Robert Denno Passed Away

This news is a couple weeks old, but I just found out about it. Robert Denno was one of the top Entomologists in this country. His sudden loss is a blow to the field. I met him and saw his talk on multi-trophic interactions across variable landscapes at Penn State in Spring 2006. He was a very good speaker and genuinely excited by his work and science in general. When I discussed my own work with him, he listened very closely and offered excellent comments.

Adam Bloom, from the University of Maryland's student paper, writes of his death,

"But what made him more than just a successful scientist was his energy, curiosity and thoughtful demeanor, friends said. He was often seen running through the halls of the Plant Sciences building, going from room to room, meeting strangers and greeting his fellow faculty members with a hearty handshake and a "Hey, dude!" said longtime colleague and professor emeritus Galen Dively."

Denno was 62 when died of a heart attack while doing fieldwork at Georgia's Sapelo Island. He last day was spent collecting butterflies, the very thing he did as a child that got him interested in entomology in the first place.

Rest in peace Denno, insects everywhere are raising their antennae in your honor.