ALTER- PEOPLE

The Aubert Foundation oversees the Jardin Flore-Alpe in Champex-Lac and the Centre alpien de phytogéographie (CAP). The CAP has been monitoring the evolution of the alpine flora and the forest limit in the context of global warming in the mountains for 30 years. The Jardin Flore-Alpe houses 4000 mountain species, half of which come from the Swiss and Valais Alps. This wealth of flora allows us to communicate on the plant heritage of the mountains and its evolution.

The program “L’aventure des Plantes” by Jean-Marie Pelt and Jean-Pierre Cuny made me discover botany at the age of six. I watched this series without ever understanding everything but always with fascination.
During my biology studies at the University of Lausanne, I discovered plant biogeography. This discipline, at the interface between geography, climatology and ecology, tries to answer this simple but fundamental question: “Why do we find a species here and not elsewhere, and what are the factors that make it successful? At the same time, I got my first internship at the alpine garden of Pont-de-Nant. There I developed an interest in alpine botany and mountain vegetation.
My research projects combine long-term observational data with models to understand and predict the impact of global warming on alpine vegetation above the tree line, and on this line which threatens alpine flora by its progression in altitude.