An Advocate for the Silent Majority
Ebbe Nielsen was passionate about life, a passion that drove him from the learned but peaceful surroundings of the Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC) at CSIRO in Canberra where he was Director to be the most successful advocate globally for the science of systematics, especially insect taxonomy. Now, thanks to that passion, systematics and the emerging discipline area of biodiversity informatics, are officially enshrined in the newly formed Global Biodiversity Information Facility, an initiative of the OECD countries. Nielsen's drive, vision and personal contact with politicians, bureaucrats and scientists in Australia and around the world have been major forces in bringing this initiative into reality.
Nielsen was born in Denmark's lake district in central Jutland. He came from the small rural township of Ry where life in the early fifties was very different to the lifestyle and tempo he later developed. The undulating and beautiful countryside with farms scattered throughout was rich in plants and butterflies. His mother and father worked the family farm while he and his brother played in the nearby forest and explored nature by the local lake, Mossø. From his earliest days, Nielsen spent much of his time observing birds and fish migrating up creeks thanks to his father's concept of relaxation which was to rise early, go bird watching, and subsequently entertain the breakfast table with reports on the arrival of various migratory birds and new nest sites.
Nielsen's mother pointed him in the direction of books about plants and insects. At the age of 14, a booklet by Langer on Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) collecting, and Bishop Hoffmeyer's books on the Danish macromoths, caught his imagination and he commenced collecting moths in the garden eventually becoming a member of the Entomology Club in Århus.
He attended university in Århus, and worked part-time work in the local museum where the Zoology Institute was involved with a detailed study of the Danish beech forest ecosystem. Since Nielsen could identify to species level all Danish Lepidoptera, he was invited to commence his masters research on the phenology and vertical distribution of moths and neuropterans in the beech forest. Working from a 30m tower and running four traps each night, it wasn't long before a very sizeable amount of material was collected by the young scientist. Much to his surprise there was no checklist available of the moths.
By now Nielsen was regarded as a skilled insect systematist and he participated in the completion of the Danish Lepidoptera checklist and a fauna volume on Elachistidae while beginning work on his PhD. At that time an Argentinian businessman of Danish extraction offered the University of Copenhagen funds to support Danish scientists to work in Argentina. After considerable negotiation, a six month expedition to Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and the Andes commenced in 1978-79. Of the fifteen scientists in the expedition, Nielsen was one of two participants who stayed the entire time, managing much of the expedition. The trip yielded much valuable new material for Nielsen's PhD and many other groups of insects. At the time it was the most comprehensive biodiversity survey of Andean Patagonia although the word was not yet coined. As a result of this trip, he made other trips to southern Argentina and Chile, fostering a life-long love for the southern hemisphere fauna.
So, in 1981 when CSIRO approached Nielsen with a proposal to work in Australia, the opportunity to work permanently in the southern hemisphere with the team that produced The Insects of Australia at the Australian National Insect Collection proved irresistible. In Australia, Nielsen's research interest centred on primitive Lepidoptera and inventories of Lepidoptera, but as he settled into the Australian research scene, his leadership skills and his boundless energy singled him out for a senior management role in CSIRO Entomology. He was appointed Director of the ANIC in 1990 and became increasingly interested in promoting the importance of systematics, communicating scientific results through publishing, and in the management of biodiversity data.
Nielsen was a true scholar, widely read and passionate about the published communication of fine science. He was a key author and editor in Scandinavian science journals before coming to Australia and a founding visionary and contributor to the creation of CSIRO Publishing. He was the motivating force in creating the journal Invertebrate Taxonomy, acting as Editorial Committee Chair and a regular author. He was also a prolific book author and the founding editor of two major series dealing with Australian Lepidoptera and Invertebrates. He remained a vocal supporter of the printed word but was a visionary supporter of electronic delivery of science to both researchers and students.
He was widely acclaimed by the scientific community, receiving numerous awards and medals, and was a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Science and a Foreign Fellow of the Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters. He authored or co-authored eight books and monographs and over 80 other scientific publications. He was a major figure in the international entomological community and held many key positions including secretary to the International Congress of Entomology at the time of his death.
