† Matthias Dobbertin

Annals of Forest Science is saddened to report the death of Matthias Dobbertin who passed away Wednesday, October 31, 2012. Matthias Dobbertin was acting as Associate Editor in the Editorial Board of Annals of Forest Science. He had joined the team during 2006. He very actively contributed to promote the quality of the journal by maintaining very high standards of editing throughout his seven years' commitment with the journal. Annals of Forest Science benefited from his remarkable understanding of the forests around the world, his international recognition in forest ecology and forest monitoring, his strong involvement as an editor, and his enthusiasm. We will miss him.

Matthias was born on June 28, 1961, in Hannover, Germany. He obtained his “Abitur” degree in 1980 in Minden, Germany, and two graduate degrees from the University of Göttingen in forest science for temperate regions (1986) and in forest science of tropical and subtropical regions (1987). He was granted a master of science degree in biometric technology from the University of California in Berkley, USA (1989), and a PhD degree in remote sensing at the same university (1993).

Matthias began his career at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscapes WSL at Birmensdorf, Switzerland, in 1994. In 1995, he became the scientific leader of the Swiss Forest Health Inventory. He led the Long-Term Forest Ecosystem Research Programme as well as the group for Forest Growth and Climate of the research unit Forest Dynamics. He was Chair of the Expert Panel on Forest Growth of the International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests.

In addition, Matthias promoted scientific culture by producing and disseminating scientific knowledge. He contributed to train a large number of authors to scientific publication. He was involved in the editorial boards of scientific journals like Silva Fennica during nearly 15 years. The editorial board of Annals of Forest Science benefited from Matthias' expertise during seven years. Our thoughts are with his wife Michèle, his daughters Hannah and Marie, and all his friends and relatives.

On behalf of the Annals of Forest Science Editors and Editorial Board,

Marianne Peiffer