Terri Lacourse, University of Victoria

Research

Read how they describe their research on their University of Victoria profile.

Palynology and paleoecology Late Quaternary vegetation dynamics of western North America Wetland succession and peatland carbon accumulation Temperate rainforest ecology Life history theory and biogeography Multivariate statistics

Latest papers

Tipping Points in Bacterial Richness Amplify Extracellular Enzyme Activities in Northern Peatlands.
Global change biology · 2026
Widespread global peatland establishment and persistence over the last 130,000 y.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019
Environmental change controls postglacial forest dynamics through interspecific differences in life-history traits.
Ecology · 2009 · first author

All 3 publications

Latest funding

Impacts of Paleoclimatic Change and Disturbance on Past Ecosystem Dynamics and Peatland Carbon Accumulation
NSERC · 2020 · Principal investigator
$108,000
Postglacial Climate Change, Paleoecological Dynamics and Carbon Accumulation in Pacific Canada
NSERC · 2013 · Principal investigator
$135,000
Microscopes for paleoecological and paleoclimatic research
NSERC · 2007 · Principal investigator
$35,462

All 4 grants and awards

3 publications.

01

Tipping Points in Bacterial Richness Amplify Extracellular Enzyme Activities in Northern Peatlands.

Jassey VEJ, Lafont Rapnouil T, Le Geay M, Walcker R, Gandois L, Barret M, Fanin N, Robroek BJM, Lauga B, Andrews LO, Greuza AB, Bakker MR, Bertrand G, Birkwald T, Borges PAV, Branfireun B, Brearley FQ, Brousseau C, Bu ZJ, Carrias JF, Coffinet S, Corbarra B, Dias EMF, Dorrepaal E, Francez AJ, Fu Y, Gabriel M, Gabriel R, Gerin S, Gilbert D, Gogo S, Granath G, Gray E, Heffernan L, Heger TJ, Juutinen S, Kardol P, Karofeld E, Klimkowska A, Küttim M, Küttim L, Kuuri-Riutta O, Lacourse T, Lamentowicz M, Le Roux G, Lindo Z, Mackenzie R, Marcisz K, Mazei YA, Mazei NG, Mendes CMF, Mitchell EAD, Mora-Gomez J, Müller R, Pouliot K, Purre AH, Quaiser A, Río BR, Rober AR, Rochefort L, Rodríguez AC, Sannel ABK, Seemann F, Servière L, Strack M, Swindles GT, Talbot J, Tsyganov AN, Tuittila ES, Tveit AT, Väliranta MM, Wyatt KH, Ylänne H, Yu Z, Zarov EA, Hamard S

Global change biology2026

DOI: 10.1111/gcb.71099 PMID: 42755168

02

Widespread global peatland establishment and persistence over the last 130,000 y.

Treat CC, Kleinen T, Broothaerts N, Dalton AS, Dommain R, Douglas TA, Drexler JZ, Finkelstein SA, Grosse G, Hope G, Hutchings J, Jones MC, Kuhry P, Lacourse T, Lähteenoja O, Loisel J, Notebaert B, Payne RJ, Peteet DM, Sannel ABK, Stelling JM, Strauss J, Swindles GT, Talbot J, Tarnocai C, Verstraeten G, Williams CJ, Xia Z, Yu Z, Väliranta M, Hättestrand M, Alexanderson H, Brovkin V

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2019

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1813305116 PMID: 30804186

03

Environmental change controls postglacial forest dynamics through interspecific differences in life-history traits.

Lacourse T

Ecology2009First author

DOI: 10.1890/08-1136.1 PMID: 19739377

Impacts of Paleoclimatic Change and Disturbance on Past Ecosystem Dynamics and Peatland Carbon Accumulation

Principal investigatorNSERC2020Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Lacourse, Terri

Keywords: disturbance; fire frequency; fossil pollen analysis; lake sediments; long-term carbon accumulation; multi-proxy paleoenvironmental records; paleoclimate; paleoecology; paleoforests; peatlands

$108,000

Postglacial Climate Change, Paleoecological Dynamics and Carbon Accumulation in Pacific Canada

Principal investigatorNSERC2013Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Lacourse, Terri

$135,000

Microscopes for paleoecological and paleoclimatic research

Principal investigatorNSERC2007Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Principal investigators: Lacourse, Terri

$35,462

Late quaternary paleoecology and paleoclimatology of the Pacific Coast of Canada

Principal investigatorNSERC2007Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Lacourse, Terri

$116,300

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Biology
Géographie
Département de phytologie
Geography and Environmental Management

Co-authors at University of Victoria, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Maria Strack

Geography and Environmental Management

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Julie Talbot

Géographie

1 shared papers, latest 2019

Line Rochefort

Département de phytologie

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Write to this professor

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Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their NSERC grant from 2020

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Palynology and paleoecology Dear Professor Lacourse, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Tipping Points in Bacterial Richness Amplify Extracellular Enzyme Activities in Northern Peatlands." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your NSERC-funded project "Impacts of Paleoclimatic Change and Disturbance on Past Ecosystem Dynamics and Peatland Carbon Accumulation" (2020), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]