Dr. A. Gosselin (Canada) receives Lionel-Boulet Prize
Photo: Mr. Clement Gignac, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade of the Quebec Government, presenting the Prix Lionel-Boulet to Dr. André Gosselin. Photo by courtesy of Rémi Boily.
The highest distinction granted by the Gouvernement du Québec for industrial research and development, the Prix Lionel-Boulet, this year goes to horticulturist André Gosselin.
Twenty-five years ago, all the tomatoes and lettuce consumed during the winter in Québec were imported. The strawberry season was limited to the beginning of summer. Thanks to the work of Professor André Gosselin and the dynamism he instilled in Québec horticultural research, things have changed.
After obtaining a Ph.D. in Horticulture and Plant Biology from Université Laval, André Gosselin was appointed a Professor at that university in 1984. His primary objective was to liberate market gardeners from the rigours of winter so that they could compete with foreign producers. With several partners, including Hydro-Québec, André Gosselin developed a photosynthetic lighting technology for greenhouses, allowing cultivation of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce or peppers in all seasons. This technique was promptly adopted by many businesses in Québec, as well as in Scandinavia, the United States, France and Belgium. Without abandoning his laboratory, the researcher became an entrepreneur. In 1989, with help from his family, he founded Les serres du Saint-Laurent, which enjoyed a resounding commercial success with its greenhouse tomatoes sold under the Savoura brand. Today, the company generates $35 million in sales, employs 350 people and produces over 220 tonnes of tomatoes a week.
André Gosselin also developed continuous strawberry production, allowing harvesting from June to September. About twenty businesses now grow this type of strawberry in Québec, including Les Fraises de l’Île d’Orléans, founded by the researcher and his family in 1979. He also developed the world’s first nutraceutical strawberry and raspberry plants, containing a record antioxidant level. In 2006, the Professor created a new company, Nutra Canada, to commercialize extracts from these berries, and from vegetables and medicinal plants.
André Gosselin has also worked on improving horticultural practices to reduce their environmental impact. With his colleague Serge Yelle, he invented a deinking residue reclamation technology for the Daishowa paper mill in Québec. His results persuaded even the most reluctant observers that there is no danger spreading these composted residues in the fields. This technique subsequently was adopted by several other paper mills.
In 1989, André Gosselin founded the Centre de recherches en horticulture of Université Laval, which now has 150 members. As Director of the Department of Phytology and then as Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences from 1995 to 1998, he was responsible for the creation of the Institute of Nutraceutics and Functional Foods (INAF), Canada’s research leader in this field. The Professor is also the father of the Envirotron, the Université Laval pavilion built in 1993 at a cost of $12 million, and one of the co-founders in 1997 of Les Floralies internationales de Québec, an event that has proven to be a great tourism and horticultural success.
André Gosselin has published about 150 scientific articles and delivered 300 lectures around the world, in addition to advising several major corporations. A greatly appreciated professor, he has supervised more than 80 graduate students. In 1999, he was the first Francophone Quebecer to receive the title of Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science.
Posted: January 8th, 2010 under Announcements.