Université du Québec en Outaouais
M.Sc. candidate
Supervisor: Yann Surget-Groba
Nathalie Isabel, Service Canadien des Forêts
Start: 2023-09-05
End: 2025-08-31

Project

Conserving black ash, Fraxinus nigra, requires assessing its genetic diversity
Once common in eastern Canada, black ash is now classified as critically endangered due to the arrival of the emerald ash borer. This invasive exotic insect has already decimated millions of ash trees in North America and continues to expand in Canada. With the goal of conserving and restoring black ash, this project will leverage recent technological developments in genomics, paving the way for a novel approach to enhance the natural resistance of black ash to the emerald ash borer while preserving its adaptive capacity. One of the initial steps in this approach is to document the genetic diversity within wild populations across the species' range. Therefore, this project aims to gain a better understanding of the genetic variation existing within black ash populations.