Who are we ?

Who are we ?

We're a multidisciplinary team coordinated by Jean! Although many of us have different specializations, we make sure that everyone can observe, learn and get involved in most of the team's activities. For the VITIREPERE-PNPP project, we are divided into two main parts: one part of the team works mainly on developing biological knowledge concerning vine health, notably on plots undergoing redesign and by analyzing plants grown according to biodynamic and conventional practices. These experiments are taking place on plots in Alsace, which we have been monitoring for several years and which we are continuing to study for this project. Mireille, Carine, Isabelle, Jean and Fannie are the main members of the team working on this aspect. The second component is the one deployed on a national scale: we are investigating the practices, discourses and contexts concerning PNPPs, whether correlated with biodynamics or not, among winegrowers in the various French winegrowing regions. Ombeline, Lucas, Maxime, Jean and Mireille are working on this project.

Photo-Jean Masson

Jean E. Masson Research Director
After a professional career in genetics and biology, focusing on crops such as potatoes, Arabidopsis, corn, and beets, as well as management, in France, Switzerland, and a few stays in the USA, my thoughts and directions changed in the 2000s. Taking into account the real economic, social, and environmental challenges, particularly in viticulture, requires breaking free from the constraints of existing systems. As Edgar Morin said, "The time for denunciation has passed, the time for enunciation is here!" We have chosen to change the way we conduct research by building a different and shared path, in which the experiential knowledge of winegrowers plays a key role. The social sciences, biological sciences, and agronomy are intertwined at every moment, to the extent that disagreements among stakeholders in the industry have become a resource for thinking differently, imagining, and acting in situations of uncertainty: this is the participatory action research approach of REPERE.

 

Photo-Mireille-Perrin

Mireille Perrin – Engineering Assistant
In good health with plants. Passionate about plants and their powerful healing powers since forever, I enthusiastically contributed to the development of this project. Involved since 2014 in participatory research projects related to vine health in a laboratory open to external stakeholders, over several years and with a large number of samples collected from vineyards, I will now participate in the study of plots undergoing practice redesign. At what point do the vine's natural defenses change when the winegrower changes practices? I will do everything I can to answer this question!

 

Photo-Ombeline

Ombeline Brunois – Research Engineer
I grew up exploring the paths of Savoie, but even though my valley is the most beautiful in the world, I quickly wanted to go elsewhere! After a journey through philosophy, economics, and environmental management, it was rather obvious that I would end up working on an interdisciplinary project! I know about agriculture! Three months planting an orchard in the middle of the bush in Ivory Coast, and six months in New Delhi producing vegetables using permaculture! The vine represents a new challenge for me, a new way of approaching agriculture. I have met over 60 winegrowers as of today, each with a different vision of the plant and the cultivation system. It's fascinating! I can't wait to get involved and participate in a harvest.

 

Photo-Isabelle-Soustre-Gacougnolle

Isabelle Soustre-Gacougnolle – Associate Professor
I am a teacher-researcher at the University. My career started with wine and oenological yeasts, and eventually led me to the vineyards. Returning to the origins of wine also means being interested in the men and women who make it and cultivate their vineyards. For me, VITIREPERE is about sharing, enriching, and progressing together towards sustainable viticulture that cares about the environment.

 

 

 

Photo Maxime

Maxime Madouas - Research Engineer
Engaged since October 2020 in a hybrid thesis that combines the philosophy of science, social sciences, agronomy, and biology, I am working on the question: "Participatory research in the environmental field: another science?" At the intersection of participatory research and epistemology, I am part of the Participatory Research and Vine Health group at INRAe in Colmar and the Henri Poincaré Archives at the University of Strasbourg. "Illusions fall one after another, like the peels of a fruit, and the fruit is experience." - Gérard de Nerval

 

Photo-Carine-Schmitt

Carine Schmitt – Research Technician
As a technician on the team, I am fully committed to the question raised by this participatory project. We must understand and reflect in order to improve vine growing practices with winegrowers and take action towards more responsible treatments that respect the environment and its fauna and flora. I contribute to this through my technical skills, including sampling plant material and physiological measurements in the vineyard, followed by vine leaf grinding and RNA extractions for the study of gene expression related to vine defense.

 

Modification date : 29 November 2023 | Publication date : 28 February 2023 | Redactor : VITIREPERE-PNPP Team