Prof. Isabelle Laforest-Lapointe (PhD)

Biology Department, Université de Sherbrooke

Our current research focuses on:

• the role of microbes in the northward migration of sugar maple under climate warming;

• the microbiomes of apple trees and soybean, and the development of microbial communities and biocontrol agents for more sustainable agriculture;

• moss–bacteria symbioses from temperate to boreal forests;

• bioaerosols and pollen in urban and agricultural environments, and their links to respiratory health;

• the human microbiome, from infancy to aging.

I am also committed to bringing science closer to society: science-policy workshops (INGSA), talks for farmers and the general public, and free R programming workshops.

I completed my PhD at the Université du Québec à Montréal (2017) under the supervision of Profs. Steven Kembel and Christian Messier, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Calgary (2017–2019) with Prof. Marie-Claire Arrieta. Before that, I earned an MSc in Terrestrial Ecology and Biodiversity Management at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (2010–2011) and completed the coursework of an MSc in Statistics at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (2011–2012).

My passions are research, teaching, mentoring, and coding.