During the 1990s, a new word gained popularity globally - biodiversity. It covers the world's living resources that provide us with critical life supporting food, fuel, fibres, pharmaceuticals, and ecosystem services such as clean air and pollination. As the rest of us caught up with its meaning and importance, Nielsen was already advocating that if we wanted to continue to use these resources in a sustainable way, it was vital that we develop our knowledge of species and their characteristics.
According to Nielsen, scientists estimate that between three million and 100 million species of living things coexist on Earth today, all except humankind unable to speak for themselves. Nielsen was adamant that as we placed increasing demands on the natural world, information about biodiversity at all levels, from molecule to biosphere, will soon come to dominate the world's economy and its politics. So biological collections, such as the ANIC, were an incredibly important, objective source of information about life on earth. But he and his scientific colleagues were concerned that the growth of the world's great collections was outpacing our ability to handle the data inherent in them.
A Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), incorporating state-of-the-art informatics software, was urgently needed. GBIF would link together existing databases on biodiversity with new databases into a one-stop global information resource. The databases would include existing biodiversity databases on the distribution of plants, animals and microbes around the globe, detailed genomic maps, compilations of the physiological functions of organisms, and information about the behaviour and function of species within ecosystems.
Australia was a leading proponent for GBIF, with Nielsen as a key expert member of the Australian team which helped to persuade the OECD science ministers to agree in 1999 to its establishment. Nielsen was absolutely ecstatic when GBIF came officially into being on 1 March this year. He was enroute for Montreal to help present the Australian bid to host the GBIF Secretariat when he died.
Nielsen lived life at a furious pace. He accomplished in 50 years more than most of us could ever hope to achieve, and while he is not survived by any children of his own, his legacy to future generations of this planet cannot be overestimated.
Malcolm Robertson
CSIRO Entomology
Canberra
08 March 2001
APPENDIX
Ebbe S. Nielsen
Summary of Achievements 1950 - 2001
Position at the time of his death: Chief Research Scientist and Director of the Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC), Canberra, Australia.
MSc in 1976 (Zoology) and PhD 1980, University of Copenhagen. Postdoctoral Fellow, Zoological Museum, Copenhagen, 1980-82; since 1982 with the ANIC as Unit Leader (Lepidoptera), 1982-95; Discipline Leader (Taxonomy), 1986-90; Program Leader (Biodiversity and Natural Resources), 1990-98 and Director, 1990-; Visiting Scientist at the Smithsonian Institution, 1988; Zoological Museum, Copenhagen, 1991.
Karl Jordan Medal, 1990; David Rivett Medal, 1990; Ian Mackerras Medal, 1992; CSIRO Bonus for work in the National Interest, 1991; Fellow, International Faculty of the Danish Research Academy; Honorary Member, Finnish and an Argentinian learned society. Foreign Associate of the U.S. National Academy of Science, 1997; Foreign Fellow of The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 1998.
Has visited most major systematic and biodiversity research institutions and museums concerned with entomology. Has undertaken major field surveys in South America and Australia.
Held office in many international societies and organisations including the IUCN, Willi Hennig Society and Lepidopterists' Society. Participated in the Global Biodiversity Assessment process, Australian delegate to SBSTTA and COP under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), member of coordinating committee of BioNET International, chair of Major Systematic Entomology Facility Group, 1995-96, President of Southern Connection. Member, Council for International Congresses of Entomology. Program committee member for a number of international meetings including the XXI International Congress of Entomology, 2000. Nobel Symposium, 1988.
Member of the Board of CSIRO Publishing and Vice Chair of the Australian Journals of Scientific Research. Chair of Science Subgroup of the Council of Australian Museum Directors. Head of Australian Delegation, OECD Megascience Forum Working Group on Biological Informatics and delegate to Subgroup on Biodiversity Informatics. Australian delegate to the OECD Global Scienec Forum. Past member, Karl Jordan Medal award committee.
Editor or co-editor of a number of international journals and monograph series, including Entomologica Scandinavica, Biodiversity and Conservation, Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera, Monographs on Invertebrate Taxonomy and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Author or co-author of 8 books and monographs and over 80 other publications on Lepidoptera systematics, inventories, biogeography, information technology and biological collections. Research interests and experience include technologies and priorities in biosystematics, development and application of information technology to biological collections and biodiversity, conservation biology, inventories and the management of biological collections and their effective use in the management and conservation of biodiversity. Primary research interests include biosystematics of Lepidoptera, their evolution, biogeography and conservation.
