Dear colleagues, The message below is being sent on behalf of Dr. Eduardo Secchi, President of SOLAMAC.
Dear colleagues, On behalf of the Latin American Society for Aquatic Mammalogy (SOLAMAC), I inform you with great sadness that our dear Dr. Rae Natalie Prosser Goodall passed away on the 25th of May. Natalie was a great pioneer of marine mammal science in South America, especially in the Tierra del Fuego region. Natalie was born and obtained her formal education in the state of Ohio, United States. Botany was her first passion. In the early 1960s, while traveling in South America, she read the book "Uttermost Part of the Earth" about Tierra del Fuego, by Lucas Bridges. That was when Natalie decided to visit this remote, wild and very inhospitable place. During this visit, Natalie met and married Thomas D. Goodall, great-nephew of the pioneer Thomas Bridges, featured in the book. They lived in the famous Estancia (ranch) Harberton, a tourist attraction on the margins of the Beagle Channel. Besides helping with the typical tasks on the ranch, Natalie climbed hills and mountains and crossed plains to collect samples and illustrate the local flora. She later used this material to produce guidebooks and other publications illustrated with her own drawings. To relax, Natalie used to walk along the beaches of the Beagle Channel with her daughters. During these walks, in the early 1970s, she began collecting dolphin and porpoise skulls. Although at that time marine mammals were not part of her scientific interest, she collected and stored these bones simply because she was fascinated by the variation of forms. Within a few years, visiting scientists had identified the skulls and discovered that some of them belonged to very little known species including some rare beaked whales. Natalie began to devote more of her time to the study of marine mammals, handicapped though she was by the difficulty of obtaining reprints, which could take several months in those days when everything was done by letter, especially if you were living in such a remote location as Estancia Harberton. Natalie realized the importance of scientific collections and it was not long before hers had become one of the most important collections of marine mammals in the world. It includes rare species and may have more Commerson’s dolphins than any other institution. The Acatushum (in Yamana language) Museum of Marine Birds and Mammals officially opened in 2001 at the Estancia Harberton. The museum was Natalie’s longtime dream. She, along with many other scientists from around the world, benefited from the collection. Natalie herself published several tens of scientific articles. In recognition of all her contributions to science, Natalie was awarded a Doctorate in Science Honoris Causa from Kent State University (1997). She was considered an “ad honorem” research scientist both nationally by the National Scientific and Technological Research Council of Argentina (CONICET), and internationally in the United States, New Zealand and Chile by a variety of organizations and institutions. Her knowledge and contributions to science were also recognized through awards, including the Gold Medal from the Society of Woman Geographers (1996), induction to the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame (1996) and the* Faro del Fin del Mundo* award from the government of Tierra del Fuego (1994). In 2010 Natalie was honored by SOLAMAC with the first prize due to her scientific prominence in the society. I had the honor and privilege of meeting Natalie in 1992 in a trip through Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego as a backpacker. I told Natalie that was the beginning of my own career in marine mammalogy. She kindly invited me to visit the Estancia where she proudly showed me her impressive collection of cetacean skulls and skeletons. I will never forget when she showed me the lower jaw of the rare *Tasmacetus shepherdi* laid in a bed, just like a baby. She presented me with some of her papers and we chatted for hours while drinking tea with delicious “calafate” muffins, a native wild cherry harvested at the farm. Since we first met, I visited Natalie many times just as predicted by the local saying, “Who tries the calafate shall come back”. We became good friends and I will miss her very much. Surely all those who had the privilege to meet Natalie share this feeling of sadness. We lose a friend and science loses a great scientist and dedicated naturalist. Dr. Goodall leaves to science and humanity a legacy of continental dimensions. And at least as important, Natalie leaves us with her example of dedication, kindness and love for science, which must always inspire us. Natalie is survived by her husband Thomas, two daughters Abby and Anne and six grandchildren. Eduardo R. Secchi President of SOLAMAC _______________________ Eduardo R. Secchi, Ph.D. A/Professor Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação da Megafauna Marinha - EcoMega Instituto de Oceanografia Universidade Federal do Rio Grande/FURG, Cx.P. 474 Rio Grande - RS, Brasil 96203-900 e.mail: edu.sec...@furg.br Tel: ++ 55 53 3233-6749 cel: ++53-9945-3990 CV: http:/ <http://lattes.cnpq.br/2134644742559817> /lattes.cnpq.br/2134644742559817 <http://lattes.cnpq.br/2134644742559817> & President of the Latin American Society for Aquatic Mammals-SOLAMAC & Member of the Cetacean Specialist Group/SSC - IUCN
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