In Memoriam, Drs. John O’Brien and Stanley Dodson

I just learned of the passing of two of the pre-eminent zooplankton ecologists of the last 50 years, John O’Brien and Stanley Dodson.  I knew John since 1977 when he was a faculty member at the University of Kansas and I was a graduate student at the University of Nebraska.  I later did a post-doc with Paul Hebert.  Paul and John had a run in when John gave a talk at the University of Michigan and Paul gave him a hard time during the question period after the talk.  I wasn’t there but I got to hear from each of them about the details of the incident and why each of them was right and how the other was at fault.  Being on the outside I got a chuckle out of their tiff.  John died of pancreatic cancer last week.

I knew Stanley better, even spending a few weeks in his lab at the University of Wisconsin.  My favorite story about Stan was the time he was invited to the University of Windsor to give a seminar.  It was the middle of the winter and bitterly cold.  After his talk a large group of us went out to dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant.  You have to know that I occasionally break into song when I receive even the most fleeting cue.  This usually draws stares, sometimes smiles and I am sure people think I am a bit (or more) strange.  Anyway, after dinner we walked out of the restaurant into the cold and the sign at the bank across the street informed us that the temperature was 85^o That was my cue to break into “Heat Wave.”  I was surprised and pleased that Stan joined in with my off-key, off everything rendition, “We’re having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave, the temperature’s rising, it isn’t surprising…” That’s as much of the song as I knew (and I still don’t know the rest), but just that short bit, with Stanley singing along, caused me and the group to start laughing.  That is a simple moment I’ll never forget.  Stan was killed in a bicycling accident yesterday.

Stanley was a consistent supporter of my career and I am forever grateful for his encouragement.  I offer my condolences to his family and will think of him often as I pray.  The world, and the science of ecology, are all the better for their presence and heartfelt efforts of these two fine gentlemen.