The Quebec government has appointed J\u00e9r\u00f4me Dupras \u2014 a bassist with the folk-rock group Les Cowboys Fringants and also a professor of ecological economics \u2014 as the province\u2019s next chief scientist, one of Quebec\u2019s most influential science-policy roles.<\/p>\n
Economy Minister Bernard Drainville and Minister Delegate for the Economy and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Daniel Bernard made the announcement Wednesday.\u00a0He succeeds R\u00e9mi Quirion, who has served as Quebec\u2019s chief scientist since 2011.<\/p>\n
Dupras holds a doctorate in geography from the Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al and a postdoctoral fellowship in biology from McGill University. But he has since built a career that bridges academia, environmental policy and publicity, including involvement with a UNESCO research chair.<\/p>\n
His candidacy emerged from a formal selection process conducted this spring, the ministers said.<\/p>\n
\u201cScience plays a vital role in Quebec\u2019s development and advancement,\u201d Drainville said in a statement, describing Dupras as someone capable of bringing research \u201ceven closer to government action and the people of Quebec.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it also comes at a moment when governments face ever difficult decisions tied to research and public trust in science and also the need to drive innovation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe chief scientist plays a strategic role in supporting government decision-making,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dupras said he accepted the role \u201cwith great humility and a profound sense of responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cScience has an essential role to play in informing collective choices and supporting Quebec in the face of the economic, environmental and social challenges we face,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Alejandra Zaga Mendez, Qu\u00e9bec solidaire\u2019s economy critic, called Dupras \u201cbrilliant, rigorous and deeply humane,\u201d\u00a0adding he had never been afraid to engage beyond academia \u201cthrough research, activism and, of course, music.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is in the Quebec chief scientist\u2019s responsibility?<\/p>\n
\u2022 promoting scientific advice and scientific diplomacy in Quebec and internationally;<\/p>\n
\u2022 strengthening ties between science and society and encouraging scientific culture and participatory science;<\/p>\n
\u2022 promoting ethics and responsible conduct in research;<\/p>\n
\u2022 helping expand Quebec\u2019s influence in scientific research and international partnerships.<\/p>\n
The position also includes serving as president and chief executive of the Fonds de recherche du Qu\u00e9bec.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Quebec government has appointed J\u00e9r\u00f4me Dupras \u2014 a bassist with the folk-rock group Les Cowboys Fringants and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-465401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}