The Laboratory of Dynamics and Integrated Coastal Zone Management was established with a grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Quebec Ministry of Education. This Laboratory is dedicated to the study of the evolution and dynamics of coastal systems on a recent and actual scale, but also over a long historical period covering the Quaternary.
The main research program aims to understand the sensitivity of cold coastal regions to environmental changes to apprehend their future evolution. Multidisciplinary studies carried by the Laboratory seek to develop models and support initiatives of integrated management with a view towards a sustainable development of the marine environment.
The approach is based on close collaborations between stakeholders from levels of government and coastal communities, as well as the compilation and integration of multi-source geospatial databases.
This Laboratory also houses a Research Chair in Coastal Geoscience.
Pascal Bernatchez, Ph. D.
Area of research: coastal geoscience, coastal natural risks and climate changes, vulnerability and resilience of coastal eco-socio-systems, remote sensing and coastal geomatics, deglaciation and sea level variations, integrated management of coastal zones.
Email: Pascal_Bernatchez@uqar.ca
Pascal Bernatchez holds a Ph.D. in coastal geomorphology and remote sensing from Laval University (Canada). He holds the Research Chair in Coastal Geoscience at the Université du Québec à Rimouski and has directed the Laboratory of Dynamics and Integrated Coastal Zone Management since 2003. He is a member of interuniversity centers of excellence, Centre d’études nordiques and Québec-Océan. He is also a member of BOREAS, a Northern Environment Research Group.
His research focuses on the quantification of coastal erosion and submersion, changes in sea levels, ice cover and climate change as well as their impacts on the sensitivity and vulnerability of coastal areas. He is particularly interested in different issues and perceptions associated with climate hazards (ecological, transport and built environment, environmental, social, and cultural) to develop solutions for adapting to coastal hazards.
He is also interested in the development of remote sensing and geomatics tools, platforms, and methods to quantify and/or map coastal change and environmental conditions (including coastal ecosystems). The data collected are then used in risk and adaptation studies.
His team is working in collaboration with the Québec government to establish coastal evolution projections for all of Québec’s coasts that take climate change into account for natural hazard zoning.