2026 NOHEIC Symposium

Didn't have time to register? NOHEIC invites you to contact its team to explore last-minute options. onicse@uqat.ca

Here are a few options available to everyone:

• Attend the scientific presentations remotely on Monday, May 25;
• Take part in events open to the public:
  • Public lectures on Sunday, May 24, Monday, May 25, and Tuesday, May 26, at 4:00 p.m.;
  • Scientific poster session on Tuesday, May 26, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.

The rooms reserved at the Albert Hotel for the duration of the symposium is fully booked.

Didn’t have time to book a hotel room? NOHEIC invites you to contact its team to explore last-minute options. onicse@uqat.ca 

Carpooling is strongly encouraged, both to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to foster interaction among participants. To facilitate carpool matching, the “NOHEIC Symposium” event was recently created on the Togetzer online platform, which allows users to offer or request a ride to Rouyn-Noranda.

NOHEIC would like to thank everyone who submitted a proposal for an oral presentation at the conference. The schedule is now full.

It is still possible to submit a poster presentation. You have until Thursday, April 30, to submit your poster proposals to onicse@uqat.ca. The proposal must include:

• the title;
• the authors’ names and their affiliations;
• an abstract of no more than 1,500 characters.

(Note: The poster may be presented even if the authors are not present at the conference.)

Note: Schedule translated by artificial intelligence. The French version prevails in the event of any discrepancy between the two versions.

FGMAT: Festival des guitares du monde en Abitibi-Témiscamingue

Sunday, May 24
4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. Keynote Address, FGMAT Outdoor scene | Yves Gingras (UQAM) “Science, Media, and Politics”

5:00 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Free music performance, FGMAT outdoor scene

5:45 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Opening cocktail reception

Monday, May 25: Scientific presentations
8:15 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. Welcome and registration

Session 1 – Living with Pollution
8:45 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Oscar Labra, Fatiha Ikherbouchen, Ndeye Adama Ndiaye, Guerdie Bonhomme (UQAT) “Presentation of the research project: Contamination and Global Health (SSHRC 2025–2029)”

9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Kathleen Baldwin (VVSRN) “Healthy Cities and Villages: 40 Years of Collaboration”

9:15 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Mireille Roy-Mercier (UQAT-LASERN) “Improving the dialogue between government, science, society, and business regarding industrial contaminants”

9:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. Jessica Riggi (UQAM) “Combating Mining Pollution in Abitibi-Témiscamingue: The Case of the CPERN and the Horne Smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, 1977–1990”

9:45 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Laurie Gagnon-Bouchard (University of Ottawa) “Environmental violence in Rouyn-Noranda: between latent and actualized violence”

10:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Question period

Session 2 – Characterizing Atmospheric Contaminants
10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Patrick Hayes, Emmet Norris (University of Montreal) “Source-receptor modeling of industrial emissions of metals and metalloids in Rouyn-Noranda”

11:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Marie-Pier Joncas Reid (University of Montreal) “Variation in concentrations of metals and metalloids in atmospheric particles according to their size”

11:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Aaron Goodman, Trystan Gagné, Kevin J. Wilkinson (University of Montreal) “Rapid sampling and characterization of arsenic and lead particles in the air in Rouyn-Noranda”

11:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Question period

Lunch break
12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. Free music performance, FGMAT outdoor scene

Session 3 – Soil Contamination: From Monitoring to Management
1:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. Audrey Houde-Forget (University of Montreal) “Eating Local, but Contaminated? Contamination of Urban Gardens Near Rio Tinto Facilities”

1:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Josué Jautzy (CGC) “An invisible legacy: how legacy contaminants still circulate in the environment”

1:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Émilie Robert and Selma Etteieb (CTRI) “Technological developments for the management and reduction of metal contamination”

1:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Angana Kuri and Nicole Fenton (UQAT) “Microbial diversity in soils of rock outcrops along spatial gradients from the Horne Smelter, Rouyn-Noranda”

2:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Question period

Session 4 – Contamination in Different Environments 
2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Thibault Dewitte (University of Montreal) “Metals and Rare Earth Elements in the Diet in Mining Regions: Initial Results from Rouyn-Noranda”

3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Antonin Landa (UQAM) “Polymetallic contamination in various fish species from the Rouyn-Noranda region: liver concentrations and toxicological and biochemical effects”

3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Ernest-Louli Tewfik (INRS), Émilie Robert, Maryse F. Bouchard “Metal contamination in residential areas in Rouyn-Noranda: a citizen science study on snow and indoor dust in relation to proximity to the Horne Smelter”

3:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. Question period

End of the day
4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. Main conference, FGMAT outdoor site | Chantal Pouliot (Laval University) “Learning from controversies: the role of academic freedom”

5:00 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Free music performance, FGMAT outdoor scene

5:15 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Historical walk through Old Noranda (Registration required, limited spaces)

7:00 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. Screening of the play “Fondre” (Registration required, limited seating)

Tuesday, May 26: New scientific research and literature on pollution
8:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Scientific poster session

Session 5: Tomorrow’s research, today: the PRÉCISE call
10:30 a.m. – 10:55 a.m. Manon Pelletier and Sandy Lalonde (FRQ) Announcement of the projects selected under the PRÉCISE call for proposals from the Fonds de recherche du Québec, in partnership with ONICSE

10:55 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Presentations by the five recipients (10 min each)

Lunch break
12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. Free music performance, FGMAT outdoor scene

Panel Discussion – “Literature and Science: The Art of Telling Stories About Pollution”
1:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Introduction of panelists and background context

1:30 p.m. – 1:40 p.m. Gabrielle Izaguéré-Falardeau (author) “Arsenic, mon amour”

1:40 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. Jean-Lou David (author) “Arsenic, mon amour”

1:50 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Emmanuelle Jimenez (author) “Play Fondre”

2:00 p.m. – 2:10 p.m. Pierre Céré (author) “Voyage au bout de la mine”

2:10 p.m. – 2:20 p.m. Manon Tourigny (author) “Il était un lac au rat musqué”

2:20 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Marie Noëlle Blais (publisher) Éditions du Quartz

2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. General discussion with the panelists

End of the day
4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. Grand closing conference, FGMAT outdoor site | Biz (Sébastien Fréchette) “The Mythology of the Windigo as a Framework for Analyzing the Contemporary World”

5:00 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Free music performance, FGMAT outdoor scene

6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Ville et villages en santé de Rouyn-Noranda (VVSRN) et ses partenaires, « Vers un dialogue social : entre mobilisation et science, la place des citoyens » (inscription obligatoire, places limitées) 

Healthy Cities and Villages of Rouyn-Noranda (VVSRN) and its partners, “Toward Social Dialogue: Between Mobilization and Science, the Role of Citizens” (registration required, limited seating)