The professor emeritus and Quebec authority in the field of forestry, Luc Bouthiller, died last night.
Posted at 5:15 p.m.
This was announced on Thursday by Université Laval, where he has devoted his career to research and teaching for more than 40 years.
“Luc was a teacher with heart, passion, but above all content,” said the dean of the Faculty of Forestry, Geography and Geomatics (FFGG), Nancy Gélinas, in a press release.
“He lit sparks in the eyes of all those who had the good fortune to follow his courses, his conferences, and I am one of them. He is the spark plug for my own career. His passion for the forestry sector was contagious, his understanding of forestry issues made me want to learn more. »
Luc Bouthiller had obtained his bachelor’s degree in forest engineering, his master’s degree in forest management and silviculture and his doctorate in forest sciences at Laval University before teaching three-cycle students.
“He was our sage”
The professor was also regularly called upon to comment on issues surrounding the field of forestry in the media, where he gave numerous interviews, both on forest management and on the pulp and paper industry, the budworm spruce or forest fires.
Barely two months ago, he notably spoke out on the case of an Atikamekw family in open conflict with a sawmill in Saint-Michel-des-Saints, in the Lanaudière region.
“Luc will be truly missed, he was our sage. He has worked extensively with indigenous communities. He told me one day that during a trip to Innu territory, on the North Shore, he had been honored to stay with the elders. They recognized in him a “good spirit””, recalls the titular professor at the FFGG, Luc Lebel, himself a former student of Luc Bouthillier.
Luc Bouthiller had recently signed the preface to the book 100 years of passion for the forest 1921-2021, written by historian-consultant Yves Hébert. The book, launched in May, tells the story of the Order of Forest Engineers of Quebec.