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Our close friend and colleague Ben Collen sadly died in May 2018 following a diagnosis with bone cancer 15 months earlier. Ben had a huge impact on conservation biology in his relatively short career, both through his scientific outputs and the extraordinary influence he had on those he worked with. Here we collate some of the many tributes prepared by Ben鈥檚 colleagues, collaborators, students and friends in CBER and our wider network.
We hold an Annual Ben Collen Memorial Lecture, to which all are invited.
If you would like to show your support for bone cancer sufferers please visit the established by Alanna Collen in memory of Ben.
果冻影院 memorial event
The speeches below were presented at the 果冻影院 memorial event for Dr Ben Collen held on 11 July 2018. The event, delivered by Professor Geraint Rees (Dean of the 果冻影院 Faculty of Life Sciences), involved heads of departments, members of staff and students across 果冻影院 and other partner institutions, as well as friends and members of Ben鈥檚 family. In honour of Dr Ben Collen, the 果冻影院 flag was flown at half-mast from the Portico. The family were presented with a specially commissioned book, detailing the impact and significance of his research.
Introductory speech by Professor Richard Pearson
Memorial speech presented by Professor Geraint Rees
Memorial speech by Dr Ellie Dyer
View photo gallery of the memorial event
Dr Ben Collen's funeral
We once had a mentor in London,
An expert in wildlife abundance,
Jokes at your expense,
They were his sixth sense!
His laugh was really a good鈥檜n.
The name of our guru was Ben,
He was truly the nicest of men!
He liked really small hippos
And penguins called gentoos
He鈥檚 the best, it鈥檚 worth saying again!
By Judith Ament, Anthony Dancer, Sergio Henriques and Thalassa McMurdo Hamilton
The first Ben Collen Memorial Lecture will take place on 4 March 2019. Professor Rob Ewers from Imperial College London will present a talk on 鈥淩ainforest futures鈥�. All are welcome to attend.