In the face of accelerating climate change and socioeconomic development in the Arctic and sub-Arctic, the Sentinel North research program helps generate the knowledge needed to monitor and prepare for environmental changes at multiple levels—from microbes to ecosystems—using better technologies, predictive models, and intervention strategies oriented toward sustainable health and development.

Sentinel North’s conceptual framework and priority research axes drive the program’s research, training, and partnership initiatives. 

Sentinel North is deploying an innovative training strategy to attract and train the best students from Canada and abroad, fostering a new generation of scientists who are capable of using transdisciplinary work to tackle the complex and changing issues of the North.

Our students are evolving in a dynamic research ecosystem with coaching from internationally renowned experts and access to state-of-the-art research facilities. Sentinel North alumni are equipped to understand the changing North and become leaders in their field.

Principal Investigators

Réal Vallée, Guillaume Massé

Principal investigator

Mario Leclerc

Co-Investigators

Paul Johnson, Jean-François Morin, Simon Thibault

Principal Investigator

Johann Lavaud

Co-Investigator

Marc Hébert

Collaborator

Marcel Babin

Principal Investigators

Gilles Gauthier

Principal Investigators

Claude Demers, Marc Hébert

Light is an essential vector of energy on Earth.

At high latitudes, the large seasonal variations in photoperiod and snow and ice cover cause significant variability in the availability and quality of light affecting ecosystems and societies.

One of the objectives of this thematic project is to study the propagation of light through different substrates, its interaction with matter, and its influence on physiology and biorhythms.

Principal Investigators

Michel Allard, Leslie Ann Rusch

Principal Investigators

Sophie LaRochelle, Richard Fortier