Italian microbial ecologist Alma Dal Co died last week (November 14) at the age of 33. Dal Co had started a lab last year at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) in Switzerland focusing on the behavior and structural organization of microbial communities and was one of the youngest people ever to be appointed as an assistant professor at the university.
“This week’s loss of Alma Dal Co is devastating for those of us who knew her, who worked with her, and were friends with her,” fellow microbial ecologist and group leader at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) Michael Manhart tweeted. “She was a talented scientist who made valuable contributions to microbial ecology, but more importantly, was a kind, generous, and ceaselessly enthusiastic person.”
Dal Co died while spearfishing off the coast of Pantelleria, a small island in southern Italy where her parents owned a house. ...
