I have been working for 2 years to prepare this program on Sustainable development in the Caribbean. We have a group of students from McGill and the Cave Hill campus of the University of West Indies and have a full schedule for the Fall semester. First lectures today, but also some time to get familiar with the local surroundings.

I am very proud of this work which we just published in the journal Scientific Reports.

This paper was long due and summarize the work we have been doing in my lab over the past decade on the emergence of Lyme disease in Quebec. We used our field data to illustrate the dynamics of the LD system, and how the mechanisms driving the prevalence of the pathogen in the ecosystem are distinct depending on the stage of emergence of the disease. LD has only recently begun to emerge in Quebec, while it has long been established south of the border. One can simply not apply the rules of one part of the world to another region. We have had the opportunity to observe in real time the spread of this disease in Quebec, from the early detection until its establishment in the southern regions. This work is important if we are to forecast the pattern and rate of expansion of the disease and future risk under climate warming.

A second paper out last week which means a lot to me.

Kirsten published the manuscript from her MSc research on size variation in mammals, and show how, well, variable it is. Is there any rule? Can we use the present to predict the future response of mammals species to climate warming? I was a strong advocate of this ever since graduate school, and Link and I published a review on this 15 years ago in the journal Ecology Letters. We are back this time with a large dataset Kirsten collected from museum collections for 17 species in North America. The more we look into it, the more exceptions to the rules we find. Van Valen in 1973 wrote that "we do not understand why mammals have the size they do". I should have listened better!