Raphaël Lavoie

Research Scientist

I am currently a Research Scientist in Science and Technology, Environment and Climate Change Canada working on ecotoxicology and other environmental stressors in wildlife, especially aquatic birds. I work on a wide range on contaminants and I use advanced field techniques to assess exposure and risk to wildlife.

Environment and Climate Change Canada

Québec

Key publications

Lavoie, R.A., Tétreault, M., Bolduc, F., Bergeron, G., Lieske, D.J. 2022 Predicting at-sea distribution of Razorbill in the St. Lawrence Gulf and Estuary, Québec, Canada during the breeding period using GPS telemetry. Avian Conservation & Ecology. 17 (2):27 https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-02188-170227

Ponton, D.E., Ruelas-Inzunza, J., Lavoie, R.A., Lescord, G.L., Johnston, T.A., Graydon, J.A., Reichert, M., Donadt, C., Poesch, M., Gunn, J., Amyot, M. 2022. Mercury, selenium, and arsenic concentrations in Canadian freshwater fish and a perspective on human consumption intake and risk. Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances. 6: 10006

Ponton, D.E., Lavoie, R.A., Leclerc, M., Bilodeau, F., Planas, D., Amyot, M. 2021. Understanding food web mercury accumulation through carbon processing, trophic transfer and biodynamic modeling along a river affected by recent run-of-river dams. Environmental Science & Technology. 55(5): 2949-2959 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c07015

Petalas, C., Lazarus, T, Lavoie, R. A., Elliott, K. H., and Guigueno, M. F. 2021. Foraging niche partitioning in sympatric seabird populations. Scientific Reports 11: 2493, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81583-z

Ackerman, J.T., Herzog, M.P., Evers D.C., Cristol, D.A. Kenow, K.P., Heinz, G.H., Lavoie, R.A., Brasso, R.L., Mallory, M.L., Provencher, J.F., Braune, B.M., Matz, A., Schmutz, J., Eagles-Smith, C., Savoy, L.J., Meyer, M.W., Hartman, C.A. 2020. A Synthesis of Maternal Transfer of Mercury in Birds: Implications for Altered Toxicity Risk. Environmental Science & Technology. 54, 2878-2891 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b06119

Lavoie, R.A., Amyot, M., Lapierre, J.-F. 2019. Global meta-analysis on the relationship between mercury and dissolved organic carbon in freshwater environments. Journal of Geophysical Research – Biogeosciences

Lavoie, R.A., Bouffard A., Maranger, R., and Amyot M. 2018. Mercury transport and human exposure from global marine fisheries. Scientific Reports (8), www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-24938-3

Lavoie, R.A., Campbell, L.M. 2018. Mercury concentrations in Double-crested Cormorant chicks across Canada. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 75(1), 111-120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-018-0533-y

King L.E., de Solla S.R., Marentette J.R., Lavoie, R.A., Kyser, T.K., Campbell, L.M., Arts M.T., Quinn J.S. 2017 Fatty acids, stable isotopes, and regurgitate reveal diet differences between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus). Journal of Great Lakes Research 43: 132-140 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2017.03.004

Champoux, L., Rail, J.-F., Lavoie, R.A. 2017 Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans and flame retardants in Northern gannet (Morus bassanus) eggs from Bonaventure Island, Gulf of St. Lawrence, 1994-2014. Environmental Pollution 222 : 600-608 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2016.09.055

De Silva, A.O., Spencer, C., Ho, K.C.D., Al Tarhuni, M., Go, C., Houde, M., de Solla, S.R., Lavoie, R.A., King, L.E., Muir, D.C.G., Fair, P.A., Wells, R.S., Bossart, G.D. 2016 Perfluoroalkylphosphinic acids in northern pike (Esox lucius), double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus), and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in relation to other perfluoroalkyl acids. Environmental Science & Technology 50 (20): 10903–10913 http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b03515

Robertson, G.J., Roul, S., Allard, K.A., Pekarik, C., Lavoie, R.A., Ellis, J., Perlut, N., Diamond, AW., Benjamin, N., Ronconi, A., Gilliland, S.G., Veitch, B.G. 2016. Morphological variation among Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) and Great Black-backed Gulls (Larus marinus) in eastern North America. Waterbirds 39(Special Publication 1): 253-268 http://dx.doi.org/10.1675/063.039.sp123

Lavoie, R.A., Kyser, T.K., Friesen, V.L., Campbell, L.M., 2015. Tracking overwintering areas of fish-eating birds to identify mercury exposure. Environmental Science & Technology 49: 863–872 http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es502813t

Champoux, L., Rail, J.-F., Lavoie, R.A., Hobson, K.A. 2015. Temporal trends of mercury, organochlorines and PCBs in northern gannet (Morus bassanus) eggs from Bonaventure Island, Gulf of St. Lawrence, 1969-2009. Environmental Pollution 197: 13-20 http://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2014.10.030

Lavoie, R.A., Baird, C.J., King, L.E., Kyser, T.K., Friesen, V.L., Campbell, L.M., 2014. Contamination of mercury during the wintering period influences concentrations at breeding sites in two migratory piscivorous birds. Environmental Science & Technology 48: 13694–13702 http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es502746z

Gibson, L., Lavoie, R.A., Bissegger, S., Campbell, L.M., Langlois, V.S., 2014. A positive correlation between mercury and oxidative stress-related gene expression (GPX3 and GSTM3) is measured in female double-crested cormorant blood. Ecotoxicology 23: 1004-1014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10646-014-1243-5

Lavoie, R.A., Kidd, K., Jardine, T., Chumchal, M., Campbell, L.M., 2013. Biomagnification of Mercury in Aquatic Food Webs: A Worldwide Meta-Analysis. Environmental Science & Technology 47:13385-13394, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es403103t

Boutiller, S.T., Taylor, S.A., Morris-Pocock, J.A., Lavoie, R.A. and Friesen, V.L. 2013. Evidence for genetic differentiation among Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) populations in North America. Conservation Genetics 15:275–281 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10592-013-0536-1

Lavoie, R.A., Rail, J.-F., Lean, D.R.S., 2012. Diet composition of seabirds from Corossol Island, Canada using direct dietary and stable isotope analyses. Waterbirds 35(3): 402-419, http://dx.doi.org/10.1675/063.035.0305

Lavoie, R.A., Kyser, T.K., Campbell, L.M., 2012. Migration patterns affect biomagnifying contaminant concentrations in fish-eating birds. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 8:200-202, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ieam.1251

Lavoie, R.A., Hebert, C.E., Rail, J.-F., Braune, B.M., Yumvihoze, E., Hill, L., Lean, D.R.S., 2010. Trophic structure and mercury distribution in a Gulf of St. Lawrence (Canada) food web using stable isotope analysis. Science of the Total Environment 408: 5529-5539, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.07.053

Lavoie, R.A., Champoux, L., Rail, J.-F., Lean, D.R.S., 2010. Organochlorines, brominated flame retardants and mercury in eggs of six seabird species in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Canada). Environmental Pollution 158: 2189-2199, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/10.1016/j.envpol.2010.02.016