Sad news about Patrick Gentien

We are sad to communicate that Patrick Gentien (IFREMER-Brest, France)passed away on Sunday 9 May. He had been fighting lung cancer for three months, but still his sudden death caught us all by surprise. Until the very end, he kept in touch with his projects and collaborators and continued work whenever the chemotherapy and accompanying exhaustion gave him a break. He leaves a wife, four children and two grandchildren.

Patrick was a member of ISSHA (International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae) with many friends in the HAB community around the world. He was Chair of the ICES-IOC Working Group on HAB Dynamics (1996-1998), the first Chair of the SCOR-IOC Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (1999), and French delegate at the IOC Intergovernmental Panel on Harmful Algal Blooms (IPHAB). He was a key person in the establishment of links between HAB biologists and physical oceanographers and modellers. Those of us who worked with him had the opportunity to enjoy his sharp and acid sense of humour, his unique sense of criticism, and his always generous attitude to share original ideas and go to the core of scientific problems.

* This is just a quick communication to the HAB community. Soon will be more comprehensive documents reviewing Patrick’s contributions to understanding the dynamics of harmful algal blooms, comments from his friends and acquaintances and a gallery of images.