André Bouchard (environmentalist)

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André Bouchard (January 26, 1946 – 4 March 2010) was a Canadian

community ecology
, and he received several awards during his lifetime.

Biography

Bouchard was born in 1946 in Montreal and grew up in

Saint-Anicet, and maintained a secondary residence there.[1][2][3] His father, Louis G. Bouchard, was a successful leather goods supplier.[1] He studied first at Collège Jean-De-Brébeuf before graduating with a degree in biological sciences from Université de Montréal. He went to McGill and Cornell University for his postgraduate studies, which he completed in the 1970s.[note 1][4]

In 1975 he began teaching at his alma mater Université de Montréal, while simultaneously becoming curator at the Botanical Garden.

beech-maple forests.[8]

Beyond scientific work, he rapidly became known for his involvement in various environmental issues, notably the fight to save the

Hichinbrooke[12] (now the Boisé-des-Muir Ecological Reserve) and, closer to home, the Little and Large Tea Field, two peat bogs in his native town of Saint-Anicet.[13][14] He was also a member of the 2004 Commission Coulombe whose report was to define provincial forest exploitation policy.[15] Although he was well aware that he and his fellow commissioner would catch flak from the industry for the recommendations (which included a 20% reductions of wood cuts), he pushed forward with the belief that these were the right decisions to make.[8]

Having been a close collaborator of Pierre Bourque, he was named director of the Botanical Garden in 1994 when Bourque had to leave the position following his election as mayor.[4][10] It was a short stay, both because he had notified the administration he considered it an interim position, and because he was not comfortable with the complicated administrative apparatus connected to the position.[6] In 2002, he became the first director of the newly founded Institut de Recherche en Biology Végétale (IRBV), a position he occupied until 2006. All these years he continued to teach at the Université, and directed over 45 master's and doctorate students.[4] He also sat on the Montreal Heritage Council from 2006 to 2008,[note 3] on the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine board of directors,[2][4] and received awards from the Quebec Association of Biologists (prix Georges-Préfontaine, 2005) and the Acfas (prix Michel-Jurdant for environmentalism, 1990).[2][9]

In addition to his environmental and scientific work, he had a keen interest in history, both local and scientific. In 1998 he published a short historical account of the botanical garden, and in 2007 a compendium of correspondence from

Marie-Victorin. At the time of his death, he was working on books about southern Quebec wetlands and a biography of Marie-Victorin.[2][8] A great admirer of the man, he had retraced Marie-Victorin's expeditions in Cuba and organized an exposition on the topic.[8] A founding member of the local history society of Saint-Anicet, he wrote several accounts of prominent locals such as Jules and Paul-Émile Léger, whose families had local ties.[17] He had also been heavily involved on two book projects on the local church and the municipality itself.[3]

Bouchard died unexpectedly from

honoris causa doctorate from Université Laval.[21]

Selected publications

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ His dissertation is dated from 1975, the same year he became curator at the Botanical Garden.
  2. ^ He would say of this that it was "like a fast-track doctorate in political science."[10]
  3. ^ About this stay, a fellow member of the Council noted: "he taught us that a council which fails to annoy is a useless council."[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c Fine, Philip (May 21, 2010). "Quebec ecologist took a Zen approach to environmental battles". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e Francoeur, Gilles (March 6, 2010). "Mort du biologiste québécois André Bouchard". Le Devoir (in French). p. A6. Archived from the original on 9 March 2010. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Pitre, Mario (March 13, 2010). "Décès d'André Bouchard, figure marquante du Haut Saint-Laurent". Le Soleil de Valleyfield. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Décès d'un très grand collaborateur du Jardin botanique et de l'UdeM" (Press release) (in French). Université de Montréal. March 5, 2010. Archived from the original on March 9, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  5. ^ "Fonds André Bouchard". Catalogue des archives. Université de Montréal, Service de la gestion de documents et des archives. September 21, 2005. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c Gingras, Pierre (January 24, 1995). "Lise Cormier dirigera le Jardin botanique". La Presse. p. A4.
  7. ^ "André Bouchard: Projets". Personnel: Professeurs et chercheurs (in French). Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale. Retrieved March 8, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ a b c d e Sauvé, Mathieu-Robert (March 15, 2010). "Adieux à un homme de nature et de culture". Forum. Université de Montréal. p. 3. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  9. ^ a b Thibaudeau, Carole (May 18, 1990). "La passion de l'environnement mérite un prix au biologiste André Bouchard". La Presse. p. C12.
  10. ^ a b c Lévesque, Kathleen (July 12, 1994). "Un militant écologiste au Jardin botanique". Le Devoir. p. A3.
  11. ^ Côté, Charles (September 26, 2003). "À la rescousse du Boisé du Tremblay". La Presse. p. A4.
  12. ^ Bonhomme, Jean-Pierre (March 3, 1992). "Des scientifiques réclament la protection d'une forêt "intacte"". La Presse. p. A8.
  13. ^ Francoeur, Louis-Gilles (April 17, 2009). "Victoire dans la saga des tourbières du Small et du Large Tea Field". Le Devoir. p. B8. Archived from the original on 18 March 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  14. ^ Côté, Charles (May 12, 2006). "Un riche fermier et député fait un don écologique majeur". La Presse. p. A6.
  15. ^ "Membres et organisation". Commission d'étude sur la gestion de la forêt publique québécoise. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  16. ^ McNichols Tétreault, Gérald (March 10, 2010). "Disparition d'un homme utile". Le Devoir (in French). p. A6. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
  17. ^ Ryan, Kelly; Hélène Bissonnette (May 30, 2008). "Fonds d'Archives de la Société Historique de Saint-Anicet" (PDF). Catalogue des archives. MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 16, 2013. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  18. ^ "Le maire de Montréal offre ses condoléances suite au décès d'André Bouchard" (Press release) (in French). City of Montréal. March 5, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  19. ^ "Les drapeaux du Jardin botanique de Montréal mis en berne pour honorer la mémoire d'André Bouchard" (Press release) (in French). Montreal Botanical Garden. March 10, 2010. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  20. ^ "Le Jardin botanique de Montréal et l'Université de Montréal pleurent le décès d'un très grand collaborateur" (PDF) (Press release). Montreal Botanical Garden. March 5, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  21. ^ "Sept récipiendaires d'un doctorat honoris causa lors des collations de grades 2010 de l'Université Laval" (Press release). Université Laval. June 2, 2010. Retrieved July 30, 2010.

External links

Preceded by Director of the
Montreal Botanical Garden
(interim)
April 1994 – January(?) 1995 		Succeeded by
Lise Cormier
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