After his studies in biology, completing his Bachelor of Science in 1980, and Master of Science in 1984, Yvan worked as a naturalist in provincial and federal parks, spending months in bird colonies in eastern Canada. He later took on the role of environmental project manager and travelled extensively in northern Canada, including in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, and along the coasts of James Bay and Hudson Bay, where he collaborated with local Indigenous groups (Cree, Inuvialuit, Inuit, Dene, Tli-Cho, and Innu).
Passionate about the northern latitudes, Yvan loves to speak about seabirds (the auk family and eider ducks are particular favourites) and nordicity: the widely encompassing definition of what “the North” really means, including concepts from both physical and human geography.
Yvan has published over fifty articles on birds, the Arctic regions, and environmental remediation projects. He’s acted as a scientific advisor for the esteemed film director Jean-Louis Frund, in the production of his documentary films on seabirds. Yvan grew up in Québec City and now lives in Montréal with his spouse Lisa Koperqualuk, who is an Inuk from Puvirnituq, Nunavik.