Isabelle Olivieri (1957–2016)

Abstract

Isabelle Olivieri sadly passed away on 10 December 2016, after a long fight against cancer; she was 59 years old. Isabelle was a pioneer in developing genetic and population models, and her work was quickly acclaimed internationally. She was an inspiration for many and an exceptional role model for French scientists and women in science. Her academic career started at the National Agronomic Institute in Paris (AgroParisTech), one of the most competitive academic institutes in France. There, she qualified as agronomic engineer (1980) and received a doctorate degree in 1982. She was then awarded a PhD from the University of Montpellier where her research developed in an Australian laboratory (CSIRO) based in France. After a postdoc in Stanford with Paul Ehrlich (1983), the National Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA, France) hired her as research scientist. In 1993, she became full professor of population genetics at the University of Montpellier – aged only 36. During her early career, she worked on invasive plants. While based in the United States, she then developed interests for the concept of metapopulations (spatially disconnected but yet interacting populations), which formed the core of her research back in France. She published work ranging from highly theoretical pieces to results from intensive fieldwork in France and South Africa, mostly on plants (Medicago, Brassica, Centaurea, Leucadendron). She is world-renowned for having disentangled metapopulation genetics underlying the evolution of dispersal, which she also applied to the conservation of species at the brink of extinction. Her contribution was clearly recognized at an international level. In 2004, she was elected vice-president of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology, and then president in 2007. The same year, she was also elected vice-president of the US-based Society for the Study of Evolution. Unsurprisingly, the newly born European Research Council (ERC) turned to her to chair their first panel in ‘evolutionary, population and environmental biology’. As chairwoman (2008, 2010, 2012), she awarded 36 ERC advanced grants, the most prestigious science scheme in Europe. Naturally, when the 1700-leading researchers’ European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) enlarged its membership to 50 scientists who have made exceptional contributions to ecology and evolution, Isabelle was one of them. And just a month before she died, she was still active at EMBO, sponsoring others to join the organization. Isabelle could be tough, but she was fair. She was a prominent figure of the population genetics group in France, and students may have feared her insightful questions. Undoubtedly her own students have made brilliant careers, as Isabelle was concerned that the most promising, young French researchers quickly find permanent positions in which to develop their professional and personal lives. While fighting a particularly harsh cancer, Isabelle remained incredibly strong – as I was asking about her, she responded: ‘Ça va, à part ce qui ne va pas, Bises, Isabelle’. She will be greatly missed.