Benjamin Cinget, studying under the supervision of professors Jean Bousquet and Jean Beaulieu, from the Canada Research Chair in Forest Genomics, successfully defended his thesis entitled ‘Pan-Canadian phylogeographic study of balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and its relationships with subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) in western Canada’. The photo shows him with thesis committee members, from left to right: professor André Desrochers (president of the jury), Jean Beaulieu, Benjamin Cinget, Jean Bousquet , professor Damase Khasa (Centre for Forest Research, Laval University) and by videoconference in the background, professor Selvadurai Dayanandan (Department of Biology, Concordia University) and professor Juan Pablo Jaramillo-Correa (Institute of Ecology, National Autonomous University of Mexico). Congratulations Benjamin!