Biographies

Serge Couturier
Biologist

Government of Quebec, Société de la Faune et des Parcs (Wildlife and Parks Department), Direction régionale Nord-du-Québec.

"Rambo meets Darwin" read the description of biologist Serge Couturier in a recent magazine article. Here's one scientist you won't find tucked away in a dusty lab. He's more likely to be scanning the horizon, in the company of caribou.

Born in eastern Quebec, Serge quickly fell in love with the natural world. He learned to respect nature while cultivating a love of hunting and fishing. Later, having completed his studies as a biologist, Serge continued to balance the seemingly incompatible roles of conservationist and avid hunter/fisherman. His graduate studies brought him to focus his research on the ecological study of large land mammals such as the moose.

In 1984, he got the call from the Quebec Government, seeking his help during an environmental disaster in Northern Quebec. 10 000 caribou had drowned in the swollen waters of the Caniapiscau River. The event was covered worldwide by the media, creating unprecedented interest for Quebec’s caribou. As an active participant in the studies that followed, Serge Couturier discovered that his true scientific calling lay in the region of Nunavik, an area where winter temperatures regularly plummet to -40 °C and where trees give way to moss and lichen.

His passion for the caribou became his ally against the inhospitable conditions of the Arctic, allowing him to achieve the goal of his scientific studies: to oversee the conservation of the world’s largest caribou herd, the Rivière George herd, whose population exceeds 800 000. When combined with the Rivière aux Feuilles herd, the total number of caribou climbs to over 1.1 million. That's quite a sample group for Serge, who by then was known as the "Cowboy of the North."

Serge has written extensively for both academic and popular publications, and is a frequent source for both Canadian and international media.

His mission is to disseminate information of the caribou to the general public, and to share his love of Nunavik, with its extraordinary wildlife and warm, welcoming people. In doing so, he has become a true ambassador of the North.

 

See Also:

André Picard
Martin José Dignard
David Homel
Georges-Hébert Germain
John E. Utsi
Serge Couturier