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For those of us who knew about his two-year struggle against cancer, the news should not have come as a total surprise; yet the message that Josh Van Buskirk had succumbed to the disease has deeply shaken us. We had never given up the hope that Josh would recover. We refused to believe that this friendly, enthusiastic, energetic and brilliant man would have to go at the age of 61 and leave behind his family, many friends and colleagues. We were particularly thinking how unfair and painful his untimely passing would be for his wife, two sons, his mother and two sisters. But our wishful thinking was in vain. On August 20, Josh lost his battle. One thing, however, has not gone with him: the memory of what he meant to many of us.
The following text (PDF, 1 MB) with some photos and the subsequent quotes from friends and colleagues may help in keeping this memory alive.
Unser Hauptinteresse liegt in der Erforschung evolutionsökologischer Aspekte kleiner Populationen, und welchen Einfluss der aktuelle Klimawandel darauf hat. Sowohl experimentelle Ansätze, als auch Feldforschung helfen uns, die folgenden Fragen zu beantworten: wie weit sind benachbarte Populationen genetisch voneinander entfernt und zeigen unterschiedliche Anpassungen an ihren Lebensraum? Was sind langfristige phänotypische Veränderungen innerhalb einer Population und welche Faktoren spielen eine Rolle? Auf welchen Mechanismen beruht die Anpassung einer Population auf städtische Umgebung und generell heterogene Habitate? Welche genetischen Veränderungen zeigt eine Population, wenn sie Stress und wechselnden Umweltbedingungen ausgesetzt ist?
