Know more

Batiment ISPA, la Grande Ferrade, 71 avenue Edouard Bourlaux, 33140 Villenave-d’Ornon
Mail : alois.fournier@inrae.fr

Career

I initially trained as an optics/digital engineer at the Institut d'Optique Graduate School - SupOptique, which I eventually specialised in "climate - energy" at the Norwegian University NTNU. Convinced that agriculture was a cornerstone of sustainability, I went on to complete a Master 1 in agronomy, followed by a Master 2 in soil science at AgroParisTech (specializing in Soil Management and Ecosystem Services). I first had some experience (internship and job) in the Chambers of Agriculture (Gironde and Aude) on vineyard soil management before starting this thesis at ISPA.

Research and skills

I arrived at the beginning of December 2023, and my thesis concerns the water and mineral nutrition of plants in agroforestry plots of field crops. I am supervised by Lionel Jordan-Meille and Pietro Barbieri, but also supported by Mark Bakker and Marie Charru. Our field of study is a network of plots on farmers' farms in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region (mainly in Charente-Maritime, Charente and Deux-Sèvres). Two questions arise, as there are few scientific references on agroforestry in the oceanic climate of Nouvelle-Aquitaine: Which water and mineral interactions between trees and crops predominate? In what way do these interactions depend on the pedological context or the different tree species planted? How do these interactions contribute to the agronomic performance of the agroforestry system?