Yvan Hardy focuses his work on Canadian and international science and policy research with particular emphasis on forestry and natural resources. As a member of the International Resource Panel, he has revised drafts and documents for its Biofuels Working Group. He also coordinated the peer review of the 2011 Recycling Rates of Metals report and participates in the Land and Soil Working Group. Dr Hardy has chaired the Board of the Canadian Carbon Program network set up to promote the understanding of carbon release and sequestration in natural ecosystems. He currently serves on the Board of Genome Canada, a granting agency that supports genomic research in Canadian universities. His current area of investigation is the relationship among climate change, natural disasters and natural resources.
Dr Hardy has held senior level science research and policy leadership positions with the Canadian federal government and in Canadian scientific and research organizations. In addition to his tenure as senior Assistant Deputy Minister and Head of the Canadian Forest Service and as Chief Scientist at Natural Resources Canada, Dr Hardy has served on numerous boards of organizations dealing with forestry, industrial forestry and forest product research, sustainable development, climate change and forest history. Prior to joining the Canadian Federal Government, he was Dean of Forestry and Geomatics at the Université Laval in Canada.
Internationally, Dr Hardy has also worked very closely with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and served two terms on the select FAO Director General's Advisory Committee on Forestry. He has also led the Canadian delegation to the Committee on Forestry (COFO) and was selected as its Chair and Co-Chair over the years. In 2003, Canada was chosen by COFO membership to host the XII World Forest Congress.
Dr Hardy earned his PhD in forest entomology from the New York State College of Forestry and his MSc. in silviculture from the Université Laval. His extensive work in science and forestry has been acknowledged by his peers and he has received a numerous honours and awards, among them the Canadian Forestry Achievement Award from the Canadian Institute of Forestry and an Honorary Doctorate from the Université de Gembloux in Belgium
Contributed to the following reports
-
Recycling Rates of Metals
Recycling rates of metals are far lower than potential for reuse. Less than one-third of 60 studied have a recycling rate above 50 per cent, though many are crucial to clean technologies such as batteries for hybrid cars or magnets in wind turbines.
-
Assessing Biofuels
This report provides a robust assessment of key problems of production and use of biomass for energy purposes and options for more efficient and sustainable production and use of biomass.