Sharing Memories

I cannot even remember how many years I'd already known Jelle prior to my own coming to BU from The New England Aquarium. We got to know each other a little better when I got roped into helping BU plan a new aquarium facility, partly to house Jelle's smelly catfish. By smelly I mean that he kept t

Dear family and friends of Jelle, My sincere condolences on the loss of your husband, father and friend and colleague. Jelle was a classmate of mine and I received the news of his death from Koos, another classmate. In 2018 we had a reunion in Utrecht with our biology year. Jelle seemed so healthy a

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 neith

I will miss Jelle's incredible enthusiasm for science. He really had fun learning new ideas and interacting with people. I will especially miss his enthusiasm for music. When I entered the opera phase of my life, Jelle joined me on many opera outings just for the sheer joy and excitement of heari

Jelle and I at 1 year old, playing with the pigeons on a trip to Italy in 1992.

The crazy enthusiasm and drama our family brings to singing what has to be the most popular Sinterklaas song of all time is one of my deepest and fondest memories of life with Dad, starting from as early as I can remember up to the last Sinterklaas we all did together in 2022. While the lead-up and

In Autumn of 69 or spring of 70, Paul Fye hosted a reception at Meteor House to welcome WHOI’s new hires.  I was one, as was Jelle, and I was thrilled to meet him and Hilde there, given that they played flute and violin, respectively.  I was equally delighted to see Peter and Marie Rhines, whom I ha

I was Jelle’s last graduate student. He was my advisor, mentor, collaborator and friend, a very important person in my life and I will always be grateful to him. I’ve had varied interests from a young age, but when I decided in middle age that I was ready to transition from a long career as a theat

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

Lobsters were always a summer tradition at Marshview. Jelle loved hosting parties, especially for his family and students. Lobsters always marked the end of the school year and the start of summer. Here he is introducing me to my very first one.

I am a Biology Professor at Boston University with an office on the same floor as Jella, though I am in a different group (Cell & Molecular Biology). What I will most remember about Jella is his commanding smile, filled with confidence and positivity. His contribution to the Department of Biology we

In 2014, our oldest Atema boy - Ate - got married in Marrakech, Morocco. I had just graduated college and started working but my siblings ponied up some cash to send me to Morocco to represent the family. I knew I would get the chance to be with Jelle, Meg and Ate but it was a real delight to hav

On Saturday, September 21, we celebrated the life of our colleague Jelle Atema, with his family, friends, former students, and members of the BU community in attendance, including Ian Davison, Rudi Strickler (a former BUMP faculty member), and the two of us. The event was held at his comfortable hom

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

Jelle used to attend a science conference in Jackson Hole, WY and always made sure to get in plenty of skiing in. From what I understand, all the conferences started at night so people could enjoy Jackson with their families during the day. But by night, expecting people to stay awake in a dark lect