Yvon Le Maho
In partnership with the CNRS
Lecture as part of the Great Decisions program
The Speaker
Since defending his dissertation in 1981, Yvon Le Maho has conducted research on biodiversity, global warming, sustainable development and, of course, the Antarctic.
From 1967 to 1999, he carried out a number of missions on the ground in Antarctica, in Adélie Land, on the Crozet Archipelago (at the Alfred Faure scientific station) and in Norway, among other locations.
He is currently both the deputy director of the Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, where he is responsible for the department of Physical Interactions, Chemistry and Living, and the Vice Chairman of the Biodiversity and Agronomy committee of the Agence Nationale de la Recherche [National Agency for Research].
Yvon Le Maho is also a member of the Conseil des programmes Scientifiques et Technologiques de l’Institut Polaire (IPEV) [Council of Scientific and Technological Programs at the Institut Polaire], Chairman of the Conseil scientifique du patrimoine naturel et de la biodiversité [Scientific Council of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity] and Chairman of the Committee on the Polar Environment, for which he is regularly consulted by the Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development.
As a member of the Académie Nationale de Pharmacie [National Pharmacy Academy] and Vice Chairman of the committee on the environment of the Académies des Sciences [Academy of Sciences], Yvon Le Maho has been responsible for the curriculum unit “Expertise Scientifique et Décision Publique” [Scientific Expertise and Public Decision-Making] at the Ecole Nationale d’Administration since 2005.
He has published more than 160 articles in reviews with international readerships, such as the American Journal of Physiology, Nature, Proceedings of the Royal Society, London and has completed assessment work for the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Canadian Environmental Research Council, and the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council.
Yvon Le Maho has participated in more than a hundred international meetings. In 2005, he presided over the workshop entitled “For an Integrated Approach to Biodiversity” as part of the international conference, “Biodiversity, Science and Governance,” which was jointly organized by UNESCO director Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura and Mr. Jacques Chirac.
In 2001, he participated as a scientific counselor in the production of the Luc Jacquet film “Le peuple migrateur” [Migratory People]. He is currently working on the production of a new feature-length film, “Les Océans” [The Oceans] by Jacques Perrin, which will be released in October 2009.
Yvon Le Maho is Chevalier dans l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur [Knight in the National Order of the Legion of Honor]
The Lecture
How Penguins can face with Environmental Constraint and Climate Change?
As the exceptional success of the film La Marche de l’Empereur [March of the Penguins] has shown, the severe environmental constraints that Antarctic penguins are subjected to, notably the emperor penguin, are a source of great fascination for audiences the world over.
These constraints are actually extreme for man but the emperor penguin is, by comparison, remarkably well adapted to them. While it would be extreme for an emperor penguin to be exposed to a temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit, for us, of course, it is quite comfortable.
While most people believe that emperor penguins snuggle up to each other for days or weeks at a time, the latest research has shown that, in fact, they separate after only forty-five minutes when the temperature of the ambient air surrounding them reaches over 100 degrees Fahrenheit!
The long marches of the emperor penguins on the ice banks are certainly impressive at first glance but the suggestion that it would be better for them if the ice bank weren’t nearly so long doesn’t stand up to analysis, as krill reproduce in proximity to sea ice, therefore less ice bank translates into insufficient food for them.
The goal of the lecture, which will focus on the emperor penguin and its closest relative, the royal penguin, is to show which mechanisms of adaptation allow them to confront the cold and the constantly changing climatic conditions. In particular, the impact of global warming on the penguins’ survival and their continued ability to reproduce will be considered as an indicator of the effect which the climate change predicted by climatologists could have on the resources of the southern ocean.
Link to interviews of Yvon Le Maho:
http://www.wat.tv/video/yvon-maho-directeur-recherches-emge_ebnr_.html
http://www.lemonde.fr/savoirs-et-connaissances/article/2002/10/21/
yvon-le-maho-les-oiseaux-face-aux-contraintes-energetiques_295034_3328.html
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