Institut de recherche en biologie végétale

IRBV students and interns participate in annual clean-up of Mount Royal Park

Stéphane Daigle — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:11:48 +0000

A team of about 20 IRBV students and interns were among the 800 volunteers at the annual “Corvée du Mont-Royal” organized by Les amis de la montagne on May 5. Alice Roy-Bolduc and Aymeric Yanitch led the IRBV volunteers in conducting follow-up of trees and shrubs planted on Mount Royal in recent years. The success of these plantations is evaluated through growth measurement and surveys of young plant survival. IRBV volunteers also staffed an information booth on research underway at the Institute.

For 22 years, volunteers have participated in the annual clean-up to help conserve Mount Royal, cleaning up garbage, planting trees, conducting follow-up of plantations and eradicating exotic invasive plants. A report on this year’s activity is available at this link.

Photo, from left to right: Adriana Almeida-Rodriguez, Mariana Rodriguez, Courtenay Clark and Simon Laignel.

Zeiss microscopy summer school at the IRBV

Stéphane Daigle — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:40:20 +0000

On June 11th-13th, a microscopy summer school will be given at the IRBV in collaboration with Zeiss. Theoretical lectures will be held in the morning, whereas afternoon sessions will be dedicated to practical courses and hands-on. The courses will be given in English. Details concerning this workshop and the registration form are available at this link.

Appel à candidature pour la bourse de recherche de la Société québécoise de phytotechnologie

Stéphane Daigle — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:12:13 +0000

Sorry, this entry is only available in Français.

Université de Montréal’s Department of Biological Sciences symposium

Stéphane Daigle — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 15:51:20 +0000

The Université de Montréal’s Department of Biological Sciences will hold its 23rd symposium on Thursday, March 21st.

The complete program guide is available [in French] here.

International Conference on Medicinal Plants and Natural Products

Stéphane Daigle — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:13:54 +0000

The International Conference on Medicinal Plants and Natural Products will be held at the Montreal Botanical Garden and the IRBV from June 17 to 19, 2013. Conference themes include medicinal plants, essential oils, pharmacognosy, ethnopharmacology and ethnobotany (www.montrealishs.org).

Alain Cuerrier is the IRBV’s resource person for the event. For more information on the conference, organized by the International Society for Horticultural Science, please contact antigua-ishs@shmen.org (1.339.368.6838).

Mohamed Hijri au Parlement!

Stéphane Daigle — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:05:28 +0000

On February 11, IRBV researcher Mohamed Hijri was a special guest at the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, on invitation by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). At a ceremony entitled “From Research to Innovation to Enterprise”, hosted by the Honourable Kelvin K. Ogilvie, Senator, five researchers and their partners in industry presented their research projects. Mohamed Hijri’s investigation of soil fungi was one of the featured projects. These collaborative efforts have resulted in the development of products and technologies that allow Canadian businesses to compete in the global marketplace, while creating jobs at home (view PDF).

The 2012-2013 Pehr-Kalm Award recipients

Stéphane Daigle — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:59:01 +0000

Each year, Les Amis du Jardin botanique de Montréal (the Friends of the Montreal Botanical Garden) make a contribution to research by offering two Pehr-Kalm Awards to graduate students at the IRBV and the Université de Montréal Biodiversity Centre. The 2012-2013 master’s-level prize ($5000) was awarded to Julie Munger (photo on the right), for her project on indicator plant species in sites where hydraulic exchange occurs between peatlands and aquiferous zones. This research, conducted under the supervision of Stéphanie Pellerin, aims to facilitate identification of these exchange zones, which are of great ecological importance. The Ph.D.-level prize ($7000) was awarded to Tahiana Andriananjamanantsoa (photo on the left), who is conducting a study, under the supervision of Luc Brouillet, that seeks to redefine the phylogeny of the Malagasy genus Angraecum by analyzing its morphological and molecular characters and by examining the historical biogeography of the species of this group. His findings will help make it possible to develop a conservation strategy for this endangered genus.

Congratulations to the award recipients, and our sincere thanks to the Friends of the Garden for their support of research at the IRBV.

Campus Montréal’s fundraising campaign features IRBV research

Stéphane Daigle — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:50:49 +0000

Campus Montréal is the largest fundraising campaign in the history of HEC Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal and the Université de Montréal, with a goal of $500 million. Proceeds will finance achievement awards for students of the Université de Montréal and its two affiliated schools, as well as research projects and infrastructure.

One of the campaign’s televised advertisements features Project GenoRem and researchers Mohamed Hijri and Michel Labrecque: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho-yYCxFkCo.

Anja Geitmann receives FAS Teaching Excellence Award

Stéphane Daigle — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:24:22 +0000

At a ceremony held at the Université de Montréal on December 4, Anja Geitmann, full professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and researcher at the IRBV, received the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Teaching Excellence Award. The award honors the contribution of professors to teaching and supervision of undergraduate and graduate students.

Anja Geitmann specializes in plant cell morphogenesis. Her laboratory and research on the biomechanics of plant development are world-renowned. She is passionate about her research, and also about teaching. Her students appreciate her dynamism and genuine enthusiasm, as well as the combination of traditional and innovative teaching methods she uses in the classroom and in the teaching laboratory.

Anja Geitmann’s teaching extends beyond the university setting. She also values the opportunity to teach high school students, welcoming them regularly in her laboratory through programs like the Université de Montréal’s Project SEUR (Sensibilisation aux études, à l’Université et à la recherche). As education director for the Canadian Society of Plant Biologists, she organizes educational events at national and international conferences. These experiences keep her on the forefront of new developments in the teaching of science.

Congratulations to a remarkable professor, whose greatest wish is spark excitement for learning in students at all levels.

Photo : Anja Geitmann and Gérard Boismenu, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Université de Montréal

Three IRBV students honored

Stéphane Daigle — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:04:55 +0000

Denis Beaudet (Ph.D. student, supervisor: Mohamed Hijri), Youssef Chebli (Ph.D. student, supervisor: Anja Geitmann) and Valentin Joly (M.Sc. student, supervisor: Daniel Matton) each received a grant from the Biological Sciences Award Fund at the Université de Montréal Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ 2012 award ceremony, held on December 4th. These awards recognize the accomplishments of graduate students with an exceptional record of both academic and research achievements.

Congratulations!

Photo, from left to right: Denis Beaudet, Youssef Chebli and Valentin Joly.