Our team

Appointed by the Board of Directors, the General Manager acts in the capacity of SOPFIM’s chief officer for management and administration and oversees the organization’s business. Under the authority of the Board Chair and following the instructions of the Board of Directors, the General Manager assumes complete responsibility for all work and projects undertaken by SOPFIM. He is mandated to provide the various divisions with the human, technical and financial resources required to carry out the organization’s projects. This management framework provides a basis for implementing projects in accordance with SOPFIM’S environmental policy. The General Manager also ensures that the organization is represented on various committees and at different events. He also promotes different communication activities concerning forest protection programs.

The mission of the Administrative Services Division is to support the other units and divisions of SOPFIM regarding the management of human, material and financial resources. This division is also responsible for the operation and integrity of the computer system. In addition, it is charged with updating and implementing various internal policies. Furthermore, it oversees the coordination of annual and special budgets as well as follow-up on these budgets. It prepares the various financial statements and counsels the General Manager’s Office on the directions to be adopted regarding finances. Thanks to the rigor of its staff, this division is also responsible for managing several major contracts.

Under the supervision of the General Manager, SOPFIM’s communications officer is charged with providing information to stakeholders concerning protection programs or any other project conducted by the organization. She draws on her expertise to plan and oversee the implementation of a communications plan that has been approved by the General Manager’s office. Also in relation to protection programs, she performs a variety of tasks, including publishing press releases and different notices, holding personalized meetings in order to keep stakeholders informed, managing complaints, promoting SOPFIM’s activities, and participating in various information days for school groups. She is also responsible for publishing the newsletter known as “Emergence” and updating SOPFIM’s Website.

The Operations Division is responsible for carrying out the protection programs and, in this capacity, it plans operations in terms of the required quantities of insecticide, aircraft, employees and equipment. It develops budgets and manages the various contracts under its responsibility. In collaboration with the Geomatics Unit, it converts the treatment prescriptions produced by the Survey Unit into sectors targeted for treatment and lays the groundwork for GPS missions. It performs these tasks in such a way as to both ensure the safety of pilots and optimize operations, logistically and financially. At the start of a program, Operations is charged with setting up the centres of operation and checking the various equipment and aircraft to make sure they comply with all applicable standards and regulations. While a program is being conducted, it optimizes the logistics of operations not only at the various centres of operation but also in the air. In the performance of this work, the division is able to rely on a team of experienced foremen and seasoned aerial monitors. It thus monitors the progress of operations in terms of areas treated and the litres of products used. It also ensures optimal calibration of the various types of aircraft used so as to reduce operational costs and to improve results in the field. Its participation in various knowledge acquisition projects is also elicited. Thanks to the employees of this division, SOPFIM enjoys recognized expertise in the area of aerial insecticide spraying for forest protection purposes.

The Forestry and Environment Division coordinates the work performed by all of SOPFIM’s units. It ensures that units keep to the main directions, meet budgets and successfully conduct the various projects entrusted to them. In addition to performing this management task, it works jointly with the Survey Unit on planning, coordinating and evaluating the efficacy of the treatments applied during forest protection programs. It draws on its recognized forest protection experience to analyze and propose effective pest control strategies in accordance with the socioeconomic realities of the regions concerned. In its capacity as a specialist in forestry and the protection of forests from insects and diseases, it provides advice to stakeholders concerning forest pests. It also represents SOPFIM on various expert panels and task forces. In relation to the mission, assignments and interests of SOPFIM and the organization’s partners and/or partners’ representatives, the Division plans and, where required, carries out strategic knowledge acquisition projects and disseminates the results among the various clienteles concerned by the health of forests.

The Entomology Service plays a scientific role in efforts to control insect pests, which can pose a threat to forests, human health and agriculture. This unit is responsible for acquiring knowledge pertaining to various entomological problems and, particularly, new approaches to pest control. Thanks to this unit, SOPFIM is able to implement effective biological control measures to reduce the impacts of pests. Recognized in the community for its scientific rigor, innovative ideas and entomological knowledge, the staff of this unit is called on to work on various projects and respond to different requests for information from SOPFIM’s members.

The main responsibility of this unit is to ensure that SOPFIM is able to carry out its mission in the fullest respect of the environment. It plays a vital role in the planning and implementation of forest protection programs in terms of evaluating and managing the environmental aspects of operations. It also guarantees SOPFIM’s compliance with environmental regulations and sees to obtaining all the required permits and authorizations. Thanks to this unit, SOPFIM possesses solid experience in the environmental monitoring and follow-up of pesticide application programs, and more specifically in relation to the behaviour of the organic pesticides Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki and subsp. israelensis in the environment. This unit is also responsible for managing and maintaining SOPFIM’S registration with the ISO 14001 environmental certification. As workplace health and safety are an important concern of SOPFIM’s, the Environment Unit has been charged with coordinating efforts to prevent work-related accidents among its various teams.

The Microbiology Unit contributes vital expertise throughout the year in relation to anti-pest protection programs. This unit is responsible for performing the bioassays used to verify the insecticidal potency of the products used. Thanks to this unit, SOPFIM possesses a solid body of expertise in the evaluation of different insecticide formulations. Another of its responsibilities consists in ensuring that the products used are free of microcontaminants having a pathogenic effect on human health. The Microbiology Unit also performs various diagnostics on water and soil samples that are gathered during the environmental follow-up performed as part of forest protection programs. To aid it in fulfilling its mission, the unit has been provided with a laboratory fitted out with leading-edge technology. Thanks to its sampling experience, the employees of this unit are often called on to collaborate on various projects involving the calibration of aircraft or the acquisition of knowledge pertaining to techniques for optimizing the deposition of insecticide.

Within the framework of a protection program, the Geomatics Unit is involved from the planning stage until the production of final reports. As such, it provides support to all the other units of SOPFIM, using leading-edge solutions to process, integrate and publish digital, georeferenced data. Furthermore, it makes sure that spatially referenced data is made available to all projects undertaken by SOPFIM. This unit has developed a recognized body of expertise in relation to complex queries and the integration of layered digital data – including updates of areas qualifying for aerial spray programs, treatment prescriptions, various sample designs, the creation of spray blocks, the integration of sensitive areas or other exclusions, as well as the creation of flight lines and GPS missions. The Geomatics Unit is thus a vital component of SOPFIM in the effective planning, implementation and analysis of a forest protection program.

As the outfit responsible for updating the areas qualifying for forest protection programs, the Survey Unit possesses solid forestry-related experience and singularly in-depth knowledge of the territory. This unit plays a key role in the planning, implementation and analysis of protection programs. Each year, the employees of this unit prepare the sample designs related to the various field projects and, in addition, carry out air and ground inventories. As a specialist in setting out networks of sample plots, the unit thus performs the sampling required in order to monitor insect populations and their seasonal development. For SOPFIM, this information is essential for synchronizing treatments with the development of an insect pest. During epidemic periods, this unit manages the field laboratories used to analyze the various samples harvested and contributes to the smooth functioning of program operations. To aid it in accomplishing its mission during the summer season, this unit draws on a team of forestry technicians and workers as well as a number of laboratory assistants, including several students.

The Information Technologies Unit enables SOPFIM to stay on the leading edge of technological developments in the field of geomatics as well as internal and external modes of communication. The employees of this unit have leveraged their expertise in programming and the integration of spatial reference tools and data to significantly improve the management of anti-pest forest protection programs. This unit is also responsible for extracting and processing the forest information contained in the database of the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife and, subsequently, for integrating it into the plans surrounding different protection programs. Another strength of this unit consists in developing Web applications.