General Information
This year the QCBS is holding its annual symposium from December 14-16 at the McGill New Residence Hall in Montreal.
The 14th of December will be dedicated to a workshop on technical and scientific cooperation while the 15th and 16th will be dedicated to the QCBS symposium which will consist of a plenary speaker, three panels and numerous presentations by QCBS students and researchers.
Venue
The Symposium will be held at McGill’s New Residence Hall on 3625 Park Ave, Montreal, Québec H2X 3P8.
The winners of the QCBS symposium prizes
The QCBS would like to congratulate the following QCBS students for receiving the 2016 Symposium prizes:
- QCBS prize: Marianne Falardeau (McGill) – “Using a systematic approach to untangle the interacting”
- 1st place for best presentation: Gabriel Pigeon (Université de Sherbrooke) – “Les mécanismes causaux menant aux effets cohortes chez le mouflon d’Amérique”
- 2nd place for best presentation: Charline Couchoux (Université du Québec à Montréal) – “Réponse aux cris d’alarme chez les tamias rayés : évaluer la fiabilité de l’émetteur ou se fier à sa propre perception du risque ?”
- 1st place for best poster: Émile Brisson-Curadeau (McGill) – “Thick-billed Murres Doing the Job for Us”
- 2nd place for best poster: Ilke Geladi & Rachael Ryan (McGill) – ” Assessing Health Impacts of Livestock Grazing on Two Ungulate Species in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, India”
The winners of the photo contest
According to a public vote, the winning pictures were:
- Nature category: Atlantic puffin portrait by Angelika Aleksieva
- At Work category: It’s always darkest before the Dawn Mills by Raina Fan
- Social life category: Sometimes you just lose a sample… by Brandon Varela
Congratulations!
Program
Workshop (Dec 14th)
Solving the conundrum of cooperation
Fostering technical and scientific cooperation for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity
Biodiversity loss remains a challenge that still has to be addressed by all levels of our societies. This workshop will address how to foster technical and scientific cooperation among actors and institutions as an approach to solving the biodiversity crisis. Cooperation refers to the need to increase interactions and synergies between scientists, practitioners, and policy makers. Presentations will provide compelling examples of this cooperation across different parts of the public and private sector and across biomes and spatial scales. The day will include a panel of experts and many opportunities to discuss and share your ideas, examples and solutions for solving the cooperation conundrum.
Click here for all the details concerning the workshop
Symposium (Dec 15 & 16)
Keynote Speaker
Network Theory to Study Ecological Processes
Marie-Josée Fortin, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is a professor of spatial ecology at the University of Toronto. Her current research areas are: spatial ecology (species-habitat relationship, scaling issues, fragmentation, connectivity, conservation); (2) spatial and landscape statistics (sampling, edge detection, spatial autocorrelation, randomization tests, graph theory) and (3) forest ecology (disturbances, fire spatial dynamics, forest harvesting modeling). Her research program studies the effects of global change (land use and climate) on species spatial dynamics at the landscape and geographical range levels both in multiuse forested ecosystems and aquatic networks to maintain biodiversity and species conservation.
Panels
Panel 1 (Dec 15th, AM): Estimating biodiversity using environmental DNA.
Moderator: Sébastien Renaut (UdM). Confirmed speakers:Kristy Deiner (Cornell U), Melania Cristescu (McGill U)
Panel 2 (Dec 16th, AM): Data archiving and sharing for ecologists: current issues and solutions
Moderator: Timothée Poisot (UdM). Confirmed speakers:Sébastien Renaut (UdM), Denis Réale (UQAM), William Michener (DataOne, University of New Mexico)
Panel 3 (Dec 16th, PM): Wetlands
Confirmed speakers: Sophie Lavallée (Université Laval), Monique Poulin (Université Laval), Stéphanie Pellerin (IRBV), Guillaume Daigle (Ducks Unlimited) & Sophie Paradis (WWF-Canada).
Details
- Calcul Québec and Génome Québec will also be present on December 15th to answer questions you may have about the services they offer.
- The meeting will be an Eco-responsible event.
- Transportation options to the meeting.
Photo Contest
Click here for all the details concerning the photo contest
An eco-responsible event
No more paper For the 4th consecutive year, we are engaged in making our event eco-responsible. This year, we are heading towards a level 5 eco-responsible certification! We need your help for this! 
Use public transportation, if you can We highly encourage you to come to the event using public transportation, instead of using your own car. Using public transit is a major move towards diminishing the carbon footprint of your trips! You may use the following websites to plan your trip to the symposium: Google Maps, Société de transport de Montréal and Agence métropolitaine de transport. If you are not able to use public transportation, think of carpooling! CO2 emissions will be compensated in double: make sure you provide us with the information regarding your trip to the workshop and symposium. Greener food and beverages and a food recovery plan Most of our food and beverages are organic and produced locally! This means that these producers avoid using synthetically produced fertilizers or chemicals derived from fossil fuels. All excess food will be donated to the Maison du Père. Waste management We eliminated disposable containers, plates, bowls, cups and cutlery! We also have a compost program for all food waste! With this action, we reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and cut emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. During the symposium, be sure to dispose of your garbage in each of the correct bins: recycling, compost and landfill waste. We request you to NOT bring any kind of waste from outside to the event (especially landfill waste, like coffee cups and polystyrene materials). Reuse of name badges We reuse all name badges in future years. Please, think of leaving yours when you leave the event. We have a green brigade A group of QCBS students guided by the Conseil québécois des événements écoresponsables (an initiative of the Réseau des Femmes en Environnement) is focused in ensuring the certification of the 2016 QCBS symposium: Pedro Henrique P. Braga, Javier Ibarra Sassi, Katherine Hébert, and Renato Henriques-Silva. The green brigade will circulate throughout the event and help you to keep up with good practices during the three days of the symposium. Do not hesitate to reach them out with your questions! With some effort and creativity, you can help us make the 2016 QCBS symposium both memorable and eco-friendly!
