Isabelle Duchesne
Current research and/or projects
Biography:
In 2002, I began my career as a researcher in resource characterization at Forintek, after which I moved to FPInnovations. In 2011, I joined the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre, which is charged with delivering FPInnovations’ national research program on Resource Assessment. I chose this field because the forest is the most beautiful laboratory there is!
I study the effects of silvicultural practices on the quality and value of wood. My work on characterizing wood fibre is aimed at optimizing the use of existing timber resources and better predicting the quality of wood derived from intensive silviculture in the future. More specifically, I study the relationship between the external characteristics of trees and the internal attributes of the wood and that relationship’s effects on yield in terms of the volume, quality and value of sawmill products.
Research and/or project statements
Current Research Project:
Professional activities / interests
I supervised and cosupervised graduate students and postdoctoral fellows
Education and awards
Ph.D. in forestry (Wood Science and Technology), Wood Ultrastructure Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2001.
Licence in forestry, Wood Ultrastructure Research Centre, 1999.
B.Sc. in Wood Science and Technology, Laval University, 1992.
Additional links
Key publications
- Duchesne, I.; Vincent, M.; Wang, X.; Ung, C.-H.; Swift, D.E. 2016. Wood mechanical properties and discoloured heartwood proportion in sugar maple and yellow birch grown in New Brunswick. BioResources 11(1):2007-2019. doi:10.15376/biores.11.1.2007-2019.
- Mortyn, J.; Duchesne, I.; Shabani, N. 2015. Effect of late-age commercial thinning in lodgepole pine on the volume and value of lumber. FPInnovations Report, Vancouver, BC. 23 p.
- Barrette, J.; Thiffault, E.; Saint-Pierre, F.; Wetzel, S.; Duchesne, I.; Krigstin, S. 2015. Dynamics of dead tree degradation and shelf-life following natural disturbances: can salvaged trees from boreal forests “fuel” the forestry and bioenergy sectors?. Forestry. doi:10.1093/forestry/cpv007.
- Barrette, J.; Pothier, D.; Auty, D.; Achim, A.; Duchesne, I.; Gélinas, N. 2015. Lumber recovery and value of dead and sound black spruce trees grown in the North Shore region of Québec. Ann. For. Sci. 69:603-615. doi:10.1007/s13595-011-0178-8.
- Barrette, J.; Pothier, D.; Duchesne, I. 2015. Lumber and wood chips properties of dead and sound black spruce trees grown in the boreal forest of Canada. Forestry 2015 88(1):108-120. doi:10.1093/forestry/cpu033.
For more publications by this author, consult the CFS publications database.
Contact
Research facility
Expertise
Affiliations
Adjunct Professor, Department of Wood Science and Forest, Laval University
Associate researcher, Renewable Materials Research Centre, Laval University
Coordinator of one of the five research themes of the ULaval ForValueNet network (2009-2013)
Member of the Wood Research Centre of Laval University (2003-2007)
Member of Ordre des ingénieurs forestiers du Québec