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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

Helene LeBlanc
MSc, PhD, M-ABFE

Associate Professor

Forensic Science

Faculty of Science

Focus on world-leading research in the field of forensic entomology and upholding the Ontario Tech Forensic Science program's high standard of education.

Contact information

Science Building - Room 4025
North Oshawa
2000 Simcoe Street North
Oshawa, ON L1G 0C5

905.721.8668 ext. 3688

helene.leblanc@ontariotechu.ca


Research topics

  • Electroantennography
  • Forensic Entomology
  • Chemosensory
  • Vertebrate Decomposition
  • Volatile Organic Compounds
  • Chemical Ecology
  • Integrated Pest Management
  • Behaviour
  • Diptera
  • Calliphoridae
  • Muscidae

Areas of expertise

  • Board Certified Forensic Entomology
  • Consultant
  • Electroantennography
  • Chemosensory

Background

Professor Helene LeBlanc is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Science at Ontario Tech University and the Undergraduate Program Director of the Forensic Science program. Prof. LeBlanc’s research team explore volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with decomposing remains and their effect on carrion insects. Prof. LeBlanc and her team run electroantennography experiments to isolate behaviour-modifying (active) compounds for particular species of flies. These techniques are also applied to dairy farm pests, such as the stable fly, in order to isolate compounds that can be used in integrated pest management strategies.

Prof LeBlanc has been a forensic entomology consultant for 20 years, starting with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She went on to do her Masters of Science and Doctorate degree in the United Kingdom. While in Europe she continued to work in the field of forensic entomology, as well as molecular biology, for La Police Scientifique in France, LGC Forensics (formerly Forensic Alliance Ltd.) in Oxfordshire, and the Derbyshire Constabulary in Ripley, England.

Education

  • Board Certified Forensic Entomologist American Board of Forensic Entomology 2017
  • PhD University of Derby with Rothamsted Research 2008
  • MSc in Forensic Science University of Strathclyde 2001
  • BSc Saint-Mary's University 1998

Courses taught

  • FSCI 3120U Forensic Biology
  • FSCI 3010U Criminalistics I
  • FSCI 3030U Criminalistics II
  • FSCI 2020U Essentials of Crime Scene Science
  • APBS 6400G Advanced Topics in Forensic Bioscience