Agnes Lèbre: The observer at the observatory

Astronomer Agnes Lèbre has something extra. Like her academic peers, she conducts research and teaches, but her department also has an observation mission. She was even the first researcher at UM to be granted CNAP (Conseil national des astronomes et physiciens) status in 1993, a specific state body that allocates one-third of its time to observation services dedicated to the astronomy community. "Today, there are four of us CNAPs at UM," says the woman who paved the way by defending this status 30 years ago. 

Monitoring ecosystems with Oreme

In practice, she began by working with the Pic du Midi Observatory to prepare observation nights for research teams using the famous Bernard Lyot telescope perched at 2,800 meters in the Pyrenees. While conducting her own research on very specific stars, red supergiants, she observes the surface of these stars, which are older and larger than the sun, to study their magnetism.

Her role as an observer predisposed her to join one of France's 25 observatories for space science, the Montpellier observatory, which was created in 2009. "I became deputy director of the Montpellier Environment Research Observatory (Oreme) in 2016 through my work with an observation service," ," says Agnes Lèbre, who had already headed several research units, including her Montpellier Universe and Particles Laboratory (LUPM) as deputy director from 2015 to 2016. "I opened myself up to new scientific communities, earth and water sciences, but also ecology and the environment," says the astronomer, who emphasizes the importance the Montpellier observatory places on monitoring ecosystems. The challenge is to assess the effects of human activities—from local pollution to climate change—on terrestrial and marine ecosystems."

From supergiant star to pollen grain

In August 2024, she took over as director of Oreme, succeeding academic hydrologist Eric Servat. The new director is keen to promote the "scientific continuum" covered by Oreme's numerous observation programs, "from supergiant stars to pollen grains, and even bacteria! That's the diversity of the systems we observe. " 

Affiliated with the University of Montpellier, the CNRS, the IRD, and the INRAE, the OREME now has thirty observation services. These services study a variety of topics, such as the vulnerability of Mediterranean forests to climate change, antibiotic resistance in the Lez River, and the evolution of the Thau lagoon. While many observation programs are based in Occitanie, others concern the southern hemisphere, with examples including coastal monitoring around the Mediterranean and a hydro-climatological observatory in West Africa. The observation services are supported by the eight laboratories associated with Oreme, which work in the region but also with the South. "Around 250 of the 1,200 researchers in these teams work directly with us as part of their research."

Long-term data collection

In addition to geographical and disciplinary coverage, observatories studying the sciences of the universe must ensure that data is collected over the long term. "Oreme, with its resources, ensures the continuity of measurements and the preservation of data," emphasizes Agnes Lèbre. It can count on several large pieces of equipment and around twenty administrative and technical staff to run them. These include an experimental platform for geochemical analysis of samples, the Medimeer platform dedicated to the study of marine ecosystems, the Sète marine station, and two boats for conducting marine expeditions. 

And how is all the collected data managed? "An information system certifies the data and makes it available in the form of usable databases. One of Oreme's missions is to disseminate information as widely as possible, sometimes after a period of embargo pending the publication of scientific results, for example," explains the director, who adds that this mission of dissemination to the scientific community and the general public is "particularly close toherheart."

Oreme regularly organizes conferences and scientific days. The next event will be a day entitled "Journey into Geosciences, from habitable planets to critical mineral resources," on November 12, 2024, at La Panacée. " While the morning is reserved for the scientific community of laboratoriesaffiliated with Oreme, the afternoon is open to the general public. This year marks a first, as this conference has been included in the secondary school teacher training program, and the event will also be broadcast live on the Internet!"says the woman who always willingly participates in science outreach initiatives.