytoplankton. My activities, although diverse, revolve around the study of phytoplankton. This includes microalgae cultivation, sample collection and field data gathering, laboratory analysis, and the development of tools and methods.
Carole-Anne Guay
I completed a master's degree on inorganic carbon and dissolved organic matter in suprapermafrost groundwater in Arctic coastal environments at the Institut des Sciences de la Mer (ISMER) in Rimouski. At the Phyto-Pole laboratory, I juggle field data collection, laboratory analysis, and data management.
Karen Nieto
I am a marine scientist working at the Takuvik International Research Laboratory in Québec, Canada. I use satellite remote sensing to get a better understanding of ocean primary production, sea ice dynamics, ocean circulation and mesoscale structures. I enjoy developing spatial algorithms, analysing satellite time series and creating and editing in situ and satellite databases from medium and high-resolution data at Arctic Ocean scale, as well as at specific locations such as fjords and glacier/river-ocean continuum.
Zoé Garmirian
Co-supervised with Maxime Geoffroy
For my PhD, I investigate the functioning of the biological carbon pump in the Arctic Ocean. My research focuses on the interactions between phytoplankton, zooplankton, and carbon export in the water column. During an oceanographic expedition, I collected data using plankton imaging to characterize phytoplankton and zooplankton communities, along with marine snow particles in the water column. With particle data, I estimate particulate organic carbon fluxes. I also conducted experiments onboard to measure zooplankton physiological rates involved in carbon-mediated pathways. The goal of this project is to better understand what drives the efficiency of carbon export in the Arctic Ocean in a context of climate change.
Florian Benony
Co-supervised with Simon Bélanger
My PhD project is about the carbon export in the Artic ocean and polar seas. Its goal is to deepen scientific knowledge of Canadian subpolar and polar waters. It also ties into the Canadian Space Agency program, optimizing data from NASA's newest satellite, the PACE mission, launched last year. Oceanography research aims for a 3D view of processes. This requires blending field and space data. My research aligns with this. I will combine in-situ data from BCG-Argo floats with remote sensing data from PACE. These studies should clarify carbon export processes in Canadian subpolar and polar waters.
Léna Bodiguel
Co-supervised with Marcel Babin
I am interested in the ecophysiology and dynamics of Arctic phytoplankton. In the laboratory, I characterize the acclimatization of the haptophytes Phaeocystis pouchetii and Isochrysis sp. to very low light intensities, providing information on their cellular strategies at the beginning and end of winter, a structuring period for Arctic microalgae communities. In the field, aboard the Amundsen or at the ice camp in Qikiqtarjuaq, I investigate bottom-up and top-down controls of phytoplankton community dynamics during spring and fall blooms in mesocosms.
Guillaume Barut
Co-supervised with Jean-Éric Tremblay
I am a Ph.D. student at Laval University in Québec, Canada. My research takes me on oceanographic expeditions to investigate firsthand how ocean circulation and water masses influence the marine ecosystem. I am driven by the opportunity to challenge and understand how these physical and chemical conditions shape primary production and the composition of phytoplankton communities at the base of the Arctic Ocean's food web.
Karim Bouzid
Co-supervised with Benoit Gosselin
I began a PhD in electrical engineering in the fall of 2023. “Learning about the world and how it works is so enriching,” I say, as my interest in science have manifested itself as early as high school. Originally from Rouyn-Noranda, I was developing technological prototypes with my friends in what I called the “future gadgets lab.” Among the creations we developed were a trebuchet that could launch pumpkins 15 meters and a propane flamethrower. I am a jack-of-all-trades in the natural sciences, specializing in instrumentation, particularly in the fields of electronics, real-time embedded systems, signal processing, modeling, algorithms, and microfluidics. I am currently designing a cytometer for the in-situ characterization of aquatic microorganisms that promises to be affordable, autonomous, and portable, while offering new characterization modalities such as semi-3D holographic imaging and electrical characterization by multi-frequency impedance measurement.
Auguste Lugrin
Co-supervised with Claire Waelbroeck and Jean-Baptiste Sallée
I am a PhD student co-supervised between LOCEAN (Laboratory of Oceanography and Climate: Experiments and Numerical Approaches) at Sorbonne University and Takuvik at Laval University. My research focuses on studying salinity changes in deep-water formation regions. My primary approach involves analyzing stable water isotope ratios (18O/16O and 2H/H), along with physical and chemical tracers in seawater, using multi-year observational datasets. This allows me to capture long-term trends and interannual variability in these key oceanographic processes.
Corentin Gouzien
Co-supervised with Fabien Joux and Samuel Chaffron
I study marine planktonic bacteria by examining the information stored in their genomes. I am interested in understanding the mechanisms that shape their genomes at the individual and community levels. My current work aims to predict growth rate, a central characteristic that defines bacteria, and to examine the possible impact of climate change on this characteristic. It could help quantify the impact of climate change on sensitive ecosystems such as the Arctic.
Foucaut Tachon
Co-supervised with Philippe Archambault
My research project focuses on primary production (PP) in the Arctic Ocean (AO) under the influence of climate change. Recent decades have seen a rapid loss of sea ice thickness and ice-free waters. As a result, a larger area of surface waters is exposed to sunlight for a longer period of time, promoting phytoplankton growth. With increased light and nutrients, an increase in Arctic PP is predicted, but this remains to be confirmed on a pan-Arctic scale. Therefore, new models and methods using remote sensing, such as satellite data, are needed to study the evolution of the Arctic marine ecosystem and predict future changes. The objective of this thesis project is to study the evolution and processes governing primary production in the AO in the context of climate change.
Élodie Gagnon
Co-supervised with Jean-Éric Tremblay
My work focuses on how Arctic and sub-Arctic phytoplankton respond to environmental variability and contribute to primary production, nutrient dynamics, and carbon export. I aim to advance our understanding of the role phytoplankton communities play in regulating carbon and nutrient cycles in a rapidly changing environment.
Ariane Cloutier
Co-supervised with Philippe Archambault and Karl Attard
Originally from the Gaspé Peninsula, I am pursuing a master's degree in marine biology at Laval University. My project focuses on primary productivity in Arctic marine environments, specifically in the Qikiqtarjuaq region of Nunavut. Using an integrated approach, I am comparing the contribution of primary producers in three compartments—sea ice, the water column, and the seabed—to better understand their respective roles and interactions in supporting Arctic food webs. By focusing on benthic production, I seek to highlight an often underestimated but essential source of energy for the proper functioning of coastal ecosystems and northern communities.
Alix Gublin
I am a bachelor’s student at Laval University, and I would like to specialize in marine biology. My work involves conducting a comparative study of different quantitative analysis instruments for phytoplankton and microparticles in order to understand the advantages and limitations of each instrument.
Charlotte Fafard
I am a bachelor's student in biology at Laval University, specializing in marine and freshwater ecology. After taking a course on marine ecosystems, I became interested in phytoplankton ecology, particularly in northern environments. As a lab intern this summer, I worked on a project to characterize harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the Arctic. I used an image bank of phytoplankton from past scientific missions in Arctic waters to detect toxic species. Currently, I am working more specifically on automated image classification methods.