Alexandre Poulain

Alexandre Poulain is a Full Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Ottawa and Vice Dean for Research and Infrastructure in the Faculty of Science. His multidisciplinary research bridges biogeochemistry, microbial physiology, and environmental toxicology.

• Education: B.Sc. (Angers, France), M.Sc. (INRS, Canada), Ph.D. (Université de Montréal, Canada), Postdoc (MIT, USA)
• Research Interests: Mercury cycling in Arctic and temperate ecosystems, microbial metal transformations, biosensor development for contaminants, redox reaction dynamics, bioremediation using environmental microbes, and mercury-organic matter interactions.

His lab (2017-2025) has produced 15 recent publications on mercury biogeochemistry in oil sands, rice paddies, and Arctic lakes, alongside arsenic speciation studies and pesticide impacts on pollinators. Current students explore archaeal mercury regulators, acidothermophilic biosensors, and microbial remediation.

Scientific contributions include:

• NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2007-2009)
• Co-PI on Microbright, a startup commercializing microbial water treatment
• Developed portable arsenic biosensor tested in Cambodia
• Co-edited mercury-climate synthesis in Nature Communications