Pauline Hessenauer, Sciences du bois et de la forêt
Pauline Hessenauer has held a professorial position in the Département des sciences du bois et de la forêt at the Faculté de foresterie, géographie et géomatique at Université Laval since 2024. Her work involves research in forest pathology and mycology, as well as teaching these disciplines. Following the completion of her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Evolutionary Biology, Ecology, and Evolution at Université Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, France, she attained a Ph.D. in forest pathology from Université Laval in 2021, where her dissertation focused on the population genomics of the pathogen responsible for Dutch elm disease. Pauline subsequently engaged in postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia, investigating evolutionary convergence in climate adaptation among forest pathogens. She then undertook a second postdoctoral position, in collaboration with the University of Calgary and the Canadian Forest Service, concentrating on the genomic traceability of tree species.
Although diseases constitute an integral component of forest ecosystem health, international trade and climate change can facilitate the introduction of novel species or alter the environmental conditions of hosts and pathogens. This can result in major epidemics, profoundly transforming both forest and urban landscapes. Pauline’s research focuses on utilizing experimental and molecular tools to enhance understanding of forest diseases, the structure and adaptation of host and pathogen populations, and their interactions. The implementation of genomic and evolutionary approaches to populations and organisms proves valuable in both fundamental research (elucidating the biological processes shaping life and host-pathogen interactions) and applied research (precisely identifying an invasive pathogen or its geographic origin).