Scientific Director + Diving Safety Officer
Jeffrey Gallant, M.Sc., is the Scientific Director of the St. Lawrence Shark Observatory (ORS), President of the Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group (GEERG), and a college teacher at CEGEP de Drummondville. His research interests include historical shark distribution, underwater acoustics, and how physical variables and climate change influence the movement and behaviour of sharks in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Jeffrey started diving with the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets in 1982. Among other accomplishments, he was trained as an aquanaut (underwater habitat operations) in Romania in 1995, he dove with Équipe Cousteau in 1999, he co-led the first shark cage dives in Canada, and he is a licensed captain. Although most of his research and diving activities focus on the St. Lawrence, Jeffrey has also served as a scientific adviser and dive leader on expeditions and fact-finding missions in Labrador, Nunavut, Iceland, Greenland and Ghana. An award-winning underwater photographer and videographer, Jeffrey has contributed to several dive publications, books, as well as television and film documentaries on sharks and diving. Jeffrey is the Editor-in-Chief of the Diving Almanac and Book of Records, which he first published in 2006, and he has been a contributing editor of Vancouver-based DIVER Magazine since 1997. Jeffrey was elected a Fellow of the Explorers Club in 2010, and he was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his contributions to underwater science and exploration in 2012. He was spokesperson for the Montreal Science Center in 2013. The CCID elected Jeffrey as an Ambassador of the City of Drummondville in 2014, and he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Drummondville in 2020.

Associate Director of Research — Sharks
Thomas Leszkiewicz, B.Sc., is a marine biologist specializing in sharks. Thomas is also the founding Director of Sherwood Scuba Marine Conservation.

Associate Director of Research — Marine Mammals & Biodiversity
Lyne Morissette, Ph.D., is a marine biologist and conservationist specialized in marine mammal ecology and ecosystem biodiversity. Lyne’s research interests with ORS include shark and marine mammal interactions as well as mitigating the adverse effects of acoustic attractants. Lyne is the CEO of M – Expertise Marine, a consulting firm on marine science and scientific communication. Among her many ongoing contributions to science and sustainable development, Lyne is a highly respected mediator between traditionally conflicting stakeholders including ocean fisheries, whaling, shipping and conservation. She is also an author, public speaker, and a presenter on radio and television. She has conducted research around the world including Canada, the Caribbean, Africa and Scandinavia where she used to teach at the University of Tromsø.

Diver-in-Charge
With his half-century of experience in the fields of diving, boating and first aid, Paul Boissinot is a highly respected expert as well as an outstanding trainer. Paul became a diving instructor in 1973 and has since trained hundreds of divers. He was a diving commentator for the TVA television network in 1979, as well as on several other shows on TVA, CKMI, TQS and radio. He has worked as a consultant on numerous occasions, as an expert in scuba diving as well as an expert-witness during coroner enquiries. He was invited to the International Festival of the Underwater Images in Antibes-Juan-les-Pins for the Year of Canada, and as a speaker at several national and international events.

From 1985 to 1998, he was founding president of Productions Atlan Inc., a manufacturer of isothermal clothing. From 1998 to 2001, he was Vice-President and Sales Manager for Eastern Canada. He has been training technicians in visual cylinder inspection since 2000, and he became an international instructor for Professional Scuba Inspector (PSI) in 2002. Paul is also a DAN (Divers Alert Network) Oxygen Provider instructor as well as a DAN instructor trainer since January 2004.

Paul has been the President of the FQAS since September 2005 and he was the Diving Safety Officer of the Aquarium du Québec from 2003 to 2019. He has also been a member (SVOP and RHIOT) of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary (Québec) since 2013, and a CCGA instructor since 2015. He was commander of the Québec unit from 2016 to 2020.

Engineering Consultant
Marc-André Gaudreau, ing. Ph.D., is a professor of mechanical engineering and a researcher in acoustics at l’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (campus Drummondville). In addition to designing and building various devices and parts for our research activities, Marc-André is a member of our dive team.

Director of Public Outreach
Paul is a retired principal of a trade school located in Drummondville, Quebec. He was part of the team that designed and built GEERG’s shark observation cage in 1999, and he was a key player in the acquisition and modernisation of our flagship research vessel, the Skalugsuak. Paul is also the project coordinator for our Saint-François watershed project, which was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accounting
Patsy has been our accountant and master administrator since GEERG was founded in 2003. Patsy is also an associate editor and researcher for the Diving Almanac & Book of Records.

Artist-in-Residence
Jean-Louis is a prolific artist, writer, and photographer who finds his inspiration while diving. He is the founder and Director of CIEL | Centre d’Interpretation des Eaux Laurentiennes (Laurentian Waters Interpretation Center), and of Aquadelic.

Administration
President: Jeffrey Gallant
Secretary: Paul Lemay
Treasurer: Paul Boissinot