Yves Bergeron and Yves Mauffette, honorary doctors of the University of Montreal

Following a warm, formal welcome from the president of the University of Marseille and the dean of the Faculty of Sciences, Jean-Michel Marin, Ahmed Adam Ali, vice-dean and sponsor of the two recipients, delivered their eulogies. It was a successful presentation by this paleoecologist—a specialist in global change, biodiversity dynamics, and forest ecology—that allowed the audience to get to know these two distinguished Professors better.

Yves Mauffette, Ecology and Education

Yves Maufette is an associate professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). An ecologist specializing in plant-insect interactions, he is also a Professor worldwide for his work on educational innovation in higher education. The UM Center for Educational Innovation benefits greatly from his expertise. It is on this very topic that Yves Maufette has chosen to focus his lecture:

“The role of a university professor primarily involves teaching and research. Our training is first and foremost that of a researcher, and we often teach based on our intuition. In academia, our responsibilities are divided into three areas: research, teaching, and community service. In theory, these three responsibilities should be equally balanced. Research is the key activity, as it will largely determine the success of our academic career, from promotion to international recognition. The second component of the role, teaching, is less valued. Choosing to invest in university pedagogy carries certain risks, as we are stepping off the beaten path. Modifying the content of one’s course is one thing, but modifying an academic program in a field—and doing so to adopt a new pedagogical approach—is almost a reckless move. Isn’t preparing our students to better meet the needs of tomorrow a paramount issue? Research is advancing—so why not pedagogy?

Yves Bergeron, the cold-climate forest specialist

Yves Bergeron, a professor at the Université du Québec en Atibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) and the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), is a specialist in cold forests. Among other things, he is one of the driving forces behind the memorandum of understanding for the creation of the “Cold Forests” research project on the analysis of boreal ecosystems, in which the UM is also heavily involved.

“Canada’s boreal forest is one of the world’s last remaining natural forests, and it is under severe strain. Traditional forest management practices have significantly reduced the proportion of old-growth forests. Fire, a source of soil disturbance that increases soil fertility, has been largely eliminated. Forest managers must find ways to replicate the key characteristics of natural forests through practices that mimic natural disturbances and forest dynamics. In this critical field, France has a long history of forest management, and paleoecological approaches have been developed to reconstruct the past. Over the past twenty years, the University of Montpellier’s expertise in paleoecology has been applied in collaborative and joint supervision projects in the cold forests of Canada, France, and elsewhere in the world.”