Fostering biodiversity science for society
Our Mission :
To grow and strengthen the scientific capacity in Quebec to understand, protect, and value biodiversity, as well as to support the development of knowledge-based public policies, through international-level scientific research and training, and a dynamic community of practice.
Our vision :
To be a global leader in biodiversity science, by producing and communicating cutting-edge knowledge and by reenforcing scientific collaboration as to strengthen conservation actions and the transition towards a sustainable relationship between society and nature.
Our values :
Collaboration: To highlight teamwork, and interdisciplinary and intersectoral partnerships to cultivate different perspectives and discoveries.
Curiosity : To cultivate an environment of continuous investigation and transdisciplinary learning, open to new knowledge and cultures.
Environmental responsibility : To evaluate and minimize research activities’ environmental impact, all the while informing researchers and the general public on the importance of ecosystem preservation and restauration.
Innovation: To encourage creativity, and exploration of new ideas and approaches to solving complex problems while applying the open science approach.
Inclusivity: To promote inclusion, diversity, and equality of opportunity in the community of practice.
Social impact : To lead research projects that have a positive impact on the environment, society, and economy.
The Quebec Center for Biodiversity Science (QCBS) is a multi-sectoral group of Quebec researchers and experts in biodiversity science. It brings together more than 110 leading researchers at both the national and international levels, all representing a partnership between 15 academic institutions, a provincial ministry and a public institution : McGill University, University of Montreal, University of Sherbrooke, Université du Québec à Montréal, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Concordia University, Laval University, Université Laval, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, TÉLUQ, Bishop’s University, INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, Dawson College, Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs ainsi que de l’Espace pour la Vie. It is funded by the strategic grouping program of the Fonds de recherche du Québec.
The QCBS regroups the cutting-edge technological infrastructures and available research facilities from its partner institutions, thus facilitating the access for all members, researchers, and students. Such infrastructures and resources favor multi-level and multidisciplinary research, which is necessary to generate relevant biodiversity knowledge on the regional level. The QCBS pursues three main objectives:
- To foster and promote a world-class research program at all levels (undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, professorial) in biodiversity science.
- To facilitate multidisciplinary scientific cooperation within a group of Quebec researchers in biodiversity science and to promote research carried out in Quebec at national and international levels.
- To facilitate the development of biodiversity policies, and to contribute to the academic and public debate on biodiversity loss in Quebec, Canada and elsewhere in the world.
The demand of personnel and qualified workforce in the domain of biodiversity science has increased greatly. In 2024, after adopting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Quebec’s government revealed the Nature Plan, setting targets to be achieved by 2030, all while taking into consideration regional realities and provintial priorities. Throughout the last decade, the environmental research and industry have seen a big growth. In fact, a Statistics Canada survey (2024) highlighted the great portion of the working population that’s now working in environment-related sectors.
The QCBS trains highly qualified personnel, experienced in the field of biodiversity science. Those individuals will be outstanding candidates for a large amount of positions in environmental sectors, such as education, genomics, ecosystem management and consulting. The Quebec Research and Innovation Investement Strategy highlights the importance of training the future generation of researchers, and the QCBS intends to be a major player in that field, and to train biodiversity experts, as well as ecosystem managers for decades to come. QCBS members currently supervise over 500 graduate students as well as postdoctoral fellows. The substantial training capacity is therefore already well established, and will only increase with the new research members and their cohort of students. Multiple approaches will be undertaken by the CSBQ to promote the training of the next generation.
These past few years, the QCBS has built productive collaborations with the Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parc, Biodiversité Québec, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), and the Québec Circular Economy Research Network (RRECQ), and more. These collaborations contribute to the transfer of knowledge necessary to implement policies and strategies to diminish the losses in biodiversity in the context of climate change. New projects on biodiversity sampling, ecosystem services, and the creation of climate-resilient ecological habitat networks are just some of the collaborative projects already underway. The QCBS is helping to position Quebec as a national and international leader in biodiversity research and policy.
Biodiversity science has never been stronger in Quebec.
