Who Am I?

I entered the underground networks of Haute-Savoie at sixteen, with the Groupe Spéléologique Vulcain — alongside Pierre Rias, a pioneer of French caving to whom I owe this initiation. My name appears, in a modest role, in the lists of explorers and surveyors of the Gouffre Jean-Bernard — a karst system of nearly 30 kilometres, the world depth record at the time.
📖 Two anecdotes

I undertook a programmer training course at CESI in 1981–1982 — four months of training, no baccalauréat, direct entry into the workforce. I continued my studies at CNAM through evening classes whilst working full-time alongside. In between: national service as a radio operator and ski trooper in a reconnaissance and ski patrol unit — a specialism demanding both physical endurance and autonomy under pressure.

In 1987–1988, I measured flow rates in the lower Rhône valley to optimise EDF's dam operations — my first work on the trade-offs between energy and ecosystems, which I followed up with a University Diploma in Water Management at the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1.

In 1993, I obtained an engineering degree from the École Nationale Supérieure de Sciences Appliquées et de Technologie de Lannion (ENSSAT), specialising in Software and Computer Systems.

In 1993, I joined the Centre National d'Études des Télécommunications (CNET) of France Télécom by competitive examination — placed first. I led the technical project management of the Pages Jaunes on the Internet, and subsequently of Voilà, one of the first French search engines and web portals. In 1998, the directory was awarded the best international directory service (LISA Award). In 1999, I co-authored a patent on the automatic classification of web content through statistical language analysis — an approach cited in over 330 subsequent patents by companies including IBM, Microsoft, AOL and Adobe.

At the same time, I was admitted to the preparatory cycle for the internal competitive examination of the École nationale d'administration, which I completed, and was shortlisted in 2000. As an extension of these responsibilities, I supplemented my career path with management training at ESSEC, within the France Télécom framework.

From 2000 to 2007, Senior Expert at France Télécom R&D. Among the principal assignments: technical leadership of the cross-cutting TALK programme, one of ten strategic fixed–mobile–Internet convergence programmes conducted jointly between France Télécom, Orange and Wanadoo, under the direction of the then Chief Executive, Michel Bon.

The TALK programme concerned the integration of voice technologies for application control and voice-based information delivery — a programme extending earlier work on interfaces and natural language processing within the broader context of network convergence.

In 2003, I co-authored a patent on an approach making the creation of interactive telephone services as accessible as the creation of web pages — a method that was operationally deployed and industrially exploited.

This work on information systems gradually led me towards public responsibilities, where the stakes became territorial, economic and human.

In 2007–2008, following competitive selection, I trained as an engineer-student of the Telecommunications Corps at Télécom Paris. I took up my first post in Nantes in September 2008. Mission officer for economic development and innovation to the regional prefects of the Pays de la Loire. Subcontracting mediator. Commissioner for industrial recovery — supporting industrial enterprises in difficulty at regional level — appointed by Ministerial decree, published in the Journal officiel. In 2012–2013, auditor of the 65th national session "Defence Policy" of the Institut des hautes études de défense nationale (IHEDN). Intensive grounding in strategic, defence and national sovereignty issues.

From 2014 to 2020, Director of Industry Relations, Director of the endowment fund, and head of the incubator at IMT Atlantique.

From 2021, I refocused my work on ecological and societal transformation — a strand I helped build into the school's institutional policy, adopted by the School Council in November 2021. I developed the biodiversity policy from scratch across three campuses — Nantes, Brest, Rennes — with scientific protocols, associative partnerships (Bretagne Vivante, LPO, GRETIA, Fédération des Amis de l'Erdre), signed agreements and measurable results. In parallel, I became personally involved in these same associations — LPO, Bretagne Vivante, GRETIA — as a field observer contributing to regional inventories and monitoring schemes.

I also deliver teaching to students, designing and leading modules on the Sustainable Development Goals, planetary boundaries and biodiversity, grounded in a systemic approach and scientific data.

I refreshed my ecology fundamentals through continuing education: a University Diploma (L3 level) at the Université de Lorraine, attached to the LIEC laboratory, awarded with Distinction — top of year; an Advanced University Diploma (M1 level) in Marseille / IMBE, awarded with Merit.

I have become involved, alongside naturalist and environmental associations, in biodiversity conservation cases within major urban development projects.

I now bring artificial intelligence and geomatics tools to bear on ecological field analysis — extending directly the work I was conducting twenty-five years ago in the fields of language, data and information systems.

This approach rests on an active field practice as a naturalist: nearly 8,000 documented observations on iNaturalist, as well as participation in several amphibian, bird and insect monitoring protocols — including sites now at the centre of proceedings related to land development projects, such as the ZAC du Champ de Manœuvre in Nantes.

My approach consists in combining observation of living systems, data structuring, cartography and spatial analysis in order to produce objectifiable elements useful for the ecological understanding of territories and the public debates that concern them.

In 2025, I also took part in the citizens' dialogue « Faire face aux crises ensemble » (Facing Crises Together), organised by Nantes Métropole, with particular attention to preparing territories for the direct and indirect effects of the ecological crisis.