Past Award Winners - Liette Vasseur
Dr. Liette Vasseur has enjoyed a very distinguished academic career spanning diverse, yet integrated, environmental issues. She is currently a Full Professor of Biological Sciences at Brock University where she has also held the position of Vice-President, Research. Previous to her tenure at Brock, Liette was Associate Vice-President, Research at Laurentian University, and the K.C. Irving Research Chair in Sustainable Development at the University of Moncton.
Throughout her career, Dr. Vasseur has been a firm believer and promoter of an inter-disciplinary approach to research at the ecosystem level. This approach has been exemplified in Liette's own emphasis on community-based ecosystem management, decision-making and sustainable development. Her research and project work has included extensive involvement with academia, government organizations, NGO's, industry, community conservation groups and aboriginal communities across Canada. While at Laurentian University, Liette was a Board Member at the Nickel District Conservation Authority as well as a serving member of the Sudbury Mayor's Expert Panel on Environmental Health. She is currently an expert advisor to the Greater Sudbury Climate Change Consortium. In Niagara, she works with the Niagara Prosperity Initiative which aims to improve sustainability at the neighbourhood level and is also a lead member of the Niagara Region Climate Change Adaption Network.
At Brock University, Liette's research program focuses on plant and conservation ecology, climate change, sustainable development, community-based management and gender issues in various countries such as Canada, China, and Burkina Faso (Africa). Among her many affiliations, Liette is a member of the Commission for Ecosystem Management of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and honorary member of the Nickel District Conservation Authority. She is also an Associate Editor of the journal Botany, and associate editor-in-chief of the Journal of Biosafety, which focuses on important issues concerning human-dominated and natural ecological systems.
Dr. Vasseur has had a significantly positive effect on youth. Through academia as well as her many community-based undertakings, Liette has acted as mentor for many young conservationists. To date, more than 75 of her former students have entered careers in the conservation/environmental fields. While at Laurentian University, she was a member of an initiative “Children First” Round Table designed to encourage youth to use a focus on the natural environment in order to become productive members of the community. Through her work, Dr. Vasseur continues to inspire the next generation of community-based science advocates.
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