A few highlights from the joint PERG Symposium and Can-Peat annual meeting
The Peatland Science Symposium ‒ PERG and Can-Peat was held on Wednesday 21 February 2024 at the Hôtel Plaza in Quebec City (QC).
Over 90 participants attended this joint event, which aimed to present various stakeholders in the peat, peatland, and wetlands sectors on various peatland research topics such as restoration, carbon cycling, policy, and a new harvesting method. The event included 20 oral and 15 poster presentations by researchers, postdoctoral fellows, students and partners from the Peatland Ecology Research Group (PERG) and Can-Peat.
After a brief introduction by the principal researchers from PERG (Line Rochefort, U. Laval) and Can-Peat (Maria Strack, U. of Waterloo), the symposium began with the invited speaker Marc-André Bourgault, a new PERG collaborator at Université Laval, who spoke on wetland hydrology at the heart of climate action.
• See the Abstract Book
Prizes were awarded for the best student presentations to:
1) Éléonor Bergeron-de Pani (PhD student, U. Laval, for the best oral presentation)
2) Tasha-Leigh Gauthier (PhD student, U. Waterloo, for the second best oral presentation)
3) Rayden Laliberte (MSc student, U. Waterloo, for the best poster presentation)
Éléonor Bergeron-de Pani, winner of 1st prize for best oral presentation, with Asha Hingorani, president of the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association |
Tasha-Leigh Gauthier, winner of the prize for 2nd best oral presentation, with Asha Hingorani, president of the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association |
Rayden Laliberte, winner of the best poster presentation award, with Stéphanie Boudreau, science director of the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association and general manager of the Association des producteurs de tourbe horticole du Québec (APTHQ) and of Créneau d’excellence Tourbe et substrats |
Thanks to our partners, the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association (CSPMA) and the Association des producteurs de tourbe horticole du Québec (APTHQ), as well as to everyone on the organizing committee and all the volunteers who helped make this event a great success!
Members of the PERG team from Université Laval at the symposium. From left to right: Éléonor Bergeron-de Pani, Line Rochefort, Gwendal Breton, Laura Catalina Riaño Peña, Lucas Voirin and Olivier Gingras.
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Other activities took place during the week of the symposium at Université Laval, including the Peatlands Policy Framework Workshop on February 22nd, organized by Lorna Harris, Director of Forests, Peatlands, and Climate Change Conservation Programme at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Canada. During the workshop, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Canada presented its project to develop a national vision and strategy for peatlands and will lead a panel discussion to identify policy gaps and opportunities.
