From Folk Rock to Fundamental Research, Jérôme Dupras Leads Quebec Science

Jérôme Dupras spent much of his twenties touring Quebec and beyond with a bass guitar before becoming one of the province’s leading scientific voices.

In 1997, he joined friends in a band that anonymously released 500 cassettes of its first album that summer. The group later became Les Cowboys Fringants, one of Quebec’s most popular musical acts. Its songs combined humour and nostalgia with sharp observations about Quebec, inequality, identity and the changing environment.

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Touring made me love music, but also really love Quebec, and want to talk about it elsewhere in the world.

“Touring made me love music, but also really love Quebec, and want to talk about it elsewhere in the world,” Dupras said. He pursued science alongside music, studying biochemistry and becoming a researcher focused on biodiversity and ecological economics. In June, he became Quebec’s chief scientist, responsible for advising the government and promoting research at a time when disinformation is spreading.

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combines scientific rigour and creativity.

His musical background now intersects with his public role. “Plus rien,” one of Les Cowboys Fringants’ songs, imagines a future devastated by climate change. “8 secondes” criticizes overconsumption and the environmental costs of modern life. Those themes give Dupras experience communicating scientific and social concerns through popular culture.

Researchers describe that reach as an asset as Quebec prepares to elect a new government this fall. Luc-Alain Giraldeau, director general of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique, said Dupras “combines scientific rigour and creativity.” Sophie Montreuil of the Association francophone pour le savoir called his unusual background “a great strength.”

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a great strength

Dupras succeeded Rémi Quirion, who had held the chief scientist position since its creation in 2011. He said Quebec stands at an “important crossroads” and cannot take its position as a research leader for granted. Politically neutral in his role as chief scientist and head of the Fonds de recherche du Québec, he is watching the election closely. “I’m curious to see what place innovation, research and science will have,” he said. After the Oct. 5 election, his organization plans to brief the incoming government on the sector’s priorities, including the protection of fundamental research, which can take decades.

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I’m curious to see what place innovation, research and science will have.