Biography:
Trained at Laval and McGill Universities and a NATO postdoctoral fellow, Louis Fortier holds the Canada Research Chair on the Response of Arctic Marine Ecosystems to Climate Change at Université Laval. A specialist of zooplankton and fish, he has authored and co-authored over 90 scientific papers on subjects varying from carbon fluxes in the Arctic Ocean to policy in a changing Arctic. He headed the Regroupement stratégique Québec-Océan (formerly GIROQ) from 1996 to 2005. An indefatigable promoter of a multidisciplinary and cross-sector approach to the ecosystem-level concerns raised by the warming of the Arctic, Fortier has led the NOW (International North Water Polynya Study) and CASES (Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study) NSERC Research Networks. He is the Project Leader for the CFI-funded Canadian Research Icebreaker Amundsen, and the Scientific Director of ArcticNet, a Canadian Network of Centres of Excellence that brings together specialists from 27 universities for the integrated study of the transformation of the coastal Canadian Arctic. With Vincent and Babin, he proposed recently the successful Canada Excellence Research Chair on the remote sensing of Canada's new arctic frontier. Through conferences and the media, Louis Fortier untiringly explains the causes of, and solutions to, the climate crisis to the public and to decision makers.

Scientifique de l'Année 2004 (Radio-Canada) and Personnalité scientifique 2005 (La Presse and Radio-Canada). Grand Diplomé and Gloire de l'Escolle Medal of the Alumni Association of Université Laval in 2006. Officer of the Order of Canada in 2007. Honorary Ph D, University of Manitoba in 2007. Officier de l'Ordre National du Québec in 2008. Personnalité scientifique de 2008 (Le Soleil and Radio-Canada). Stefansson Medal 2009 from the Explorers Club. Prix Armand-Frappier du Québec 2010 for excellence in research and the development of research.