Share Your Memory

I am forever grateful to Jelle for being such an amazing colleague. Prior to joining the BU faculty, I worked at the New England Aquarium as a research scientist, but taught for BUMP as an outside contractor. I was 8 months pregnant when I taught my first BUMP class, and Jelle really looked out for me, helping me to find a temporary office in the Biology department so that I had a place to put my things and rest whenever possible as I waddled through my class. I will also forever remember coming to my first BUMP faculty meeting after having a baby - Jelle encouraged me to bring my baby daughter with me, which I did, and he normalized the idea that it was not only okay, but encouraged (!!) to bring a baby to a faculty meeting (very different from my other experiences at the time). He was…

In 1989 I was floundering my way through a master’s degree and Jelle agreed to let me try my math skills on his lobsters. Then again in 1996, he came through with another project combining my love for fluid mechanics, math skills with his lobsters and that got me through a PhD. I am sure that neither of us knew that he was encouraging me toward a lifelong career in science and mathematics. From Jelle, I learned to write papers and proposals and I will always be grateful. He was charming, intelligent and resourceful. I am glad to have known him.

Jelle was one of the first faculty colleagues to welcome me when I moved from MIT to the BU Biology Department in Sept. 1985.  Over the ensuing years I came to appreciate Jelle’s important research contributions to understanding the neural basis of chemosensation in  invertebrates, especially as my own research program became increasingly concerned with pheromonal communication in ferrets and mice.  I had spent 8 formative postdoctoral years working in the Department of Endocrinology of the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.  As a result Jelle and I talked on numerous occasions about the good as well as the bad features of academic life in Holland vs the U.S.  Jelle and I shared an appreciation for classical music, with making music playing an essential role in both our lives (Jelle as a flutist, me as a singer).   Jelle was a wonderful colleague and friend.