Jérôme Dupras, Chief Scientist of Québec and CEO of the Fonds de recherche du Québec
Jérôme Dupras, C.Q., Ph.D., has served as Quebec’s Chief Scientist since June 15, 2026. In this capacity, he advises the Minister of Economy, Innovation, and Energy on research and science development and heads the Fonds de recherche du Québec.
Biographical Notes
Prior to his appointment, Dr. Dupras was a full professor in the Department of Natural Sciences at the Université du Québec en Outaouais, and held the Canada Research Chair in Ecological Economics and the UNESCO Chair in Socio-Economic Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystems. He was affiliated with several research groups, including the Institute of Temperate Forest Sciences, the Québec Center for Biodiversity Science, and the Center for Forest Studies. He was also the founding director of the Center for Applied Research on Biodiversity and Ecosystems (CRABE), and had served since 2017 as president and CEO and co-founder of Habitat, an environmental and biodiversity consulting firm.
A specialist in land-use planning, environmental protection, and ecological economics, his research focuses on the contribution of biodiversity and ecosystems to human well-being. Throughout his career, Mr. Dupras has received several honors, including the 2018 Hubert-Reeves Quebec Prize for Emerging Scientists and the 2023 Acfas Pierre-Dansereau Prize. That same year, he was named a Knight of the National Order of Quebec and received the Medal of Honor from the Quebec National Assembly. He was appointed to the Quebec Chair of the Royal Academy of Belgium in 2020 and elected a member of the College of Emerging Researchers and Creators in Art and Science of the Royal Society of Canada in 2022. In 2024, he was named one of the 100 most influential people in Quebec by the magazine L’Actualité.
Jérôme Dupras holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a Ph.D. in geography from the Université de Montréal. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Biology at McGill University. In 2015, he received the Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal for his doctoral dissertation on the economic valuation of ecosystem services in the Montréal region.
In addition to his scientific work, Jérôme Dupras is also known as a member and founder of the band Les Cowboys Fringants.
Mandates
The mandates of the Chief Scientist of Québec are:
- To advise the ministre de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie on matters pertaining to the development of research and science in Québec;
- To foster the excellence, position and influence of Québec research in Canada and internationally, especially through partnership development;
- To chair the boards of directors of each of the three Québec research Funds, and coordinate issues of common concern and the development of cross-sectoral research;
- To administer the human, material, financial and information resources of the three Funds;
- To promote careers in research and scientific culture.