Pascal Drouin, Forage Center of Excellence: “Microbiology is a versatile and variable field of research. We open new doors in this area!”

Meet our researcher: Pascal Drouin, Forage Research Manager, Forage Center of Excellence

• Located at the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute,  Chazy, NY, USA
• Ph.D. from Université Laval (Québec, Canada)
• Areas of expertise: Agricultural microbiology, silage fermentation, plant-bacteria symbiosis

 

Pascal, tell us a bit about yourself, your passions, why did you choose to be a researcher?

When I was young, my parents had friends who owned farms, and I loved being there — exploring, looking at the tractors — I spent my summers there and helped as much as I could with work.

So, we can say that my passion for farms has been there from the beginning and has always stuck with me.

I decided to study microbiology with a focus on ecology and the environment. I studied microbial ecology in forages, focusing on production and transformation — which is what I’m still doing now!

On a more private note, what I like is spending time with my family, enjoying nature, and drawing. practice outdoor sports, like cycling, kayaking, and running — but always outdoors. Running on a track is not for me.

 

What is exciting about your job?

What is exciting about working on the forage microbial environment is that our company is leading in terms of acquisition of knowledge in this area. Thanks to our technical teams, all the people that are directly involved in the field, we have solid expertise. It allows me to expand on our strengths and look for new possibilities to bring the company and the research we do to an unequaled level.

Whether performing projects on farms or validating techniques, microbiology is a versatile and variable field of research. What we do is open new doors in this area. We try to understand the role of our inoculants, while also trying to bring something new to the research and to the products from results on microbial ecology and their interactions with the forage.

 

What makes Lallemand Centers of Excellence different?

Coming from the academic world, the difference is the latitude and the ease that we have when conducting research and promoting it with the technical teams — and we do that internally!

Our strength also lies in the fact that we have partnerships with important entities in our different areas of work. We gain great expertise in terms of collaboration, but also locally thanks to these partnerships. For example, the fact that we work with INRAe is a big deal in Europe. Here in the USA, we have an excellent collaboration with the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute, but I’m sure we can go even further in the recognition of our research.