I first met Rich when I joined the staff of WWT in 1999. We were a similar age and stage in our careers and worked on many projects together, including cannon-netting geese in Northern Ireland, writing up waterbirds monitoring projects, and ringing ducks at Slimbridge. He was always a joy to work with and our trips to conferences together were always full of fun (being chased down the road in Quebec for a bar tip was a classic!). The last work we did together was to influence some big decisions at the last Ramsar Conference of Parties in Switzerland. He couldn't attend due to his health but he was firing through vital information from afar. I will miss Rich greatly but I am privileged to have known him and learned so much from him. Rest in peace.
