Glenn VanBlaricom

I met Glenn as many of his former students did: by persistently contacting him until he invited me to sit down in his office. And so began a journey of mentorship, friendship, and collaboration. Long before officially becoming a graduate student of Glenn's, I began attending weekly lab meetings, and the pub trips which ritualistically followed. It was imperative to Glenn that each student be accepted into the lab family, to integrate into a unit that would become the community of friends and colleagues I call family to this day. Glenn was already such an important figure in my life before I even started grad school that he attended my wedding in Oregon, and in turn I attended his daughter's wedding in Seattle. There are so many memories of Glenn throughout the four years that I was his student; necropsies of marine mammals, TAing for his marine mammal class, trips to the San Juan Islands, being in the field with him boulder hopping between swell sets on San Nicolas Island. And the conferences. Glenn was so supportive of getting his grad students to conferences to share their research and to network with other professionals in the field. He always seemed to find a way to make conference trips happen. There were the marine mammal conferences, and the student chapter marine mammal conferences, with the whole lab which were always loads of fun. But perhaps even more special were the conferences that only Glenn and I went to, like the Conservation Biology conferences in New York, California, and Brasil. We always had fun swapping stories of what we'd learned and experienced. Glenn was so much more than an excellent editor of papers and creative funding piecer-togetherer. He made it a priority to host annual Christmas parties at his house and to celebrate milestone's with his students. It was important to him to know people on a personal level and to listen to their stories. And his support continued well beyond grad school. He went as far as to offer his home to my toddler daughter and I when I moved back from Australia as a single parent in need of a place to stay. Kaelyn and I stayed with him for nearly two months as we settled into a new chapter of life and I will always cherish how much he appreciated the simple act of having dinner with us. He also offered me office and lab space to continue work for my PhD project from UW, despite the fact that I was no longer affiliated with SAFS. In fact, his generosity was an important factor in my decision to move back to Seattle. Glenn, thank you for your wisdom, your humour, and your support throughout the years. Thank you for sharing your passion for the marine world, your enthusiasm for abalone and Channel Island foxes, and your endless ideas for papers to write (I might have a few (several) that never received your final polishing touch!). You are appreciated and missed.