Benôit Côté's interest for the forest goes back to his childhood when he would spend his summer vacations at the family cabin in a middle of a big clearcut in the forest. He has fond memories of his interactions with woodsmen that were spending weeks away from their family in remote forest camps. He learned to fish on rivers and lakes covered with wood logs destined for pulp and paper mills. The mosaic of forests left after harvesting was basically his backyard for years. This provided him with a unique opportunity to learn about the complex interactions between wildlife and their habitat and experience first-hand forest dynamics and diversity. His hands-on training came in handy for his studies to become a forest engineer and then for his graduate studies in Canada and the USA. Some 50 years later after his first steps in woods, he is still as curious as he was in his tender years about forest ecosystems. His backyard is even bigger now but the inquiry process remains the same. The questions keep changing but most address the issue of sustainability relating to the maintenance of soil fertility and tree/forest nutrition.

Effects of anthropogenic (human) factors e.g. global climate change, acid rain, forest management on forest nutrition.