Jocelyne Blouin's love affair with science began with a devouring curiosity. What really happened when she turned on the switch and the light came on? She found her answers at school or in the Que sais-je? book collection. So it was only natural that the young woman turned to studies in pure and applied sciences at CEGEP—which had just opened in Quebec in 1967—and then in physics at university. "When I told Dad I was going to do a certificate in meteorology, he replied, 'What? They teach that?'" laughs Ms. Blouin on the phone. It's important to remember that at the time, this science wasn't taken seriously and the forecasts weren't good. We didn't have the means we have today."

More than a weather girl

"It's going to rain, it's going to be nice, that's the secret of weather!" said the humorous song that was playing on CKAC radio at the time. So why be interested in this specialization? "Once again, there was this desire to understand. Making weather forecasts for aviation, for example, is exciting. It's more exciting than forecasting the weather for the general public. You have to be very precise and sharp." After working for a few years at Environment Canada, the only meteorology employer at the time, Jocelyne Blouin accepted a position as a weather presenter at Radio-Canada . In a 33-year career, she would host more than 15,000 weather reports.

“I am proud to have contributed to meteorology during my career,” she says. “When I started, there was no one to explain what a shower, a thunderstorm or an anticyclone was. The driver who went to pick up the tapes of the reports at the airport stopped at Environment Canada every day to pick up my maps, because I wanted to do my own weather forecasts.”

With the advent of the Internet, data has become more easily accessible, but Jocelyne Blouin has always kept in mind the need to educate and provide information on phenomena that are often unknown to the general public, such as the report in Greenland in 2011 to observe the effects of global warming.

Away from the cameras

When she retired, Jocelyne Blouin was enthusiastic about devoting herself to her many other interests. She took piano and Spanish lessons, volunteered, and played golf. Then, her meteorologist friend Jean-Charles Beaubois, a Belgian who immigrated to Canada, suggested that she start a project together. "We're both as crazy as each other when we start brainstorming." Together, they started Météo Globale, whose first product was Blisly, an intelligent application for predicting the impact of weather on health, in collaboration with Hôpital Sacré-Coeur and the Centre de recherche informatique de Montréal. "In Europe, they've been interested in these phenomena for 30 years, which are widely supported by scientific literature. In Germany, there are even clues for different diseases in weather reports!"

After a year and a half of testing, the project was aborted. "We had to pull the plug on the app because there weren't enough users. Maybe we didn't invest enough money in it either? I was very upset because we worked very hard on research, creating algorithms and collecting data."

An entrepreneurial retreat

Fortunately, another product from Météo Globale is enjoying some success. Météo-Routes is a service for municipalities and private snowplows that produces weather forecasts on road conditions. Ten cities, including Montreal, currently use it. "This system allows municipalities to save money and provide better service. We are also working on developing an algorithm to better predict salt spreading."

The company has other smart applications in the pipeline, particularly related to the fields of work and marketing. "The next one we are going to develop and which is very close to my heart is the one for farmers. It will provide weather forecasts adapted to each crop to better manage the spreading of pesticides and fertilizers, which all require specific conditions. The agricultural world and the UPA have already shown great enthusiasm."

Under a gray or sunny sky, Jocelyne Blouin is looking forward to her not-so-quiet retirement. “Entrepreneurship really excites me. It’s very exciting. Plus, it’s a good way to work my neurons,” concludes the 68-year-old.

***********

As with the other female scientists interviewed, we asked Ms. Blouin what message she would like to convey to young girls so that they do not hesitate to go into science?