Obituary

Photo: W. & B. Ehrensperger

Dr. Matthias Dobbertin’s untimely and unexpected death came as a great shock. Matthias had a lifelong interest in our forests. For almost twenty years, Matthias worked at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL where he investigated forest ecosystems with remarkable passion.

While conducting the Swiss Forest Health Inventory from 1995 on, Matthias was deeply involved in the Swiss Long-term Monitoring Programme LWF and became its leader in 2009. He always placed great emphasis on the multidisciplinarity of his research field in order to gain an even more profound understanding of the influences of environmental changes on the processes taking place in forests. His formidable statistical skills, combined with his distinct curiosity, allowed him to discover new connections and relationships between trees and their environment.

Matthias’ tireless engagement as group leader of Forest Growth and Climate at our institute as well as chair of the Expert Panel on Forest Growth of the International Cooperative Programme for the Monitoring and Assessment of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests) led to the development of numerous methods in forest monitoring. Matthias’ enthusiasm, positivity and patience, matched with an immense knowledge on assessing tree performance and ecosystem processes, were renowned among numerous friends and colleagues reaching far beyond our institute and Switzerland.

Those of us who are continuing his work will feel a huge loss, nevertheless, we are indeed privileged to have been able to work with Matthias throughout all these years. We will always miss him.

LWF team