Quebec scientists aim to get better grasp of climate change and its effects

More than 40 experts from five Quebec universities are bringing their considerable intellectual weight to bear on a critical challenge facing society today — improving our understanding of the multifaceted characteristics of climate change and their impact on our environment. The scientists, from Université Laval, McGill University, Université de Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke, and Université du Québec à Montréal, are members of a new research group, the Global Environmental and Climate Change Centre (GEC3), which was launched today at McGill. Underscoring the potential significance of the organization for public policy debate, Quebec Environment Minister Thomas Mulcair joined Sylvie Dillard, head of the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies (FQRNT), the Centre's main funder, and representatives of the partner universities at the launch.

"An important and novel feature of the Centre is its multidisciplinary makeup," says the Centre's director, Prof. Charles Lin. "Problems relating to climate change range all the way from understanding how humans help create the conditions for climate change by practices such as altering patterns of vegetation distribution and land use and burning fossil fuels, to needing better meteorological models for long-term regional and global weather forecasts, to developing reliable methods to predict the effect of climate change on such areas as farming, forests and other ecosystems, and on precipitation patterns and water availability in the ground and in rivers, lakes and hydro reservoirs."

The mission of the Centre is threefold:

• To promote an outstanding research program at all levels (graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty) focusing on the integration among physical, biological and chemical processes that regulate the climate system, and their socio-economic impact;
• To facilitate scientific cooperation among a cross-disciplinary group of Quebec researchers in climate and global change science and impact assessment, and to promote Quebec research at the national and international levels;
• To assume a lead role in global change issues and to provide input to the academic and public debate on environmental and climate change in Quebec, Canada and internationally.

The Centre will collaborate with outside partners, including the Meteorological Service of Canada, the Ouranos consortium on regional climate change and impacts, and Hydro-Québec. At its inception the Centre scientific staff consists of 46 researchers and 259 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, who will focus on the following research themes:

• Global climate system variability and change;
• Regional climate modelling and analysis;
• Climate and environmental change impacts on ecosystems;
• Response of hydrological systems to environmental changes;
• Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability assessment: An integrated approach to sustainable water management.

Administration of GEC3

Director:
Prof. charles.lin [at] mcgill.ca (Charles Lin), Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, McGill University; 514-398-6079

Associate Directors:
Prof. laprise.rene [at] uqam.ca (René Laprise), Département des sciences de la terre et de l'atmosphère, Université du Québec à Montréal; 514-282-6464 ext. 265, 514-987-3000 ext. 3302

Prof. andre.roy [at] umontreal.ca (André Roy), Département de géographie, Université de Montréal; 514-343-8036

Prof. tim.moore [at] mcgill.ca (Tim Moore), Department of Geography, McGill University; 514-398-4961

Prof. van.tv.nguyen [at] mcgill.ca (Van-Thanh-Van Nguyen), Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, McGill University; 514-398-6870

Prof. alain.royer [at] usherbrooke.ca (André Royer), Département de géographie et télédétection, Université de Sherbrooke; 819-821-8000 ext. 2286