A contagious smile, enthusiasm to spare: Rosanne Chabot loves her work, and it shows. She’s a rural engineer and agronomist. She’s just as comfortable in her pumps at her desk, where she manipulates her topographic software, as she is in her boots doing field surveys on an agricultural farm. To practice this profession, you have to be willing to put your hands in the dirt and walk in the slush.
Rosanne Chabot loves to travel. As a student, she realized that agriculture was a field in which you could work anywhere in the world. She went straight to work: studies in rural engineering at Université Laval, a master’s degree in France and a doctorate with a project in Morocco.
Now based in Quebec, she works for Logiag, a consulting firm specializing in sustainable agricultural practices. She manages a team of four people specializing in drainage plans. It’s a very varied job, which she also appreciates for the many encounters she has with different players: agricultural producers, entrepreneurs, managers of the Municipalités Régionales de Comté (MRC) among others.
Drainage that respects the environment
Drainage has always been a concern for farmers. In spring, we need to be able to evacuate water as quickly as possible so that we can start working the land as soon as possible. Drainage gives nature a helping hand by installing a network of pipes to collect the water and carry it away from the field.
The rural engineer must first study the topography of the land and the specific characteristics of the soil, then ensure that all environmental standards are respected. Waterways must be kept clean, wetlands and flood zones preserved. She/he determines the appropriate equipment to build the drainage network and guides the contractor who carries out the work. For example, it’s important to respect the right-of-way for the gas distribution network.
Rosanne loves all this contact with different specialists: “The human side interests me a lot,” she confides. We have to make sure that everyone involved in the project is satisfied, that’s our main challenge.
Editor of the next Underground Drainage Guide
If land is poorly drained, the farmer is forced to use heavier machinery than usual, which can lead to compaction. Clay soil becomes compacted, roots have difficulty penetrating the soil, soils are less healthy and yields are much reduced. According to Rosanne Chabot, compaction problems are on the increase in Quebec.
Aware of the problem, the CRAAQ (Centre de Référence en Agriculture et Agroalimentaire du Québec) has decided to update its Guide sur le diagnostic hydraulique et le drainage souterrain des terres agricoles. Rosanne has just been appointed senior editor. “It’s going to give me the opportunity to meet different experts and researchers,” she enthuses.
Engineers Without Borders: an unforgettable experience
In 2008, her itch to travel returned. She decided to take part in an agricultural cooperative project with Ingénieurs sans frontière in Burkina Faso. The adventure lasted four years. Rosanne is involved in the management of the cooperative, helping them to accurately determine their income and expenses, develop decision-making tools to better invest profits and, above all, train facilitators responsible for disseminating new working methods to members.
This experience enabled her to share ideas, open up to other cultures and develop her ingenuity in adapting to a new environment. Rosanne explains: “You can’t impose, you have to adapt and respect their way of seeing things. You have to meet their needs. Part of the population is illiterate, so we have to offer tools that work for all situations.”
All these skills remain important in his work today. “Every customer has their own vision. It’s important to know how to adjust,” she stresses.
From her big smile, it’s clear that being a rural engineer is definitely her calling.
