Prof. Raoul Couture
I am a full professor at the Department of Chemistry at Université Laval, where I lead the Aquatic Geochemistry Group. As an environmental chemist my research focuses on the fate of chemical elements in water, sediment and soil. Specifically, I use field, experimental and modelling work to better understand the biogeochemical functioning of lakes, soils and sediments in boreal and northern environments.
Prior to joining ULaval I spent 5 years as a researcher and consultant at NIVA in Oslo (Norway), first as a senior researcher then as leader of the Section for Catchment Processes. There I worked on modelling the response of lakes and catchments to environmental changes, mainly funded by EU projects. I also spent 2 years as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo (Canada).
My current research is often motivated by its application to solve urgent water quality issues affecting surface waters – such as contamination by trace elements, anoxia, increasing loads of organic matter and eutrophication - in the context of ongoing environmental changes.
Research Program
Our research focuses on understanding the response of lakes and rivers to ongoing environmental changes. We specifically study the coupled biogeochemical cycles of major elements essential for life, as well as the environmental chemistry of contaminants and of micronutrients. We are developing new approaches for identifying and modeling the key processes that control their mobility. Field work, analytical chemistry and reactive-transport modelling underpin most of our projects.
Field work
Our research begins in the field, where we sample lakes, rivers, soils and sediments in temperate and northern catchments. We rely on the network of stations of the Center for Northern Studies. We work with local communities to focus on issues of water quality related to natural environments under climate and land use change.
Approach
We use a multi-disciplinary and multi-scale approach. We collaborate with engineers, biologists, hydrologists and computer scientists to acquire real-time data and environmental samples in the field, conduct laboratory experiments and develop numerical models that capture processes from the molecular to the system scale.