In Memoriam

It is with deep grief and sadness we share that our friends and colleagues, the highly respected zoologists and herpetologists Nikolay Tzankov, Andrey Stoyanov and Dobrin Dobrev from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, died in a tragic road accident on 22 June 2016.

Nikolay Tzankov graduated from the Biological Faculty at the Sofia University with MSc degree in Zoology in 2001. He worked as a herpetologist with the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NMNH-BAS), where he received his PhD degree and became an Associate Professor. His main studies focus on the taxonomy, life history, distribution and evolution of the Bulgarian and Balkan herpetofauna. He was a leading and passionate herpetologist, conservationist, and teacher – a lecturer at the University and leader of a School in Herpetology at the NMNH-BAS. Nikolay Tzankov has collaborated with ESENIAS since its establishment, and had many contributions to the ESENIAS publications, workshops and projects. He was a leader of the working groups on Amphibians and Reptiles in the ESENIAS-TOOLS and IBBIS projects.

Andrey Stoyanov graduated from the Biological Faculty at the Sofia University with MSc degree in Zoology in 1986. He worked as a herpetologist at the NMNH-BAS and had a wealth of field experience, as well as significant contribution to the enrichment of the museum collections and to the studies of the ecology, behaviour, zoogeography and morphology of the amphibians and reptiles in Bulgaria and on the Balkans. He participated in the working group on Amphibians and Reptiles in the ESENIAS-TOOLS project.

Dobrin Dobrev graduated from the Biological Faculty at the Sofia University with MSc degree in Zoology in 1986, and later received his PhD degree in Zoology in Hungary. He worked as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBER-BAS). He is an author and co-author of a number of natural guides, scientific publications and books in taxonomy, faunistics, ecology and conservation of the acari, fish, amphibians and reptiles on the Balkan Peninsula. For thirteen years (1999-2012) he was a co-managing editor of the journal Acta zoologica bulgarica. Dobrin Dobrev was a participant in the working groups on Amphibians and Reptiles in the ESENIAS projects.

The scientific, expert, teaching and editorial activities of Nikolay Tzankov, Andrey Stoyanov and Dobrin Dobrev are highly valued in Bulgaria and within the international scientific community. With their demise we have lost three of our most active and worthy researchers who have a significant and enduring contribution to Zoology, Herpetology, Invasion biology and Nature conservation. We all have lost dear friends and colleagues.

From the ESENIAS team

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Here, we share some precious moments with Niki during our ESENIAS field trip in early June 2016. We will always keep them in our memories!

From Cristina, Teodora, Dan, Daniyar, Ivan, Lyubomir, Milcho and Vasil