In close to 45 years of activity, MICS has had hundreds of people that have contributed to its growth and helped shape it. We would not be able to do justice to all of them by citing their names, but here are a few of the wonderful people that are part of the team!
President Richard Sears, a Franco-American, founded Mingan Island Cetacean Study (MICS) in 1979 to study marine mammals in the St Lawrence, with an emphasis on baleen whales. At eighteen, he took part in an SEA sail-training expedition in oceanography aboard the schooner Westward, from Puerto Rico to Boston, via the Bahamas, Bermuda and eastern seaboard. It is during this trip...
Brief Bio: Michael is and has been since the early 80s US Vice-president of Mingan Island Cetacean Study-MICS and its long-term study of baleen whales in particular the blue whale. As an Associate Professor J. Michael Williamson has been active in education and research for over 45 years. He founded the NSF funded WhaleNet in 1992 to excite students...
Rui Santos After my Msc degree testing the effects of drugs administered to zebrafish on bone development , I pursued my life-long dream of working with cetaceans. Over the last decade, I have acquired field experience working on a daily basis as a skipper for whale watching companies in the Azores. While developing my boat handling and interpretation skills, I...
Team member Christophe’s journey is eclectic and multicultural: he arrived in Quebec in 2017 after living in Europe (Belgium, France), Latin America (Bolivia, Mexico) and Africa (Burkina Faso). He first considered becoming a professional plane pilot but then went to study fundamental physics at the University of Montpellier (UM2) in 2012. Eventually, he found his path in biology and completed...
Team Member / Drone Pilot Sebastien was born in Quebec’s agropolis and earned his B.S. in Biology from Sherbrooke university in 2021. He has a variety of vertebrate research interests and was a MICS intern in 2021. He has traveled extensively to Senegal, and throughout South-East Asia and the Americas. In 2018 during a hike at Fitzroy mountain (Argentinian Patagonia),...
Team Member / Captain Ever since she was little, Emmanuelle has been very interested in the various wild animals that cross her path as well as multiple animal documentaries. Her thirst for discovery and adventure led her to take a 2.5 year trip traveling the American West Coast from Yukon to Peru by hitchhiking. During this journey, she worked in...
Team Member Gabrielle grew up in Rawdon, Lanaudière an area far away from the Saint-Lawrence estuary. Nonetheless, she knew she wanted to work with the sea, specifically with whales, since she was eight years old thanks to a school trip in Tadoussac. Her education has been smooth sailing, graduating the Technique de Bioécologie in La Pocatière in 2021 and starting...
Team Member Sarah has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental studies at the University of Sherbrooke and continues her studies with a minor in Indigenous Studies at the University of Montreal. Her professional path is punctuated by field internships in limnology; projects on the protection of marine species at risk in the St. Lawrence; participations in food security initiatives; and...
Jacques Gelineau- Citizen Scientist Jacques has been associated with our research station and work since 1989. His background working for one of the large iron companies in Port Cartier provided him with many construction and renovation skills. He has contributed his time and skills to MICS by building a darkroom-now electronics lab, a biological lab, a tower, and many other...
