Marie-José Auclair
President of the Board
Graduated in Biology with a Major in Sciences of the Environment at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), specialising in Aquatic Ecology. She has been working for the Environment for more than 35 years.
At Environment Canada, Marie-José Auclair worked as an advisor in environmental evaluation and to establish the state of the health of the St-Lawrence River. She also represented the Federal Government among different environment comities under the “Convention de la Baie James et du Nord québécois”.
She is now a freelance Biologist. She has written many books and articles on the many natural, historic and cultural beauty of many regions of Québec and published articles on Outdoor, Ecotourism and Biodiversity throughout the world. Her book “Le Québec au fil de l’eau” (2009) published by Les Éditions de l’HOMME puts forth the beauty and fragility of this precious resource in Québec and North America.
She has also been an additional Commissary at “Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement du Québec” (BAPE) and supplied freelance works on Environment and Biodiversity of many Organisms.
Luc Dumouchel
Vice-President
Hailing from Granby, Eastern-Townships, Luc Dumouchel graduated from the Forestry and Geodesy School of Université Laval (1981). Mr. Dumouchel has worked in the private forest sector for over 25 years. He is Manager of the Association forestière de la Montérégie since 1996.
He became a member of the Ordre des ingénieurs forestiers du Québec in 1985 where he was a board member delegate for the Estrie-Montérgie area in 1994-1995 and from 2002 to 2010. From 1985 to 2004, he was Forest Service Manager for Brome-Missisquoi RCM. He was actively involved with municipal activities in the forest sector, especially the development of a land use plan, first and second generations, as well as conception and application of regulatory framework regarding felling of trees. In 1987, he established the Pépinière régionale de la MRC Brome-Missisquoi which he managed until 1996.
In addition to its professional activities, Luc Dumouchel sat at numerous boards of organizations (watershed organization, G.I.S. Agency, private school, etc.)
Peter McAuslan
Treasurer
Peter McAuslan is a native of Lachine, Quebec, graduating from Sir George Williams University in 1972. He was secretary-general of Dawson College in Montreal in 1987 when he left to establish The McAuslan Brewing Company, a ground-breaking and internationally respected, award-winning small brewery.
Peter has served as a director of many industries and community boards and has received awards and distinctions, most notably a McGill Management Award in 2002 and an award of distinction from the John Molson School of Business of Concordia University in 2008. He was named ‘Personality of the year’ in the category of Business and the Arts by the Conseil des Arts de Montréal the same year. Peter was awarded the Order of Canada in 2018 for his pioneering work in the development of the small brewing industry in Canada, his commitment to the support of the arts and his leadership in establishing the Chair of Canadian Scottish Studies at McGill University.
He is the founder and president of the McAuslan Malting and Distilling Corporation developing and marketing ‘Peter McAuslan’s Spirits’ in Quebec.
Mr. McAuslan is a member of the Green Party of Canada, a supporter of Greenpeace Canada, and other environmental organizations. He was a founder of Hortinove, a local citizens’ organization that successfully defended against the sale of the federal Agricultural Research Centre in Frelighsburg, Quebec. He has supported fundraising initiatives for the Ruiter Valley Land trust and Appalachian Corridor. He was a director of the Mount Echo Land Trust from 2018-2021.
Peter has recently published “Brewing Better Beer, The story of St-Ambroise and the birth of Quebec craft brewing”
Peter and his wife Ellen share their Sutton home with 4 dogs in the beautiful Eastern Townships of Quebec.
Louise Gratton
Secretary
Louise Gratton woks as a consultant in ecology and conservation. She holds a master degree in biology from UQAM (1981) and combine 22 years of experience as a consultant. She developed a strong expertise in surveys, protection, design and restauration of natural areas across Québec.
From 2001 to 2003, she was employed by Nature Conservancy Canada as Science Manager for Québec area. She was, among other things, responsible for conservation planning at a landscape scale.
Ms. Gratton is a cofounder of Appalachian Corridor and is a board member of many organizations including Two countries, one forest (a transborder organization dedicated to the biodiversity conservation ine the Appalachian region), les Amis de la tourbière de Saint-Joachim-Shefford and the Associsation forestière du sud du Québec. Her volunteering commitment towards conservation of natural areas resulted in a number of awards including the prix Conscientia 2014 from the Conseil regional de l’environnement de la Montérégie and the prix Pierre-Dansereau from Québec’s biologists association in 2011 to highlight her outstanding contribution to biological biodiversity communication.
Michel Boivin
Board Member
A Parks Canada retiree where he worked for more than 33 years, Michel cumulates a vast and diversified experience in the management of protected areas. During the course of his career he held a variety of positions, namely superintendent of Saguenay Saint-Lawrence Marine Park, Yoho, Kootenay national parks and Lake Louise (Banff) and Executive Director for Quebec. As such, he was responsible for overseeing all Parks Canada operations in the province and ensuring strategic relations with various government representatives, business community, elected officials and regional partners.
Now back in the Eastern Townships, he wishes to use his experience in support of the environnement and of the community. Avid fly fisherman and fly tyer, he also enjoys numerous outdoor activities.
Michel Bélanger
Board Member
Michel Bélanger is an environmental lawyer, a reference in the field! Michel is trained as both a lawyer and notary, he holds a master’s degree in public law from the University of Montreal and a diploma in environmental law and land-use management from Robert Schuman University (Strasbourg, France). He has been teaching at Polytechnique Montréal, the Université de Sherbrooke, Université Laval and UQAM. Michel hosts a feature about environmental issues on Monday mornings on Radio-Canada Estrie radio show.
Co-founder of the Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement (CQDE), Michel has been presiding Nature-Québec (and is still on their board of directors) and, closer to us, he has been on the board of the Mont Pinnacle Land Trust.
Michel has worked on important biodiversity protection cases in Quebec and has defended cases at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Françoise Bricault
Delegate for Eastern Affiliate Members
Passionate about nature and deeply inspired by the large forests spreading around her home, Françoise started getting involved with conservation 10 years ago. Her desire to protect theses peaceful spaces first drove her to create Conservation des vallons de la serpentine (CVS). This association, created in 2006, was born from environmental issues and a strong belief that our actions impact on their environment. With time and contact with biologists and Appalachian Corridor’s team, Françoise grew more and more driven. A training with Susan Morse in Vermont with Fauna without Borders helped strengthen her environmental convictions.
Now retired from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Françoise is very active in the conservation community. When her managing tasks get too heavy, she goes out for a walk in the forest surrounding her that is now mainly protected. This is the best reminder that all of her work is definitely worth it.
Marie-Claire Planet
Delegate for Western Affiliate Members
Marie-Claire is a member of the Board since 2014. Trained in Computer science, she works as a Project Manager and has led major projects both in Québec and worldwide for over 30 years.
In 1998, she joined the board of the Ruiter Valley Land Trust and is now President. Passionate with botanic and herbalism, she writes popularizing documents published by this organization and coordinates events, including flora identification workshops with various specialists in the field.