Cheron-Bessou, Cécile

   Cécile Chéron-Bessou

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research Director, HDR (Gaïa Montpellier, 2021)

Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow (SAAFE project 2022-25)

Ph.D. in Agronomy and Environmental Sciences (Paris, 2009)

MSc. in Sustainable Resource Management (Munich, 2004)

Ing. in Agricultural Sciences & Tropical Agronomy ( Dijon & Montpellier, 2002)

 

Cécile Chéron-Bessou has a background in agricultural sciences and completed her PhD on crop modelling and impact assessment of biofuels based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) at AgroParisTech in 2009. Since 2010, she has been working as a senior scientist at Cirad (French agricultural research and cooperation organisation) based in Montpellier, France. Her research topic focuses on the environmental impact modelling for perennial cropping systems. She had gained experience on various systems such as oil palm, coffee or coconut, in various countries across all continents. She has worked on improving life cycle inventories by connecting LCA with both mechanistic and empirical models and by developing a framework to better account for perennial crop cycles and soil health. She passed her HDR (Research Director Habilitation in 2021) and received a Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowship (2022-2025). Besides her research activities, Cécile is involved in many associations and peer-review activities. Among others, she contributed to the GLAM 2 (global guidelines on LCA methodologies by UNEP Life Cycle Initiative), she is a member of the SETAC Europe LCA steering committee, the LCAfood conferences scientific committee, and the editorial board of the Sustainable Production and Consumption journal. Cécile has conducted various peer-review expertises and provided training on environmental impact assessments and LCA. Last but not least, she is an active member of the Women and Sciences association.

Fields of research

Affiliation/Contact

Cirad: Agricultural Research Center for Development


Scientific Department: PERSYST, Performance of Tropical Production and Processing Systems

Research unit on Agro-Biodiversified Systems

 2022-2024: hosted at James Cook University, Cairns, Australia within the Land and Water Science group 


 

Functions - researcher

For the past 14 years, I have been working on combining agronomical and environmental assessments to provide knowledge and tools to improve practices and to eco-design new agroecological and sustainable production systems.

My key research topics are:

I am an active member of:

Expertises

I provide scientific expertise to public and private sectors on life cycle assesment and GHG assessment of food crop systems.

Those expertises consist in either field studies, LCA training, desktop studies, or critical reviews.

Teaching activities/student supervision

I punctually teach to Master students (1&2) classes about: environmental impacts, sustainability assessments, LCA, agricultural supply chains...

Supervised/co-supervised students

PH.D. students

Co-direction:

Andrea Cecilia Sanchez (GAIA) 2022-2025: assessing the drivers of the adoption of diversified farming systems worlwide.

Alexis Thoumazeau (Sibaghe) 2015-2018: assessing soil functions and soil quality in rubber plantations to improve practices and environmental impact assessment

Lénaïc Pardon (Agroparistech) 2014-2017: improving the modelling nitrogen losses in oil palm plantations to reduce uncertainty in environmental impact assessment

Tereza Bicalho (Paris Dauphine): Palm Biodiesel from Brazil, LCA application within the frame of the European Directive: Ph.D. 2009-2012 

Member of the defence committee:

SIbylle Duval-Dachary Ph. D. thesis (Institut Agro Montpellier, 2024)

Maria Jose Rodriguez Vasquez Ph. D. thesis (Agroparistech, 2020)

Edi Iswanto Wiloso Ph.D. thesis (Leiden University, 2015);

Member of the steering committee of several Ph.D. students: Margot Moulin, Meriem Jouini, Charlotte Simon

Master students 

Guillaume Mazeau (Agroparistech, Montpellier): LCA of coffee (co-supervisoin in 2022)

Sylène Monnier (Supagro, Montpellier): LCA of guayule (punctual inputs in 2021) 

Chloé Dusacre (Supagro, Montpellier): sustainability assessments of vegetable production (co-supervision in 2018) 

Céline Bustany (Supagro, Montpellier): co-supervision with Anthony Benoist (UPR BIOWOOEB Cirad) (6 months 2017)

Alexe Brugnot (Supagro, Montpellier): Database creation on Indonesian palm oil smallholders' practices (6 months 2015) co-supervision with Thierry Chapuset (UPR Systèmes de Pérennes)

Karine Lé (Supagro, Montpellier): SPOP assessment grid (6 month-2013), co-supervision with Pierre-Marie Bosc (UMR MOISA Cirad)

Melina Till (ESA, Lille): Soil biodiversity assessment in rubber plantation (6 months-2013), co-supervision with Alain Brauman (UMR Eco&Sols, IRD)

Cynthia Latunussa (Politecnico di Turino): Life Cycle Assessment of Indonesian Palm Oil (6 months-2013)

Alice Baudoin (Supagro, Montpellier): Literature review on palm oil production systems in Indonesia (6 month-2012), co-supervision with Pierre-Marie Bosc (UMR MOISA Cirad)

Alice Vélu (VetAgroSup, Clermont-Ferrand): Life Cycle Assessment of Indonesian Palm Oil (6 months-2011)

Projects

Coordination

Contribution

 

 		  


 
Duportal@cirad2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

Member of ELSA research group for Environmental Life cycle and Sustainability Assessment

ELSA was created in 2008. It gathers researchers, professors and students from different research labs and post-graduate institutions of the Languedoc-Roussillon region: INRA-LBE (Narbonne), CIRAD-Bioenergie (Montpellier), CEMAGREF-ITAP (Montpellier), SupAgro (Montpellier) and Ecole des Mines d'Alès-LGEI.

The platform's purpose is to stimulate research and transfer to industries in eco-technologies applied to the following application fields: Organic pollution treatment Bio-energy Measurement of pollutions Reduction of phytosanitary pollutions. ELSA is a transversal topic in charge of the environmental assessment of processes related to these fields. Member of ELSA benefit from the shared expertise and corporate knowledge within the group. They work together to:

Complete list of publications and presentations: see Publications page (with direct links to HAL), upper left corner of this page

List of publications on CIRAD/Agritrop open database (with links to journal's page/open versions)