On 15 February the community of ecosystem reseachers lost one of its outstanding leaders. Professor Carlo Heip passed away after a short but intensive illness, at the age of 67.

Carlo Heip was the former director and senior advisor of the Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research and professor at the universities of Groningen (Netherlands) and Gent (Belgium). He was active in the Scientific Steering Committees of Diversitas, SCOPE and the Census of Marine Life. He was also general coordinator of the EU Network of Excellence MarBEF (Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning), the “marine sister” of ALTER-Net.

Carlo presented the MarBEF model of cooperation in networks at the ALTER-Net Management Board meeting in Zandvoort in November 2011, helping us to look at the future with optimism. He was invited to be a keynote speaker at the ALTER-Net Conference in Ghent coming April, and we now very much regret that we can no longer listen to and learn from him. We all have lost an impressive scientist, stimulating leader and wonderful person.

Leon Braat
Chair of the ALTER-Net Management Board