Isabelle Olivieri: The Montpellier-based ecologist joins the researchers at the Eiffel Tower

Montpellier’s current standing in the field of ecology within the international scientific community is due in part to Isabelle Olivieri. She passed away in 2016 and was a leading figure in evolutionary ecology at a time when integrating genetics and ecology was far from straightforward.“ By focusing on the phenomena of extinction, colonization, and, more broadly, the population dynamics of plant species, she was one of the first to propose mathematical models of the demographic and evolutionary processesof plants ,” says Agnès Mignot, vice president for research at UM and professor atthe Institute of Evolutionary Sciences (ISEM), who began her career working alongside her.

Isabelle Olivieri’s colleagues praise her open-mindedness and broad perspective on biological phenomena, which have enabled her to identify new avenues of research. In particular, she applied the concept of metapopulation—which refers to a group of distinct populations of the same species, interconnected through dispersal—to numerous questions shedding light on species evolution. The first woman to hold the position of professor of population genetics, established in Montpellier in 1993, saw her career recognized with the CNRS Silver Medal in 2007.

Conservation Issues

“With great freedom, she was able to bridge the gap between theoretical concepts and conservation issues. She didn’t rank subjects in order of importance,”explains Ophélie Ronce, who was first her doctoral student and later her colleague at ISEM. Isabelle Olivieri thus studied the “evolutionary suicide” of the Clape Centaury, a species endemic to the Narbonne region, whose range is so limited that it is threatened with extinction. The scientist initiated a landmark study on the conservation of this species, which continues today through plant translocations aimed at rescuing it from this evolutionary trap (Restoration Demography: A 10-Year Demographic Comparison Between Introduced and Natural Populations of Centaurea corymbosa, an Endemic Species, 2008 in Journal of Applied Ecology).

The ecologist also studied the interactions between plants and insects, particularly the specialization of the pest to its host plant (Genetic, Ecological, Behavioral, and Geographic Differentiation of Thistle Weevil Populations: Implications for Speciation and Biological Control, 2008, Evolutionary Applications). This research began during her thesis on Mediterranean thistles, in which she worked to identify pests capable of controlling these invasive plants in Australia. This work earned her her first position as a research fellow at INRA in 1984.

Her colleagues also praise her sense of community and her ability to bring people and ideas together, both nationally and internationally. Having completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University (California) in 1983, she maintained an openness to other countries that contributed to the international scope of research in Montpellier. She served as president of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology and vice president of the Society for the Study of Evolution, and sat on the editorial boards of numerous scientific journals.

“What I admire most about you are your students!”

Her sense of community also extends to her students, whom she gives a prominent role in her team. Ilkka Hanski, a Finnish ecologist at the University of Helsinki, is even said to have told her:“What I admire most about you are your students! ” Agnès Mignot and Ophélie Ronce recall her dedication to training students.“She trusted young people, while also being a demanding teacher who gave them material that wasn’t always easy to work with. But that was her way of taking them seriously and training them in research,” says Ophélie Ronce.

Today, her research on centaury and plant-pest interactions continues within the team.“With her personality, her independence, her humanity, and her intelligence, she was an inspiring scientist for young women,” say her two colleagues today, noting the large number of women on the team—a sign of trust in what was then a very male-dominated field. They also describeheras“outspoken,” someone who, while not universally popular, left no one indifferent.“But she wasn’t an authoritarian or omnipotent person by any means. She didn’t have an individualistic view of research, ”notes Agnès Mignot, a notable quality in the face of prevailing trends toward performance-driven and personalized scientific success.

Her refusal of the Legion of Honor in 2009, at a time when she was opposing reforms to research policy, underscores her independent spirit. What would she have said about seeing her name engraved on the Eiffel Tower? Let’s hope she would have appreciated the view from up there.