As I’m getting older, I’m also becoming more prone to emotional crashes. During this week, I was often forced to hide my emotions behind a smile, a joke or a simple silence while dealing with feelings of immense gratitude or sadness. Life has been so generous to me, the eternal latecomer, giving me the opportunity to meet interact with, and learn from intellectual giants and beautiful persons.
Yesterday (Thursday 21.11.2024) I witnessed Dolf de Groot’s farewell ceremony during the closing plenary of the 5th Ecosystem Services Partnership European Conference. Two times I was forced by strong emotions, to escape out of the big room where more than 400 people gathered. The first was when Wieteke was presenting and after, when Dolf was giving his final speech. My latino heart (it is still there, resilient, besides all those years living abroad) holds such a collection of beautiful moments, that it was difficult for me to manage at times. So, I remained at the very back part of the room, to be ready to escape and hide in the toilet or somewhere else, if needed.
It is difficult for me to put in words, what Dolf de Groot means to me. While I was not lucky enough to be one of his students (I was never good enough to be one), since I met him, he was kind, open and generous with me. I am a latecomer to ecosystem services science (like everything in my life), as I systematically denied the use of the concept in my PhD thesis, remaining strongly against it while at the same time admiring the work of H. Odum. Such a contradiction! I was so ignorant and naïve, it is at times hard for me to believe it. Then, life was gracious to me, to meet by chance these giants[1], starting a long journey that not only completely changed my mind regarding my scientific attitude towards ecosystem services but at the same time, put me in a situation of heavily dense communication with Dolf on a daily basis, on several different activities that we have shared over the last years. I cannot tell how much I have learned thanks to Dolf’s soft mentoring style. He has a very clear point of view among many things that is ready to share, but softly helped many times by his low voice and low-profile attitude.
So, yes, yesterday I cried, 2 times. Luckily I was able to manage my emotions to get back into the room and jump into the podium when they called me to share with my mentor and friend a very special moment. I was completely unprepared for that.
I’m sad, because our community is, in a way, facing the need to find another wise guidance, an endeavour that will be very, very difficult to cope with. But I’m happy at the same time because now Dolf can enjoy the well-deserved time to dedicate to more important things, family and chilling time (remember the picture of his lovely grandchildren).
I wish Dolf, can now enjoy with family and friends beautiful moments away from the heavy duty of leading the ESP. I hope to have still the chance to catch up from time to time, as I imagine you will be around ESP activities as a wise advisor, looking at ESP as an adolescent that tries to find its way in life, away from the warm comfort of parents’ protection. You are not only the father of ESP, but also one of the founding fathers of the ecosystem services concept. An intellectual giant and the kindest person. I’m eternally grateful to you for the opportunity to learn from you, and for forgiving my mistakes. For being a mentor and a friend.
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” Isaac Newton.
[1] Leon Braat (R.I.P.), Dolf de Groot and Bob Costanza, each of whom has a distinctive but profound influence in my career and my role within science at large and ecosystem services in particular.