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IN MEMORIAM

As conservation researchers and practitioners, we typically seek to maintain a level of professional detachment, careful to discriminate between the objects of the work and the character of those who dedicate their lives to conservation. Yet we also are humans who care very much about the natural world and about each other. In recent months, we have been humbled and saddened by a series of tragedies. The Society for Conservation Biology extends its deepest sympathies to the family, friends, and colleagues of those remembered here. Several more-extensive tributes will be included in a forthcoming issue of Conservation Biology.

Nepal's Heroes of Conservation

On 24 September 2006, a helicopter carrying many of Nepal's leading conservationists and several foreign dignitaries crashed shortly after leaving the remote mountain village of Ghunsa, where the team had traveled to celebrate the transfer of the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area to local management. There were no survivors of the crash.

We remember Mingma Norbu Sherpa, Director of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Eastern Himalayas Program; Chandra Gurung, WWF - Nepal's country representative; Tirtha Man Maskey, former Director-General of the country's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation; Harka Gurung, Nepal's foremost geographer, former minister, and WWF Adviser; Gopal Rai, Minister of State of Forests and Soil Conservation; Neena Rai; Damodar Parajuli, Acting Secretary - Ministry of State of Forests and Soil Conservation; Narayan Poudel, Director-General of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation; Sharad Rai, Director-General of the Department of Forests; Pauli Mustonnen, Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Finland; Margaret Alexander, Deputy Director, USAID; Bijnan Acharya, Program Development Specialist, USAID; Jill Bowling, Conservation Director, WWF - UK; Jennifer Headley, Coordinator, Himalaya Program, WWF - UK; Matthew Preece, Program Officer, WWF - US; Yeshi Lama, Senior Program Manager, Mountain Program, WWF - Nepal; Vijaya Shrestha, Federation of Nepal Chambers of Commerce and Industry; Hem Raj Bhandari and Sunil Singh, Nepal Television; Dawa Tshering, Chair, Kangchenjunga Conservation Area Management Committee; two Russian pilots; and two Nepali crew members.

WWF will publicly recognize and honor the accomplishments, commitment, and spirit of those lost in Nepal at a service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. on 30 November at 2:00 P.M.

Mario Ramos

Mario Ramos, a member of SCB's Board of Governors from 1989 to 1992, died following a sudden heart attack on 11 September 2006. He was 59 years old. One of Mexico's top ornithologists, Mario was the founder and first president of the Neotropical Ornithological Society, founder of CIPAMEX, and Program Manager, Biodiversity of the Global Environment Facility. Mario was regarded as a friend and much-loved colleague by the many people he helped, from indigenous people and local NGOs to national delegations at meetings of the Convention on Biological Diversity. A conservation award has been established to honor Mario's commitment and passion for ornithology and biodiversity conservation.

Ricardo Tarifa

Ricardo Tarifa, a Brazilian Forestry Specialist with the World Bank, died in a GOL Airline crash in Brazil on 29 September 2006. Ricardo worked on Amazonian issues for much of his life, first with the Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente (IMAZON) and then, since 1995, with the Brazil Rain Forest Unit at the World Bank. An avid cyclist, he was finalizing plans for a two-year bicycle trip to visit the world's major forests. A commemorative service was held in Washington, D.C. on 3 November.

David Michael Veverka

David Veverka was a student in the Department of Wildlife Ecology, President of the local SCB chapter, and Vice President of the student chapter of The Wildlife Society at the University of Maine. With the help of a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Award, David developed a comprehensive research project on the effects of forest harvesting on small mammals. A veteran of the elite Old Guard of the 3rd U.S. Infantry, David was called to military service in Iraq during his final semester of undergraduate study. On 6 May 2006, David was killed by a roadside bomb. He was 26 years old. The University of Maine has established a scholarship fund in David's memory, which received partial proceeds from a benefit auction at SCB's 2006 annual meeting. If you wish to contribute to this fund, please contact David Patrick (David_Patrick@umit.maine.edu).

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