Loisel, Julie

My main goal as a scientist is to understand the workings of natural ecosystems to ultimately provide guidance to stakeholders in the fields of policy, industry, civil society, and natural resource management. I believe it is my role to consolidate knowledge about climate change and its impacts on ecosystem dynamics, and to help transferring my expertise into action that promotes sustainable practices.

Over the past decade, my work as a paleoclimatologist has primarily aimed at (1) reconstructing Holocene climatic conditions in high-latitude regions (including northern canada, alaska, kamchatka, patagonia, and antarctica) and (2) analyzing how these past climatic changes have impacted ecosystem dynamics in terms of their structure and function.

As an educator, I participate in fostering a more mature, responsible, creative, and involved community that appreciates the complexity of natural systems and values sustainable practices. I am a strong advocate for science literacy, particularly when it relates to climate change and the scientific method. I also recognize the need for creative leaders capable of transferring such knowledge into action. As Nobel Laureate Sherwood Rowland once said: “What’s the use of having developed a science well enough to make predictions, if in the end, all we’re willing to do is stand around and wait for them to come true?”