Professor of Urban Agronomy
Department of Physical Environment, Landscape Architecture and Territorial Development
Teaching unit: Horticultural and urban soils and substrates
Research unit: Physical Environment of the Horticultural Plant
Academic background
Career
- Since 1998: Assistant professor in Civil engineering for landscaping management, Agrocampus Ouest (Institute for life, food and horticultural sciences and landscaping), Angers Campus, France
- 1990-1998: Head of Works at the National College of applied Science in Horticulture and landscape Works, teaching Civil Engineering for landscaping management.
- 1988-1990: Teacher of soil sciences in Agricultural High School of Luçon-Petré, France
Training
- 2015: Accreditation to supervise research (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches), University of Angers (France), “Agronomic properties of constructed urban soils :structuration and evolution”
- 1998: Ph.D. thesis at ENSAR (National Higher College of Agronomy of Rennes) in Environmental Sciences, “The organization and hydrodynamic behaviour of silty clay loam / peat moss mixtures; mechanical properties under cyclic compression”
- 1991: DEA (Research Master's Degree) in Pedology and Soil sciences at University of Nancy I (France)
- 1988: Engineer diploma in Horticultural Sciences at ENITHP (National College of applied Science in Horticulture and landscape Works, Angers, France).
Teaching
Teaching courses:
- Cartography and Topography (L1 and L2),
- Landscape engineering (M1 major Landscape), Initiation to project engineering (M1),
- Sciences and technics for landscape engineers (M2 Landscape)
- Head of the specialisation "urban vegetated space engineering" M2 Horticulture and Landscape
Teaching topics : Cartography, topography, soil mechanics, earthwork, dimensioning of separated structures as roadway, sciences and technics for landscape engineers
Research topics
My research activities mainly concern Urban Agronomy and Pedology and have as object of study the constructed soils, in order to analyse their physical fertility. My research responds to scientific questions related to the physical, mechanical and biological properties of constructed soils and corresponds to a progression in the study of the different functions of the soils constructed for a finalised research.
My research work is always carried out with a goal of transfer and valorization with the scientific community but also with the public and private developers of the urban space. A decision support tool and a soil preparation guide constructed are the outputs expected in the medium term for the valorization and the transfer of the results.
Key words:
Urban agronomy and Pedology of constructed soils
Urban soils, Technosols, physical properties, hydrodynamic properties, organic matter, poral space organization, image analysis, urban waste recycling.
Research programmes
Current programmes
• Projet URBINAT (2018-23): project funded by the European Commission (H2020). The project aims at the rehabilitation and integration of socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods through the development of corridors based on innovative nature-based solutions. The northern districts of Nantes Métropole are one of the three lead sites of the project. The creation of "healthy corridors" to integrate and enhance green spaces and create innovative solutions should improve cohesion, the economic and social environment and address environmental concerns.
• Projet BISES (2020-25): The aim of this project is to understand the ecology of communities of soil organisms in urban landscapes by taking into account the diversity of uses of vegetated spaces (productive and non-productive) but also as elements forming a network. The project will enable the development of indicators of the biological quality of urban soils which will serve as a basis for diagnosis and advice to guide the choice of environmental measures in the framework of a transition towards sustainable city models (4 model cities: Paris, Nancy, Nantes, Montpellier).
• Projet DESSERT (2020-24): This project is a finalised research for innovation in urban development. Like all research and innovation works in the urban field, DESSERT requires then the acquisition of many new data for the qualification and quantification of the urban waterproofing system. The production of knowledge must make it possible to characterise the initial states and to model the effects of innovative de-waterproofing solutions in terms of operationality (practical guide, training) for urban planning and design. This project aims to develop innovative modes of collaboration between researchers, design offices, landscape and public works companies, town planners and decision-makers in order to imagine, build and evaluate innovative solutions for de-waterproofing the city.
• Projet SITERRE II (2022-25): This project follows on from the SITERRE project and demonstrates high scientific quality with the dual objective of (1) accelerating and structuring the process of reusing urban and industrial waste and waste products for soil construction (for urban greening purposes) and (2) completing knowledge on the evolution and sustainability of soils built after their installation. The SITERRE II project corresponds to operational research since this work must lead to the drafting of a soil construction specification, which will be delivered at the end of the programme, as well as a practical soil construction guide to guide any operator wishing to implement this type of process.
Recently finish programmes
• Projet SITERRE (2011-2015): funded by ADEME and the nine partners involved in the Siterre program. The project was dedicated to the development of pedological engineering for the construction of soils in urban areas with urban wastes. Modeling of aggregation and nutrient transfer processes in constructed Technosols were determined. Book: Damas O., Coulon A., 2016. Créer des sols fertiles : du déchet à la végétalisation urbaine. Editions du Moniteur, Paris.
• Nature 4 Cities (2016-20): project funded by the European Commission (H2020). Nature4Cities aims at developing complementary and interactive modules to engage urban stakeholders in a collective-learning process about renaturing cities, develop and circulate an extensive knowledge base on Natural Based Solution (NBS), new business, financial and governance models for NBS projects, as well as providing tools for the impact assessment, valorization and follow-up of NBS projects. Our aims will be to provide performance assessment of NBS regarding a range of urban challenges by providing definitions of a multi-scalar and cross-thematic sets of urban performance indicators.
• Projet SUPRA (2018-22): project funded by ADEME. The project is designed to meet various scientific and technical objectives with high environmental objectives allowing the efficient management of the urban ecosystem. The project aims to develop an innovative and multidisciplinary approach (mapping, town planning, land use planning, pedology, urban agronomy) to the knowledge of urban soils and the definition of a common reference system for quality indicators of these soils, linked to expected ecosystem services.