Meet Marianne Falardeau
Marianne Falardeau has earned her PhD in Natural Resource Sciences from McGill University. She is currently a Postdoctoral fellow at the Université Laval. In her free time, Marianne enjoys the outdoors, so many of her hobbies revolve around being in nature, such as trail running, backcountry snowboarding, and scuba diving. She also teaches and does yoga. Marianne is an avid reader and she likes to take photographs and create short films. Overall, as a very curious person, Marianne loves to experience new activities, meet new people, and discover new places!
When did your love of STEM begin?
My love for STEM started when I was a child. I have always been fascinated by the natural world that surrounds us and I spent my childhood exploring the forest close to my house. But it became clear to me that I wanted to be a biologist when I first saw a documentary about Jane Goodall’s work on chimpanzees, when I was about six or seven years old. I was amazed to see a woman in the jungle studying animals. As if I understood that women can also pursue adventurous biology careers. I then started to do my own “biological studies”, such as sampling tiny bugs in the forest, or in the Saint-Lawrence river in front of my house, and observing them under the microscope my parents got me. Since that time, my passion for ecology just kept growing!
What is the best part about working in the field of STEM?
Many parts are amazing! I love going out in the field to interview knowledge holders and collect biological samples, and then to analyze the data that I gathered myself in the field, thinking through their implications and how they fit in the “big picture”. I also enjoy the opportunity to meet and collaborate with a lot of scientists from diverse disciplines and from across Canada and the world. I’m all for interdisciplinary collaboration and I think that diversity spurs innovation and creativity into science.
What advice would you give young women interested in a career in STEM?
Go for it and seek your own path! Look for interesting opportunities to immerse yourself in STEM and try to diversify your experiences in order to get a wide overview of what STEM careers can be. I also suggest discussing with people in different STEM careers to learn more about the type of the science they do, their day-to-day work, and their fieldwork. This can all help you determine the STEM career that you want to pursue. Lastly, mentors are so important. Having inspiring and thoughtful mentors really helped me to thrive and I’m very thankful for their support. As much as possible, try to surround yourself with mentors who believe in you and support you.