Carlos Araujo, PhD Candidate
Université du Québec à Rimouski, Départment de biologie, chimie et géographie
Bio: I was always fascinated by the sea, in particular nearshore environments. Together with this fascination and a growing interest in multidisciplinary studies involving exact and biological sciences, it led me to do a bachelor and a master degree in oceanography. As a research assistant for more than 5 years I could develop and/or improve my skills on fieldtrip organization, scientific computing and the use of optical remote sensing technologies. On the free time, music and biking are also part of my life.
Supervisors: Dr. Simon Bélanger and Dr. Jean-Éric Tremblay
Start to Finish: 01/2017 to 12/2020
Project Description
My project aims to understand how the light interacts with primary producers in a subarctic costal embayment (Bay of Sept-Îles) and surrounding area, accessing both abiotic and biotic parameters that drives this dynamic. A comprehensive in situ physical, biogeochemical and optical data and a suite of remotely-sensed imagery will be used to achieve this goal.
Four specific objectives are proposed:
- i) bio-optical characterization and modelling for the Bay of Sept-Îles region;
- ii) inversion algorithm development for optical imagery for coastal waters of the Côte-Nord region, with an emphasis on phytoplankton;
iii) multi-temporal mapping of seagrass distribution in three regions of the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf, including the Bay of Sept-Îles and;
- iv) accessing the environmental variables that could explain the multi-temporal changes of seagrass distribution from “iii”.
This project aims to stablish guidelines for the usage of ocean-color products on coastal environments which, in turn, will aid managers and decision-making to access proxies of ecosystem functioning and health in a more effective way or, at least, as complementary to traditional sampling techniques.