Guest Speakers
Carolina Madeira
FCT Research Fellow
Institute for Health and Bioeconomy (iNOVA4Health), NOVA University Lisbon
📅 Wednesday, February 4 - 2:45 PM
Carolina Madeira completed her PhD in Marine Biology at the University of Lisbon (2014-2018, Portugal). Since 2020, she has been an FCT Research Fellow at NOVA University Lisbon and an integrated member of the Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit.
From the early stages of her career, she has been dedicated to studying the impacts of global change on temperate and tropical ecosystems from a biological-oceanography perspective — including the ecophysiological responses of marine fauna and the resulting reorganization of biodiversity across the Atlantic, Western Indian, and Eastern Pacific Oceans.
Her current research program, “Marine Omics for Ocean Climate Resilience,” investigates the response mechanisms and adaptive strategies of marine organisms to changing physical environments. She applies systems-biology and multilayer approaches to support marine-conservation efforts and foster innovation in aquaculture.
From Molecules to Ecosystems: A Multilayer Perspective on Marine Intertidal Fauna Adaptation to Labile Environments
Understanding the mechanistic pathways underlying the plasticity, adaptation, and vulnerability of marine fauna to changing physical and chemical environments is a pioneering field in biological oceanography. This knowledge helps us move beyond effects-oriented research to predict consequences for marine populations and ecosystems.
In this presentation, Dr. Madeira will explore the molecular and physiological stress-response networks involved in multiple facets of temperature change — including seasonal fluctuations, gradual warming, and extreme events — and their bottom-up effects on communities and food webs. She will also discuss how physiological processes shape key functional traits that drive organismal phenotypes, influencing the evolutionary and ecological trajectories of coastal ecosystems.
Vincent Lecours
Associate Professor, Environmental Geomatics
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)
📅 Thursday, February 5 - 11:30 AM
Vincent Lecours is an Associate Professor in Environmental Geomatics at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. From 2017 to 2022, he served as an Assistant Professor in Marine Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis at the University of Florida (Gainesville, FL), where he founded the Marine Geomatics Laboratory.
He holds a B.Sc. in Environmental Geomatics from the Université de Sherbrooke (2011) and a Ph.D. in Geography from Memorial University of Newfoundland (2016).
Dr. Lecours’ main research interests include marine habitat mapping and marine geomorphometry, with most of his projects bridging geomatics and marine ecology. His team uses geospatial technologies and geomatics theory to improve methods for collecting and analyzing data on marine and coastal environments, thereby enhancing our understanding of their habitats.
He has conducted research in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans, as well as the Gulf of Mexico, and is currently developing a research program focused on the Saguenay Fjord and the St. Lawrence system.
Geomatics for Marine Science
Over the past three decades, methods and technologies associated with geomatics have revolutionized several scientific disciplines at the core of marine science. For example, optical and acoustic remote-sensing instruments now allow us to map the seafloor in three dimensions at unprecedented spatial scales, helping us better understand the biodiversity and geodiversity of these environments.
Spatial analyses of the distribution of certain marine species and their use of surrounding habitats also enable us to estimate their abundance and density in unexplored areas — and even to predict the potential impacts of climate change on these species.
In this presentation, Dr. Lecours will showcase examples of studies applying geomatics and other spatial sciences to improve the mapping and understanding of marine habitats, with the goal of supporting better-informed management, conservation, and restoration decisions.
